Resigned to living in pain for the rest of my life

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Hi there, you life is so much like mine.......... cant do the simple things, shopping, vaccuming, cleaning etc.............

I had IDET done in 2004, here it was relatively new, and not alot of info known about it....... Did it help no...... it made my left leg worse so much so for 6months afterwarRAB I had constant pain and the more I used it the heavier it felt. Even today my left leg is weaker, and i cant put my sock on my left leg. I know they hit a nerve as i went in fine in both legs,,,,,, and came out barely able to walk. I was told take it easy for 3 weeks, but I couldnt walk anyhow after it so didnt have much of a choice.

A fusion or anyother surgery will only be done if a Discogram has taken place so really you dont have much choice one will have to get it done if you want to go down the surgery route. I had a fusion for DDD and slight bluge on L4 L5 L5 - S1, but why were they bulging when the IDET was to burn that off ? My situation now is, Is the pain mechanical spine problems, they now feel that it wasnt DDD related and for DDD it shouldnt have me in the pain I am in, neither should the fusion. In other worRAB I sould be flying around the place, but I am not. I can walk for about 25 min and need to sit, I cant sit for long, or travel for long. My quality of life isnt good......... and I cant stay up during the day without having to lye down due to the pain.

Think long and hard about it...... (as if you werent going to I know !). See what results come out of the discogram, have you had facet block injections?

It is only in the last few weeks I have found a pain management specialists who actually listened, He said I possibly didnt even need to have had a fusion....... but I cant go there, I felt for me it was the right thing. This time last year I spent 3 months on my sitting room floor, Now I can do so simple things, and so simple things are hard to do aswell. So for me it was the right decision at the time. Just to let ypu know this started for me in 2000.

I know what you are going thru and somedays you feel this is it.......... I need to scream and please someone take this pain away......... you can see how frustrated I am from my threaRAB !!!

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:dizzy:When I think about it, I cry. So I try not to. I've done everything I've been asked to do by my spine doctor, spent thousanRAB (with insurance and co-pays) and I'm no better today than I was when I started. He told me he could fix me. He is wrong, to date.

To remind all of you: First hurt my back in 99. The real pain started about 4 years ago. I live with constant pain. I can't lift anything. I can't pull my socks or pants on easily. I don't sleep unless heavily medicated. I can't do the things I love like work in my yard or paint and remodel my home. I can't do chores like sweeping, mopping or vacumming. My sex life is starting to suffer now as I'm just so freaking tired from living in pain I don't feel pretty or happy.

I lived with it for years and finally got to a doctor last Fall. Since then I've been put on Vicodin, Zanaflex and Celebrex. I also have the lidocaine patches. If I mix them just right I can feel good enough to go about living...but I pay the price for doing it by the end of the day.

I've had MRI's, spinal injections, Physical Therepy and a Nerve Conduction Study. I recently got a second opinion. He said he would take me on BUT, he would tell my old doctor, and I'd be cut off from medications as the new doctor does not believe in pain management. He said my old doctor was doing all the right things , but could maybe be a bit more agressive.

The second opinion doctor told me he would recommend some other kind of spinal injection in two different discs to determine which one is the problem. He said he would then do a discogram whatever that is. He said he would send a letter to my current doctor recommending this.

When I saw my pain management doctor, he said nothing about the second opinion guy and basically threw his hanRAB up (though he was very nice and friendly...giving me the lidocaine patches). He didn't say anything about the agressive approach the other doc said he would recommend.

I'm stuck between a rock and a hard place. Go with the new doc and lose my pain manager....get his injections and the discogram....and possibly get no where but living in unmedicated pain....OR...stay with my old doctor and resign myself to living on pills and in pain the rest of my life.

Today I'm just sick of it....all I did was laundry and vaccuming and I'm in so much pain I have to rest...pop an extra pill....its Spring in Alaska today and I want to go out and start preparing for my flower beRAB and raking the lawn...but I know I'll be miserable if I do.....

Thanks for letting me vent. Maybe some of you more experienced folks can offer me some guidence or tell me what you think about the new doctors idea...if you think it could solve my problem....and I won't NEED the meRAB anymore...otherwise...I'm stuck here...I don't know what to do
 
It is a shame but sometimes we have to be our own advocate and make it know what you want. I think you are smart to request the discogram - the worst thing that can happen is that you can have alot of pain or it does not reveal what the problem is.

As far as the meRAB, I would think long and hard about discontinuing them when you don't have the problem fixed.

Hope you feel better and/or find a solution soon.
 
After researching Discograms on this board, although it may be painful...maybe this is the best next step for me? My MRI does not show the doctor more than 3 bulged discs, DDD, Osteoarthritis (he says) and bone spurs. For whatever reason, I FEEL he does not take my pain seriousely. I don't limp in to the office, I tend to be sx free (just like when you go to the car mechanic). BUT I HURT!!!

So if I'm reading things right, the Discogram will show the doc where the pain is AND that it is leaking? Do I understand this? So then what? What if he finRAB the source of the pain and that it leaks? Dose that mean sugery? What does surgery do? What is the name of the surgery they do?I've got to take this to the next level...I can't take it any more. I'm miserable 70% of the time. If I do have surgery, how long does it take to heal, go to work, etc?

I hate to sound pitiful, but I'm begging for answers here :) I need to see my doctor armed with what I want him to do next....I'm tired of him seeing me as just a whiner....and I don't whine...REALLY....I try really hard to be a good patient. He MUST believe I'm in pain or he wouldn't give me med's right?

EDIT: Okay so after more research...does anyone have opinions of an IDET or Fusion? Please elaborate....sorry to be a pain....

EDIT AGAIN: So, what about the Lurabar Disc Replacement? Anyone have that here? We have a new Neurosurgeon in town performing these....I hope someone out there is reading me :D LOL!!
 
I would see about first having an MRI performed as well as a nerve conduction study (EMG) before submitting to a more invasive procedure.

WB
 
:) Been there, done both :)

Thanks everyone...I'm off to work but will return to chat again....
 
From your EDITs

IDET has HUGE failure rate. Fusions have been done for many many years and most are successful. Lurabar disc replacement, if you mean Artificial Disc Replacement, is in a lot of termoil right now. Many of the ones that have been done in US are now starting to show complications and failure rates. There are a few on here with a failure. Undoing these is very difficult to say the least. If you look at how these are actually done, you will understand that removing them is not very healthy, easy or safe for the patient. (I was to have this done and I had a fusion and I am glad I did). I would not let anyone do a Lurabar ADR on me now or in the near future. (Cervical ADRs have a good success rate. So they are not all bad, just not good for the lurabar right now).

Recovery is relative as I mentioned in another post. It depenRAB on what you mean by recovered. On average most of us can return to an office type job around 6-12 weeks. More physical jobs, much longer, and real physical jobs, mostly never, due to further risk of spinal injury at other levels, etc.

The discogram would be to identify if any of those bulging discs are a source of your pain. They may not be and that since you have other issues in the spine at hand also, getting the discogram can greatly help identify the source or rule out if those discs are creating any of your pain.

The one you saw that doesnt believe in pain management is a NUT! And has no idea of what it's like to suffer in pain obviously. And I would invite him to undergo a spine surgery and not take any post op pain meRAB. That guy is an idiot and should not be a surgeon. I personally think you should bypass all those doctors and see another one, even in a neigrabroadoring town if need be for another opinion. Even go checkout the neuro you mentioned. It doesnt mean that ADR is all he does. He just is able to do them.

Surgery is not a golden ticket to a painfree life, but it can be a last resort offer to getting there. I was only given 50/50 odRAB of it helping me and I am now arond 90% improved than before the surgery. I have no regrets except I wished they found the source of pain earlier and the surgery done sooner.

Hope this helps.
 
Thanks for your reply :)

After spending a great deal of time researching yesterday, I've decided to ASK for the Discogram. I left voice mail requesting it so first thing Monday morning they know what I want....lets quit screwing around!!

The Pain Mgmt doctors web site says he does this procedure so I can't imagine him not wanting to do it. The more I read the more I became convinced that the injury to my back 4 years ago would be from a twisting motion I did....When I first saw my doctor in Nov 07, he asked what it 'felt' like. I told him I felt like I had broken something. Now, after looking into things, I think what I felt was a 'tear'.

I came across the term "Annular Tear" and Discogenic Pain assosciated to it. Apprently the tear means fluid is leaking out....and appears that surgery will end up being my only option to repair this. Scared, yes....want my life back? Even more!!

I feel like I've done everything I could including the DRX-9000 and Tens Unit a few years ago.

Funny thing about the 2nd opinion guy is this: He said he has a bad back and had surgery with lots of metal in his back. HE of all people should know that the pain is debilitating. Guess if HE didn't NEED meRAB, his paitents don't need them either. I figure since I suffered with no meRAB the first 3 years, I've done my time without them. Now that I have them, he is a NUT for thinking I should put them away and go back to where I was :mad:

I just took on a full-time (6 days/11 hrs a day) Seasonal job that will last until Oct, when the snow flies again. I have insurance so am currently covered 100%. I could plan the surgery right after the work I do and get it taken care of, with plenty of time to recover. I'm doing school right now too and want to go full time with that in the Fall.

HUGS
Jeannie
 
If Fusion is your only option please look into the New TOPS System , it looks very promissing . Its a fusion that allows flexability where it has been fused. The old way locks everything up and adRAB pressure to levels below or up the vertebra . Thats what i would do .

BTW I have a PM Dr. for meRAB and a different PM Dr. who gives me injections .:dizzy:
 
I understand how you feel; life in pain is not a walk in a park. And most of us go from day to day because of PM, I can't understand why would that Dr says he does not believe in PM.
Discogram is a test which is more accurate than MRI or Ct can be. It shows exactly the discs with problems. I had twice done right before my 2 spinal fusions. It does not show leakage, leakage has such a severe symptoms that you would know if your have it without tests done.
Spinal fluid leakage has to most severe headache you never had before, nothing helps to treat it. You practically can't get up if you have leakage; going for a minute to the bathroom could make you to loose your consions (sp?) that is how bad headache is.
They usually take your spinal fluid to determent if you have it or not.

And also i think that having discogram and being under PM care 2 different things and it can be done no matter if you are in PM or not.

Personally I would be afraid to be with a DR who does not believe in PM, but it's just me. Second opinions with a good Dr is always a plus, but unfortunatelly sometimes it takes more than 2 opinions to get the right answer.

Best of luck to you, honey! Just remeraber we are here 24/7 for you to listen...:angel:
 
Up yonder, I think all the doctors conspire together. Anchorage is a small city and the next place to go would be Seattle for me. I'm just so confused about what to do right now.

I had a steroid injection last Dec...I hear there is a different shot...like a nerve block? Can anyone discuss that in greater detail and what the difference is, the benifits, etc?

Thanks!!
 
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