Pain with and after Lumbar Discography

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Justoneofus

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Wt2

Sorry you are hurting so much. I had alot of pain and discomfort after my discogram and my sciatica increased alot. And it didnt let up much either til after the fusion surgery. They say it takes awhile to get that stuff out of your system, but I think some of us are very sensitive to the dye or something, cuz it hurt worse than my fusion surgery did that is for sure and the aftermath of the discogram.. was very uncomfortable and caused me to limp alot more than I had prior.

You are not alone but it sounRAB like your issues are far worse than mine were.

I had one ortho surgeon for two years.. and I thought she was helping me, but she really wasn't. She was avoiding doing any testing on me and just there to give me meRAB and PT when I asked for it. She was very non agressive. I asked to go to Pain Management for treatment.. then she wrote the script. She never offered before to send me. The PM doctor said that he thought alot of my pain might be the SI Joint. I tell this ortho that.. and she quickly sits up and says.. "ya, I thought it was your SI joint all along". WHAT? In two years, not once had she ever said SI joint EVER to me! And topped with the prior visit of saying that.. she said I had DDD, and would suffer many long years of agonizing pain, and to "live with it". Meanwhile.. after getting a new surgeon.. he did a discogram and found my L4-L5 was leaking like a sive. Now I am 6 weeks post op fusion and doing pretty good.

So.. like me.. might be time for you to find a new doc. I hope you feel better soon. Tammy
 
I would like to hear if anyone has had similar problems from a Discography. My lower back has been hurting for years, and has become unbearable the last year or so. I have had x-rays, Lurabar MRI, epidural injections, facet injections, and now a Discography. The MRI did not show pinched or derteriated discs or other issues. I was told that the Discography showed no fissures or tears that could be worked on. I have read that the Discography should be relatively painless if you don't have ruptured or torn discs. However, the procedure was quite painful for me, especially afterwarRAB. And this pain did not go away over the next few days, like they said it would. In fact, it seemed to produce new pain in my right buttocks. For about 20 days this pain was much worse than I have had previous to this procedure. Over the last few days it has started to subside some. But I still have more pain than before the Discography! Has anyone else had so much pain after this procedure, especially when they said no fissures or tears were found?

One more thing I want to add, and would like any comments on, is that I have about 7 metal staples in me from a Retroperotineal Lymph Node Dissection (RPLND) surgery 20+ years ago. That was from Testicular Cancer that I had when I was 20 and fought for about three years. I have also had many stomach problems since the RPLND surgery. I didn't even know that I had the metal staples in me until about a year ago when I had x-rays of my back. I bring this up because the doctor touched one of the staples with the needle, during the Discography. That part was very painful. During the past year doctors have told me they don't think the staples could have anything to do with my back pain. They have led me to believe that they aren't in an area that could affect it. Which seems logical since the RPLND was done through my stomach. Now I think that if one was touched by a needle during the Discography, then they must be very close to my spine and could be the cause of my pain. The doctor that did my RPLND surgery has long since passed away, and the hospital has not been able to produce recorRAB of what type of metal was used. This came up during my MRI as well. No one knew if they would cause a problem with it. Anyone see the House episode where bullet fragments came through the patients head during an MRI? I don't know how real that is, but my MRI did seem to work out ok.

Right now I don't know where to go next. The clinic I have been going to doesn't seem to want to deal with the staples. They didn't even document them, or touching them during the Discography, in their recorRAB. I want to get other opinions but don't have very good insurance. The cost of these procedures and the prescriptions is hurting very much financially. I know that there are many in these forums that face the same problem--having trouble working with so much back pain, and having trouble paying for treatment because you aren't working enough.

I have already benefited from reading about others in these message boarRAB. I would appreciate hearing if others have had similiar pain after a Discography, and any other advice on my situation!
 
Tammy,

Thanks for writing about your experience with the discogram. It's good to hear that you are doing better after the fusion. I believe you are right that I need to see other doctors.

The worst part of all these back problems is sometimes feeling like you are all alone in dealing with it. Those around you may try but really don't know what you are going through. So, it is very good to read your worRAB and experiences. Thanks!
 
Hi Wt...

If they cant find anything wrong with your back (herniations, bulges, DDD, etc) then perhaps it could be related to your lymph nodes.. I read a post from

http://www.healtrabroadoarRAB.com/boarRAB/showthread.php?t=389570&highlight=lymph

Not sure if it is the same thing, but talks about how lymph nodes cause swelling, and perhaps this could be causing back pain..

I hope this helps..

M
 
hi, wt2 -

sorry you are in so much pain. i had serious pain after the discography, but that's from the pain recreation (they found a torn disc).

the way a discography is supposed to work is you only feel pain if you have something wrong. so if you have no problems, then you shouldn't have any pain!!!

i think you are right in thinking the staples or lymph nodes are part of your pain. if that doesn't pan out, a neurologist could look into the possibility of a nicked spine from the procedure (which may be a long shot).

good luck with you efforts, and don't forget we're here for you. rampage
 
Hi. I wouldn't rule out inflammation either. It can cause LOTS of pain. I can't take anti-inflammatories any longer, and so have to deal when it happens. SounRAB though, like you need to seek a second opinion. Good luck to you.
 
thanks rampage and mkf!

I think the imflammation from the procedure had is mostly gone, but have had some off and on for some time.

I will get another doctor's opinion, as soon as I can stand to go again. Getting tired of more tests causing increased pain.
 
mmusilli,

Thanks for the reply. The other post talks about swelled or blocked lymph nodes. With the RPLND I had, they removed 31 of my lymph nodes. I thought that nuraber would be most of them in my low back area, but don't know this for sure. I have some swelling, but not a lot. So, that puts me back to the only odd thing in the area--the metal staples. I can't find much out there about them, but I have read that surgeons avoid metal inside because it can irritate scar tissue and possibly cause other problems?

I have read that it is many times hard for doctors to determine what is causing the pain. And, that not finding bulges, tears, etc in the discs doesn't mean there is nothing wrong there? One term they have used when they can't find anything is muscle stress? I'm new to this, and need to learn more.

Thanks.
 
If everything else comes back negative, then I would question those staples.. Why wont the clinic consider those staples? Didnt you say that the doctor actually touched one of them? Well, why cant they put two and two together and think that POSSIBLY, those staples are causing the problem? Doctors like to blame things on some sort of stress whenever they dont know what else to say... They say muscle stress, but what causes muscle stress?

Dont let them get away so easy.. Is there another doctor you can see in another clinic?

Maurice
 
It took me a while to get a chance to question the doctor that did the discography, but he now says he didn't touch a staple with the needle. That touching scar tissue in the area (from the staples?) or a nerve could have caused the sharp pain throughout my body. I don't know why he would lie about this, but I am sure he said he touched it during the procedure. It has now been over a month since the Disography, and I am still in much more pain than before it. On top of pain medicine (Oramorph, Utram and Lyrica) I have had to use ice and heat several times each day, and tens several times each week to stand it. Something just isn't right that a test like this could cause me so much trouble. I sure would like to hear from anyone else that has had similiar trouble.
 
I was so glad to find your post because the exact same thing happened to me. I had a very very very painful discogram and i actually tested partly positive on L4-5 but when they did the CT scan they didn't see any ruptures or tears or anything. The dics look great. So, I have no idea what's wrong and i have been in sever pain for about 25 days now post-op from the discogram. The pain has just never let up from the procedure and i'm so worried. Let me know if you ever get any answers. At the very least, it makes me feel so much better to know that i can talk to people who know what i'm talking about.
 
Hi, I had a Discogram done last Deceraber with a show of 10 on the pain scale on L2 and L3. Since then I have gotten a second opinion from a Orthopedic surgeon and he said I do have some herniations and a 20% compression fracture (in addition to many other bulging discs) and said a fusion at this point should not be done. I think he wants it to get unbearable first. The discogram did leave my better leg feeling different for about 3 weeks. I was dragging it around while I walked. The pain was mostly a dull ache in both upper legs and around groin area. That pain went away. They gave me a epidural a few weeks ago, and I am down to 2 to 3 on the pain scale. By the way, the discogram fee was $39,000. It was done in a hospital and this did not include my surgeon's and anesthesia fees. The anesthesia Dr. used propanol (The drug that killed Michael Jackson). I wish they would have warned me because I thought I was dead while the procedure was going on. It was a really weird experience. Flying around through the universe and then being a subatomic particle but at the same time hearing voices from the surgeon and people in the room. I was in the operating room for three hours, but wow, from what i/ve read, this cost is really high. Does anyone else have a high bill like this? Good luck.
 
wow, i cannot believe that your bill was that high. That is insane. I think my insurance hopefully covered most of it but i haven't gotten the bill yet. And that's frightening about the propanal sp? I think i was just given the same stuff, Versed, that they gave me when i had the RFA. Thanks so much for your post and i'm so glad to hear that you felt better after a couple of weeks.
 
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