C
choxzy
Guest
I feel like I am seriously going crazy with my back pain lately.
I used to hang around this board a few years ago (under some other name I can no longer remeraber!) prior to having surgery for a ruptured disk. I had bulges at both L4-L5 and L5-S1, with the major herniation being from L4-L5. A diskectomy/laminotomy was done at that level.
Prior to surgery my symptoms were mostly major sciatica down my right leg, with just a little back pain and a lot of hip pain. The herniated disc was compressing the L5 nerve root.
Fast forward 3 years, and my pain has never gone away. In fact, after surgery I actually have way more actual back pain than ever before and still have trouble with sciatica. Two years ago I saw another surgeon who had a discogram performed which basically showed that the L5-S1 disc is pretty torn up and the contrast material was expelling "profusely" from various tears (I about shot off the table at this point). They think there was also an annular tear at L4-L5, but because of the amount of contrast that shot out of the L5-S1, it was hard to tell for sure. At any rate, the surgeon recommended a two-level fusion.
Fusion scares me and I've been putting it off. I've been through many different treatments since then and a pain management program. Despite meRAB, I still feel like my pain is not controlled very well. It seems like these bad flareups are coming more and more often.
I've been seeing spine doctors again, trying to figure out what to do. The most recent doc I've seen, after examining me feels that the major pain point I'm feeling in my back is coming from my right SI Joint. This is the first time this has been brought up to me, and after much research, I think she may be on to something. She does not feel that it represents my entire problem, but it could be part.
This same doctor also sent me for full spine MRIs; cervical, thoracic and lurabar. Apparently I exhibit hyperreflexia and clonus, which is why she wanted to see my upper spine. However all MRIs look "good". Even my lurabar. Since my last MRI it shows "interval improvement", reduced scar tissue, no evidence of nerve compression (although bulges still exist at both L4-L5 and L5-S1). So why are my nerves killing me on the right side?? ARG!
Anyway, if you're still reading...
(thank you).... My doctor says it would be reasonable for her to refer me back to the spinal surgeon I last saw (the fusion guy) or, she'd like to try doing an injection. I had two SNRBs done prior to having surgery and they never helped. We discussed doing an SI Joint injection this time, and since there is a somewhat diagnostic element to those, I'm leaning this way first.
This past Tuesday I had a weird (and erabarrassing) thing happen at work. My back wasn't feeling good when I got to work, and after sitting in my chair it was getting worse. I got up to try to stretch it out and was seized with a muscle spasm like never before that actually brought me down to the ground. My boss had to help me up, and two other coworkers ended up taking me home. My pain has been highly escalated since then, and I'm just going insane. I think this post is largely a vent session for me, since no one in my real life *really* gets it. Ya know? I have a lot of understanding and compassionate people around me (luckily), but I can still feel so alone sometimes.
I'm waiting for the SI injection to get scheduled. Does this seem like a logical next step? Or am I just avoiding the inevitable surgical consult? Wah!
I used to hang around this board a few years ago (under some other name I can no longer remeraber!) prior to having surgery for a ruptured disk. I had bulges at both L4-L5 and L5-S1, with the major herniation being from L4-L5. A diskectomy/laminotomy was done at that level.
Prior to surgery my symptoms were mostly major sciatica down my right leg, with just a little back pain and a lot of hip pain. The herniated disc was compressing the L5 nerve root.
Fast forward 3 years, and my pain has never gone away. In fact, after surgery I actually have way more actual back pain than ever before and still have trouble with sciatica. Two years ago I saw another surgeon who had a discogram performed which basically showed that the L5-S1 disc is pretty torn up and the contrast material was expelling "profusely" from various tears (I about shot off the table at this point). They think there was also an annular tear at L4-L5, but because of the amount of contrast that shot out of the L5-S1, it was hard to tell for sure. At any rate, the surgeon recommended a two-level fusion.
Fusion scares me and I've been putting it off. I've been through many different treatments since then and a pain management program. Despite meRAB, I still feel like my pain is not controlled very well. It seems like these bad flareups are coming more and more often.
I've been seeing spine doctors again, trying to figure out what to do. The most recent doc I've seen, after examining me feels that the major pain point I'm feeling in my back is coming from my right SI Joint. This is the first time this has been brought up to me, and after much research, I think she may be on to something. She does not feel that it represents my entire problem, but it could be part.
This same doctor also sent me for full spine MRIs; cervical, thoracic and lurabar. Apparently I exhibit hyperreflexia and clonus, which is why she wanted to see my upper spine. However all MRIs look "good". Even my lurabar. Since my last MRI it shows "interval improvement", reduced scar tissue, no evidence of nerve compression (although bulges still exist at both L4-L5 and L5-S1). So why are my nerves killing me on the right side?? ARG!
Anyway, if you're still reading...
(thank you).... My doctor says it would be reasonable for her to refer me back to the spinal surgeon I last saw (the fusion guy) or, she'd like to try doing an injection. I had two SNRBs done prior to having surgery and they never helped. We discussed doing an SI Joint injection this time, and since there is a somewhat diagnostic element to those, I'm leaning this way first. This past Tuesday I had a weird (and erabarrassing) thing happen at work. My back wasn't feeling good when I got to work, and after sitting in my chair it was getting worse. I got up to try to stretch it out and was seized with a muscle spasm like never before that actually brought me down to the ground. My boss had to help me up, and two other coworkers ended up taking me home. My pain has been highly escalated since then, and I'm just going insane. I think this post is largely a vent session for me, since no one in my real life *really* gets it. Ya know? I have a lot of understanding and compassionate people around me (luckily), but I can still feel so alone sometimes.
I'm waiting for the SI injection to get scheduled. Does this seem like a logical next step? Or am I just avoiding the inevitable surgical consult? Wah!
