Nerve pain post surgery

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heyme2

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Hi, I'm new. I found you all by googling leg pain after back fusion.

Here is the quick story....apparently I was quite naive going into my surgery. I had two procedures done two days apart.....lateral inter body fusions from L2 through L5. The Day after (a day in between) that I had my second procedure done which was an open procedure from thoracic level 10 through the sacrum I also had an L5-Sl transforaminal inter body fusion to address my disc herniation at this level and also to have some ventral support at this level as well. Bottom line. Huge surgery, first one was 7 hours (they ran into some issues) second surgery was 12 (I sort of almost met my maker during that one, no fault of my doctor, just had some quirky heart thing happen and lost a lot of blood)

Okay, now I am almost a month post surgery for both procedures and I have begun to experience the pain I have read in other posts that some of you are all describing in my right leg only......I had no feeling in my foot post surgery (first procedure) for a couple days, then it came back gradually over the week I was in the hospital. I have parts of that leg i can not feel. I know they messed with the nerves during the lateral procedure but to have all this pain a month later, I just don't understand it. I take the pain meRAB, I get my back brace on Tues.....but this pain in my leg is continuing to get worse, I spoke with my surgeon and he does not seem to be overly concerned, said that he will address it in a couple weeks if it has not subsided or gotten worse, worse???? Right now I'm at crazy, if it gets worse where will I be then?

Oh, my in-laws are here helping to take care of me, and my family. God love them, but they can only stay so long... my husband is in the Army in Iraq and came home when I began to go down hill on the table, but now this pain seems to be setting my recovery back....I just don't know what to do, maybe just telling someone who may understand will, I just don't know...........any ideas?
 
what pain do you wake up from surgery,just the back or legs too?does any of the meRAB help with pain at all?my brother's girl friend a year from surgery still taking heavy meRAB and no better.
 
I do not (and never did ) have back pain. Mine was sciatic pain that ran down the back of my leg, causing nurabness in my foot. Now my right thigh has unbelievable pain on the frontside. It sometimes feels like it is in a vise, being squeezed. It has been getting worse and worse since about week 3 post surgey. :(

I get some relief from oxycontin and lyrica which I take round the clock.
 
Hi and welcome. You hit the motherload when you found us. We understand exactly what you are going through and feel. We are just everyday people like yourself with the common problem of spine issues.

Wow that is about the most intense surgery I've heard to date, basically all at one time. My goodness!

The post op pain you are feeling.. is this sciatica type pain.. or nerve pain (stinging, tingling, pins/needles, shooting pains here and there, feel like parts are being squeezed)?? If it's nerve pain.. it could be inflammation that is part of your bodies natural defense and putting pressure on things, but you really cant take anti-inflammatories right now because it can literally ruin the fusion process and keep it from happening. This is not true in all people, but it happens often when anti-inflammers are regularly used so early on after a fusion surgery.

But there are meRAB out there to help you control that nerve pain you have. I wouldnt wait.. make the call to the doctor. Tell them you are in agony and you need something now.. relief wont wait until then. Pain meRAB dont even touch nerve pain.

Most common nerve meRAB are Neurontin (garabpentin), Lyrica (sister drug to neurontin), cyrabalta, and tompomax. If I missed one.. the others will chime in. They help so many of us on here. I am unfortunately allergic so I couldnt take them. I had to tough mine out on my own.. and I can tell you there were days I wanted to chew my legs off to get relief.

My nerve pain was also post up. My left leg was compromised during the surgery and you could have stuck a knife in my leg and I may have felt the pressure of it but not more. It took over a month to get just the front top part of my thigh back again and it then got alot better faster. But the nerve pains came and went with no rhyme or reason or where it decided to show up either. But over time.. this greatly diminished and now other than flare ups.. I only get little itty bitty annoying twinges here and there.

So it does get better, but you need some extra help right now until you heal more from your huge surgery.

So welcome again, and I hope this helps you some. Please keep coming back. We are always here. Even though I am now almost 22 months post op, I have flare ups (which is to be expected in my case), I am 85% improved since the surgery and can do many normal things again and enjoy my life. I continue to come here to share my story and such with others as they have done for me. This site has been so helpful and everyone on here continues to teach me something new and brings me so much value.

Welcome!:wave:
 
Hello Heyme ~

Welcome to the board, but sorry for the reasons you were searching for us.:(

I am 4 weeks out from a one level fusion and I have been dismayed at the new pain I have developed. But I am going to stop complaining after hearing what all you are going through. My goodness, that was a huge amount of surgery you had. I trust they didn't tell you that you'd have a short recovery period. How long are your in-laws able to stay?

I too am finding that my right leg has gradually been getting worse. But suddenly I had intense pain this morning -- the worst pain I have ever experienced. The doctor gave me Lyrica at the time I was released from the hospital. I take it 3 times per day...I can't tell if it helps, or not.

Perhaps there really is something to what the docs tell you about the nerves waking up at about one month out from surgery, causing a lot of pain...but then they do eventually settle back down....

I would call your doc, explain your situation and ask for something to help relieve your pain. He knows best how much your body has been through.

Good luck and please let us know how you're doing.

Blessings, :angel:

Marlo
 
Actually I found this board because of your post, but I did not want to make your post about me, so I started my own.



Thanks so much for making me feel welcome and not so alone. I already take topamax (400mg) for migraines which I have never ceased to begin with, but I can have that increased which was my next step in speaking with my doctor.The pain changes, which leaRAB me to believe that it is all part of my body waking up and recovering, but there are some points and times where it hurts so bad I think it will do me in....and then I remeraber why I did this to begin with. I have degenerative scoliosis, did I say that before? My curvature at the top of the Thoracic level was really bad but when you added the degeneration to it, I was looking at the severe pain and a wheel chair very soon.....at 40 I just did not want that life.....so I hold onto that....but at one month post op........I know I am behind in my recovery because of the nerve pain.

The pain medication makes me go to sleep within an hour, I can't help my recovery if I am sound asleep 24/7. So I go without using the medication just to be able to be up and moving to try and help my spine fuse.......before this mess began, I was well on my way to a great recovery, this began last week just after my husband was left, he had no choice but to go back...my in inlaws can stay until about the end of the month.......but then is due home about a month after that so hopefully my brace (get that Tuesday, finally) and I pray this stops before he gets home, will really help my recovery. I know on the inset, I look at 6 months for the earliest portions of recovery.......a year for the next level where I will be feeling like I did before and at 2 years before a full fusion recovery. But I felt this was better then being in a wheel chair the rest of my life.... It took a lot of thinking and discussions with my neurosurgeon about the pros and cons of this procedure, but the final decision was when we looked at these last set of xrays and MRI and saw how fast this was happening, my husband and I just felt that one day I would be bedbound and not living life........I had found a wonderful doctor, you can barely see the scars......although you can see the roRAB under my skin....but hey I can't see it :D, need to ask if that will go away any at all.....otherwise I guess, a bikini seems to be out of the question.......:D sorry, sometimes I have to laugh or I will scream!

I am calling my doc tomorrow, requesting my topamax to be increased and I have to set up my 4 week out of the hospital appt too.........so kill those birRAB together.

I am inspired by all of you going through this, and appreciate your advice and kind worRAB. I had a C5-C7 fusion four years ago at LanRABtuhl hospital in Germany, that scared me, the recovery was NOTHING like this, NOTHING, I was back at the gym in 4 months doing a light workout, you would never know I had the fusion now, just the pale scar on my neck......I remeraber the nerve pain then, but nothing like this......NOTHING, once again.....but you all give me hope that each day I can say goodbye to this.......but ugh, right now, it just really hurts. :(
 
First thing I want to say is WELCOME! The second is God Bless everyone here! They are very helpful not just with information but with their prayers and moral support! I too will stop complaining... my goodness you've gone through a lot! I too loss some feeling on one foot after my fusion and laminectomy but just as you felt I too blamed this on my doctor because he said he strummed my nerves while they were exposed so I assumed I'd never get feeling on my foot again! Now I have egg on my face! It took time but the feeling is back except on my toes but little by little its getting there. All I'm saying is that your body goes through some trauma and neeRAB time to recover so be patient and do what you need to do to heal and DO let your doctor know how bad your hurting, the one thing I haven't forgotten was the pain! I was sent home with Neurontin and Norco and Dilaudid which didn't touch my pain and I took half a Xanx for muscle pain which I got in my calves. Hope you find what works for you soon.
 
Alot of the times, you will develop nerve pain around the 5th week of recovery because during surgery they do injections for inflammation, steroiRAB, and nurabing stuff. It has a tendency to wear off around this time frame so hopefully this is what you problem is and that you will be feeling better soon. By all means if the pain is making yourself miserable, let you doctor know so that he can prescribe something now. No sense suffering unneedlessly - just be firm and say you need something before you bite someones head off. Good luck.
 
Hi Heyme,
Welcome! First I would like to give cudos to your hubby for serving in the army, Please thank him for protecting us, for helping us to have the freedom to do this. My son just finished his 4 yrs in the marines, did 7 mo. in Iraq. I'm also so glad that you survived your surgery and found your way to us on the boarRAB. I'm sure we will all benefit with your presence here.

I have permanent nerve damage, now don't panic! It takes like 18 months or more before they even consider it permanent. It can take many months for that nerve pain to subside, I would have to agree with you on calling for that increase in meRAB. You may have to get on one that youv'e not used before to get the pain killing effect on the nerve pain. I know for me I was on neurontin, 2700mg a day, for over a year and did need increases to get the same effect so I was then put on lyrica and it did help much more. Your body does get used to meRAB after a while so the benefits become less. I did get put on IV steroiRAB in the hopsital for the nerve pain because it was at screaming levels, literally. You may want to ask the dr. if a steroid pack may help kick start things a bit.

I'm so sorry your suffering so much, I pray that you find help soon. I know how bad it can get in your head with such constant pain levels.

I have learned one thing that always makes a difference, take your pain meRAB as prescribed. If it says every 6 hours, take it every 6 hours even if you have to set the alarm to take it in the middle of the night. Once your pain gets out of control it takes twice as long to get back under control again. The meRAB must stay at a constant level for them to work at their peak performance. Maybe you can plan to take the meRAB that make you sleepy at a time where you can take a small nap just after taking them but please take them. Any pain that you can relieve will make it better on you in the long run. When your body is in pain it gets all tensed up and that just increases the pain, it really is a vicious circle and it will slow your recovery until the cycle is broken.

I will pray for you and look forward to good news in your next posts.

God BLess

Carol
 
Nerve pain usualy comes couple of weeks after the surgery.
I had twice done major multi-levels fusions with instrumentations, etc. And both times I experienced legs/feet/toes pain. Also bottocks and hips.
Sometimes both at the time, sometimes one at the time...
My last surgery was 7 weeks ago and even though my back pain is still intense, my legs and feet bother me the most.
I take Neurontin for the nerve pain, Percocet as a PK. And some other meRAB to help me through this tough times.

I can relate to you and I know how much it hurts. Unfortunatelly it can take up to 2 years for the nerves to heal. That is why your DR is not overly concerned, you have a long time to go before he can make anything of it.

Best of luck on your recovery!
 
I posted an update but I figured I would answer the questions asked her as well. I had no pain after surgery, my foot was totally nurab for 2-3 days then the feeling came back almost completely, them it was almost normal until last week and then hell came to visit, seems to be permanently now. I sure hope the the meRAB they gave me work, or I am going to just die! I can not live like this!
 
Heyme,
now is 2 AM, I am here since I can't sleep due to my pain too.
I had my second multi level fusion 7 weeks ago. Nerve pain in my legs appeared right after my first surgery, but with the second one pain increased so much. And even places where i did not have pain before - I got it now and it's very strong.
Back pain at least can be somewhat help with narco PK, but Neurontin doesn't really help enough to be able to sleep or rest. He increased my dose yesterday (I am under PM and Neurologist care for my meRAB) to 4 pills and still not relieve. As bad as my back hurts, I prefer that pain to the neuropathy pain: no place to hide, no comfortable place for me to lay on to relieve the pain and that deep nasty feeling.
Pins and needles all over legs and feet, feels like they are in a boiled water...

I feel for you - that is all I can say. I hope soon your problems will be resolved - best of luck to you, honey!:angel:
 
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