Who Has Or Having This Done ???radio Frequency Ablation Of The Facets Surgery?

  • Thread starter Thread starter soaplady
  • Start date Start date
S

soaplady

Guest
:) Janna, thank you for replying, and for the information regarding the side effects of steroid use!

Since having four steroid injections, last one was 6 months ago...I am still dealing with the after effects. Ironically, I had my first panic attack not long ago, and other weird things. First, I thought I was thrown into menopause during steroid treatment, and I had all kinRAB of strange symptoms. I had surgery in April (not related to my back), and I thought maybe it was something having to do with the surgery that was causing some issues, but it wasn't. My facial hair started growing profusely, and after some initial hormone testing, ended up with an adrenal specialist. They have proven the steroiRAB have shut down some of my adrenal function, and they aren't producing enough dhea-s anymore. I'm also on long term medication for the hair issue, which has worked great. I also had alot of water retention (like 5 pound gain in a couple of days), and my feet would swell even at night laying in bed. My dhea test came back unreadable again, so now I have to get an adrenal stimulation test in a week or so to see what's going on.

I've had other joint pains, my neck is always in spasms. The bone xray came back perfectly fine, but I've had no other tests yet. I've had dizzy spells, actually passed out twice in the last two weeks, yet my primary care doc blows me off with dizzy pills and says I'm fine. It could be several things, and I'm not done with this yet. I also noticed some hearing loss in one ear during the treatment, and have fluid buildup, yet the doc won't order any tests to see if my ears are the problem.

So....taking matters back into my own hanRAB...I have an app't with an ENT, and can't get in for three weeks, but am on a cancellation waiting list. This doc is excellent, he's treated my own children..now it's my turn. :) I made a phone call to hopefully get in another primary care practice (my old doc...only changed b/c dh wanted to go closer to home, and she wasn't too close). No problems with her...she was excellent, and better than this guy. If she can't, then I'll find someone else. I don't need referrals with my insurance, and I can get this done on my own. My chiro has done all he can, and he's been very patient and very nice. He even wrote off my bill where the insurance wouldn't pay for my PT.

Re the rfa....I had to get a predetermination from the insurance as to the medical necessity of this procedure. Some self insured plans (like my dh's), are very vague when it comes to certain things. They want total control over what we do. Not only did I have to get permission, I also had to go out of network b/c only one hospital is equipped for this. So, I got them to include it in network, and the permission to get it done. I cannot do steroiRAB anymore, so that's why the rfa. It was my last hope.

SteroiRAB did nothing for me, except cause problems. My second rfa seems to be working...I have about 60% pain reduction, and I had nothing prior to this. I don't have the constant stabbing pain from movement like before. In fact, I even forget I have back pain sometimes!! And, it's only been less than two weeks, it can take 6-7 weeks for the full effect. I hope it gets even better with time! Thank goodness for this treatment.

Janna, I totally understand the manic depressive issue. My adult son has had it since grade school, and I'm very familiar with the mental health arena as a former support group leader for parents, and dealing with the mental health professionals. I don't have bp, but some anxiety issues that started during the worst of my son's illness. It was very, very hard. He's doing well now...thanks to lithium (sorry to go OT here).

Thanks again for posting this about the steroiRAB. I think it helps to know all possible repurcussions from any treatment, although some people will do ok with it. It's just good to know what you could be getting into based on your health history.

Please post back and let us know how this works out for you!! I have my fingers crossed the rfa will give you much needed relief.
 
soaplady said:
:) Janna, thank you for replying, and for the information regarding the side effects of steroid use!

>Since having four steroid injections, last one was 6 months ago...I am still dealing with the after effects. Ironically, I had my first panic attack not long ago, and other weird things. First, I thought I was thrown into menopause during steroid treatment, and I had all kinRAB of strange symptoms....<

Dear SoapLady,

Regarding the strange symptoms you may be having, (though I realize these are not part of this particular Thread...but they ARE, since they're Inter-connected), you may, very well have been thrown into "early Menopause" (called Perimenopause-Menopause), and not know it. When I was going through all this stuff, I too, began having all kinRAB of strange symptoms, (including the elephant legs and feet...I even became Incontinent, and for 1-1/2 yrs. I wore Diapers...REAL Diapers!!!). Then, once I stopped the SteroiRAB, my feet, as mysteriously as they'd gotten huge--my Dr. even put me on a Diuretic Medicine--became normal, again.

I, then discovered a Menopause book, which changed my Life: "Silent Passage,
Click to expand...
 
Hi
I was wondering who also had this done and what the time from of recoving was for them ..?? I am schedule to have this surgery done this week ..I am kind of getting scared and just want everything go alright . If they had this done ..how long was it before the pain complety had gone away ? would appriecated the advice ..god bless
 
Before you all run out and grab a back brace, make sure you need it. I spoke with my doctor about this and he said that if you get a back brace, you begin to rely on it. So, if you want a back brace the rest of your life than use one. I personnally didn't want that. Instead, I am dealing with the pain...yes it is more, and doing physical therapy to help build my muscles to support my back. Now before you all jump at me I just want to say that I am not judging anyone. I know that my circumstances are a lot different than some of you. I have had only a couple of procedures on top of physical theapy and I seem to be responding. You may have done all of this and not responded which is why you are left with the brace. I am just giving another point of view. :wave: :wave:

By the way, I have gone off of my LA medicine and am now only taking 6 vicoprofen's a day. I am hoping to go off of those as well. I am 2 weeks after my RFA and I seem to be in less and less pain. :bouncing: :bouncing: I actually woke up this morning and was able to get up without wincing...a first in a long long time.
 
You know I woke up this morning in a lot of pain. I was very sad because I thought that it wasn't working but in reading the email posted by soaplady I understand now that it could be working still. That is a relief. I will hang on for another couple of weeks!!
 
QUOTE=rabbitbunnies]Hi
I was wondering who also had this done and what the time from of recoving was for them ..?? I am schedule to have this surgery done this week ..I am kind of getting scared and just want everything go alright . If they had this done ..how long was it before the pain complety had gone away ? would appriecated the advice ..god bless
[/QUOTE]

Hi, I'm new here and need to ask a stupid question. Is radio frequency surgery the same thing as having a facet block?
 
I just wanted to add that I had this done over 2 1/2 years ago. My doctor told me it would only last 12-18 months and only now am I having problems again. I had 5 levels on both sides and the second side, my blood pressure was up and he hesitated in doing it, so I said ok go ahead, never realizing how tramatic THAT would be with no meRAB. But over all I would highly recommend it, if for nothing else than it buys you time of feeling normal again. My question is, what happens when you have it more than once?
 
I can relate- my insurance doesn't even bat an eye at my medications, which are fentanyl, percocet, valium, elavil and cyrabalta... But trying to get them to cover anything else is like pulling teeth. I'm currently waiting on a decision on botox. I have also been considered for a rhizotomy, and since I'm NOT improving with the new therapy I've been doing- which was chiropractic. I wish I had never gone there, all they do is badmouth my doctors, but they haven't done a thing to help with my pain. I have a post called newbie please read about the battle I've gone through, with my neck, back and shoulders. I can relate to the frusteration. I, too have sought out help from a pain psychologist, though I won't see him until next Friday. I can completely sympathize with you, no one can actually articulate a diagnosis for me. All I want to do is scream sometimes, I get so frusterated. Hope you're doing ok, I would love some feedback from my post if you get a chance. Otherwise, take it easy, and go one day at a time. I've only been posting for a day or two but I can see already the care on this board. We can help each other out!
 
I have had this done. Not to worry. I guess it's considered an o/p "surgery". Really it's a lot MORE like getting injections in your back and ALL of the literature you can find will tell you that there's NO recovery time (i.e. you should be back to work the next day). I would not go so far as to say that. I got mine done on a Wed. and had my PM doc write me a note to be off work Thurs/Fri (so it wouldn't count against my vaca/personal time--that was our policy). That way I had the weekend too. So it's variously call Radio Frequency Denervation/Ablation/Rhizotomy. Why so many names? You got me. I had 7 on one side and 5 one the other b/c of the extent of my degenerative disc disease. They just use local anesesthia (you have to be able to talk to them)and put in this really thin needle and the tip of it heats up and melts the myelin sheath off the nerve that goes to an area affected by a bulging/herniated disc or entrapped nerve root. They usually use IV Fentanyl for pain as it's somewhat more painful than the test procedure they do ahead of time--or so they say. Neither one struck me as particularly painful in contrast to what I go through every day. The minute I got up and walked away from where they had done the procedure--"Wha-lah--no pain in those areas!" OH! AND THERE'S NO NUrabNESS ON THE OUTSIDE. You wouldn't know you'd gotten the thing done--except that the pain is gone. I turned out NOT to need the time off either. I wasn't sore at all. I'd imagined a more grim procedure. Maybe if I had gone to work I would have regretted it. It would have been different than lounging around, drinking coffee and reading that's for sure! Unfortunately for me, I'm one of those "fast healers" so my myelin has regrown and my pain is back 5 months post-procedure. They say after you have it done a couple of times it becomes permanent. We can only hope.
 
I just had this procedure done on Monday. I don't want to count my chickens but I think it is working. My pain is down to a 2-3 vs a 4-5!!! I think that is pretty good. We will see. I have a follow-up visit with my doctor in 4 weeks. I am going to physical therapy until then. If I continue to fell good, I think I am going to ask my doctor to step me back on my pain meRAB. I am currently taking a LA medicine but am thinking that I may not need this. Hopefully I can get off of pain meRAB all together!!!
 
I totally agree on the issue of wearing a back brace. Unless one really neeRAB it, and then only for a short period of time, they should not wear one.

The idea is for the core muscles to hold up the spine. The spine does not have its own support system outside of the abs. It is the abs that hold you up. As much as it may hurt, and my really hurt right now due to exercise, the abs are ***so*** important in maintaining spine health.

My DO told me to wear the brace until my abs were stronger but, I had to do ab exercises during the time that I wore the brace. If your body becomes dependent on the brace, then you lose the battle.

I had to remove the brace three to four times a day and do abs. Mind you, I did not do sit ups or anything as strenuous as that. I laid on the floor and tightened up my lower abs. Nothing else moved. SounRAB easy, but you have to learn to do it w/o the use of your upper abs, above your waistline. I do those several times a day. Also, I use an exercise ball to tighten the core muscles. This will, in turn, stabilize my spine, someday.

If you learn to rely on the brace, they it does the work for your abs and those go to the wayside as in, "Use it or lose it". Not good.

Back braces, for most, are like casts, just for short term use.
 
:angel: thank you so VERY VERY MUCH for the input but maybe I didn't read what your injury was ?but I AM VERY THANKFUL that you shared your feelings /soul to me . my surgery "rfa" is on the 26th of this month .The injections I had WOW ..JUST thinking about that ..it gives me chills down the spine .I do hope we can REALLY become freinRAB .. I am also taking the ACTIQ LOLLYPOPS. .. ARE Fentanyl 1600 mcg . i had to have an extra thru the injections but as I sit here now .. 5 days after the injections . they are beginning to wear off.but come hell or high water bring the RF on . if I gone thru the terrible stabbing pain bring it on surgery wise please tell me all about your back injury
godbless .....tc
 
Hi, I'm new here and need to ask a stupid question. Is radio frequency surgery the same thing as having a facet block?[/QUOTE]

That's okay, I've been ignored in better forums this this one. I'm gonna have a fecet block on Monday and was just wondering if it was the same thing you guys were talking about. Nevermind. There are other back forums.
 
I have had the RF procedure done on my lurabar spine and I can tell you I will NEVER have it done again!!! It was the most painful thing I have ever had done in my life and I have a very high tolerance for pain! I was not given anything to make me "comfortable" as most of the research I found suggests should be done for patients undergoing these procedures! I felt like I was being nothing short of electrocuted!

It has been 9 months since I had this procedure and my back began to start aggrivating me the past month but nothing I could not handle. Today, I feel like I am being jolted by electrical current and do not know what that is all about. My husband is freaking out because it scares him when I yell out - it is VERY painful! I am beginning to wonder what my doctor did to me:confused:! Sorry if I am scaring any of you that are considering having this done :-( but I figure it is best to let people know going in what could possibly happen!
 
I have the right side of my neck done on the 15th with radio frequency and I didn't have that much pain. The only thing I have is nurabness on the back of my neck. This wednesday I am having the other side done. If this works I am having the lower back done. I am suffering with bone cancer and this is to help the pain I have with this
 
My boyfriend had this procedure done 10 days ago. His dr said that he might have a "flare up". 3 days after it was done we ended up in the emergency room. He said his back hurt more than it ever had before. The gave him a shot of pain meRAB and a prescription for norco. That lasted for 4 days and over the weekend we ended up at an urgent care clinic for another shot of meRAB and another prescription. I want to know if this has happened to anyone else and how long it took for the "flare up" to end.
 
I hope things improve for you, and you won't need to do this a second time. My doc also told me approx. 60% have good success the first time, so that means 40% won't, and some out of the 40% will try again. I still have some post procedure pain (it's been 8 days), but it's much better than the first time around. It's possible to reduce your pain, maybe not completely eliminate it. They hope for at least 50% improvement. I think I have at least that amount compared to a couple of months ago. :)

Unfortunately, I have developed a terrible neck pain issue. It's almost 4 weeks, and it's still not letting up (I posted about this on another thread). It's become such a complicated issue. There is no doubt for me that once you have any kind of back/spine/joint problem, more follow. I've been dealing with chronic back pain since Oct. 2004 after a fall on my lower left side (SI joint). I feel like I finally got somewhere with my back, now I'm starting all over again.

I just found out my adrenal/dhea test came back with no improvement after 6 months, so now I know steroid shots to my neck is out of the question. I'm now on medication for dizziness, bad equilibrium that started slowly with the neck pain, and got progressively worse since the rfa last Friday. Haven't got the neck x-ray back yet (hopefully on Monday). I honestly do not expect them to show anything out of the ordinary. An MRI would be much better, if I can even get approval for one.

Complicated....are the adrenals finally starting to go downhill causing the dizziness, could it be the neck, or did the wrong nerve get nicked during the rfa?? I can relate to the post regarding the insurance problems.....mine has made my life miserable fighting for tests I need.

I hope to get more answers this week. My endocrinologist will be back in town, and perhaps out of the three doctors I see....something will get accomplished!
 
I'm not sure what the facet blocks are...they might be the test shots before you get the RFA. What I had done is where they insert a needle and burn the nerve. It will grow back in 6 months to a year but hopefully I will not be in pain when they grow back. You should ask your doctor or go on the web and find out about these facet blocks. Go onto spineunniversity.com. I think I can mention this website as it is mentioned above in the moderators post.
 
Me Too, I'm also Interested in Radio-Frequency Denervation!

I'm new to Bulletin BoarRAB, so this may be Awkward, at first.
Due to the new Medicare changes, on Jan. 1st., 2006 I lost a good nuraber of my Doctors, as I was forced to join an HMO...a third-class one, at that. But I digress! I've had problems with my Back since approx. 1998, or so. At first, it interfered mostly with some of my Yoga Asanas (Postures); it was mild Back pain, and I could Stand up approx. 1/2 hr. at a time, and it interfered only moderately, with my Life, (I had already stopped Performing by then--I used to be a Musician--and thus only rarely carried heavy things. Back Physical Therapy, did very little, and even after the Treatment I could not return to Yoga. i slowly became less and less mobile, as the pain increased, and by 2000, I was given a Wheelchair, and a Shower Chair, plus had an M.R.I., and had an Epidural Steroid Shot. That was the worst thing I, (in my particular case) could've done. I went from 10 minutes standing up time, to 1 minute standing up,,,just like that!!! The same Doctor suggested I have my L-4 & L-5 Vertebrae Fused. I thought: This Doctor just made me lose 9 minutes standing up time, and now he want to fuse my Vertebrae??? Huh! Huh!!!! I went to get a Second Opinion, from a Neurosurgeon, who found problems with sensation on my lower Extremeties. He sent me to a Physiatrist, to have Velocity and Electrical Studies done. At first, the Dx was: Peripheral Neuropathy, but a month later, on second Tests, the P.N. was gone, and to my knowledge, never returned. Frustrated, and in terrible Pain, I went to a Neurologist, who tested my Brain, and found me to have Aphasias, and A.D.D., but found nothing on my Back. In Desperation, I went to Johns Hopkins to see an Orthopedic Specialist, who also took M.R.I.s, and sent me home, telling me they couldn't do anything for me. By then, I was already a Patient at a local Pain Clinic, and taking up to 40 Mg. Oxycontin/day. I didn't like the Hallucinatory Side Effects, and we searched for alternatives. I was given a TENS Unit, and w/in 9 Months, my Skin no longer responded to its stimulation. I was also doing mild Aquatic Exercises, (for Seniors, I'm 51). Eventually, after an insane Hospital Nurse refused to give me my Oxycontin when it was time to take it, while i was at the Hospital, for an unrelated thing, I went back to my Pain Dr., and asked for something else. He put me on the Duragesic Patch, which starting at 25
 
Back
Top