Lumbar L4/5 s1,???

[Denise*661]

Having sever pain. Toes getting numb, shoulder/neck pain, fingers hurting, left arm pain and lots of little more things.
Taking Gabapentin (don't remember correct spelling) and Norco. Im only taking Gabapentin as it helps me a little more than Norco.
I still have pain. Want this pain to go away.
I have done physical therapy and pain just got worse.

Anyone suffers this? What's working or worked to keep the pain away?
Can't sit or stand in one position for over 15/20 min because of the pain.
I see the specialist till the 23rd.

[Dizzygrl]

Do you know what is causing it? Do you think it is related to the surgery?

[TERRI HURST]

Denise i am having the same thing pain relly bad dont know why NY PAIN WAS GAS

[cathbas]

when in doubt CALL the surgeon!!

[Damasyn]

I have had L -2 thru 4 herniations, S1 . I have had 2 back surgeries. I take gabapentin as well. Because it took me almost 9 yrs to get a doctor to listen to me, that I wasnt just wanting drugs - I now have permanent nerve damage on my left side -from butt cheeks down the back of the leg to most of my foot, I cannot feel anything and I do not have control over my ankle. I can walk fairly normal but my ankle does NOT lock, so I cannot wear anything with heels or walk on uneven ground without risking breaking my ankle and/or falling. I walk with a cane now. I am 45 yrs old. :-(

I finally told my Primary doctor 8 yrs ago, that no medication was helping me, I tried physical therapy for 2 yrs, was on Hydrocodone for pain the entire time. I finally told him that I was going to cross the centerline and drive head long into a loaded logging truck. He sent me to another specialist ( not the one that told me I was a horrible drug addicted person and I needed to grow up - 9 yrs previous to me approaching my primary care doctor )
the new specialist said ok, Lets plan on going in and freeing up nerve roots and cleaning things up for ya, should be a couple hours. I woke up 6 hrs later. Upon waking I was told, if I had fallen one good time, my spine was so unstable, I most likely would have been paralyzed . My back is now fused from L-2 to L-5 with steel plates and screws and cadaver bone .

Relief was almost immediate. I hadnt felt that good in so darn long. BUT with that being said, back surgery is not to be taken lightly. Once you have it, you WILL develop arthritis and probably will have to have another surgery down the road, like I did. I am still in pain, but no where near what I was. I dont take pain meds unless i have no other options, I hate taking medication of any kind.

AND when the surgeon gives you after care instructions from a back surgery - do not - I REPEAT DO NOT think you feel good enough to do more than you should. You follow his exact advice Period end of story. Dont be stupid like me and try feeling good a few months out ( given at least a 6 month take it easy rule ) and I tried doing some things i wasnt supposed to and BOOM , my legs gave out, and back in the hospital I went for another surgery. STUPID STUPID STUPID

[Denise*661]

Thank you for your response. I want off the medications! Its also hurting my stomach really bad.
In have an appointment on the 23rd with the surgeon that's the soonest they can take me in.
I'm tired of this pain. This year got worse but this last month just hit me hard! To the point that makes me think twice why should I be suffering so much. I can't live like this. I can tolerate pain really good as I had my all my kids pain meds free! It was so painful bit nothing compare to this.
I will wait and see what my surgeon says.
Thanks y'all!

[SomeGuyJeff]

talk to the doc. i have 3 L2/4/5/s1 - so the pain and numbness is very common. try asking for a TENS unit. its electric stimulation and works well for me... and i am not one to turn down medications when necessary.

[Denise*661]

I actually had that done followed with some heating pads and physical therapy after . Did nothing for me. This was done about 1 year and 4 months ago when this was just starting. My conditions are not even close to what I had then. I could say from 1-10 I was a 3 compare to what I feel right not. There's days that I just feel like heading to the ER and realize that they won't be able to help as they will just drug me and send me back home.
I have my appointment on the 23rd!!! So excited to see him. I'm just tired of feeling this way. I have my CD of my xrays done on 2013 and my MRI that was done a couple of months ago.

[Damasyn]

Yes, I am headed back to the doctor as well. I had my sleeve in November and have noticed a difference in back pain, I attributed it to the weight loss, BUT I now am experiencing severe pain trying to roll over in bed, getting in and out of bed. I havent felt like this since before my first surgery. Havent been sleeping well, I keep waking up because it takes careful planning to roll over onto my other side. People that have never had back pain, never realize how much you move/roll round in your sleep. But once you are hurt, its amazing how many times you wake up screaming because you tried to roll over in your sleep. It makes for a long long night.

And I am losing feeling just below my neck in the spine area...having a feeling of constantly needing to pop my neck/back. I know thats not good

[Luann]

I had my 2nd fusion a couple years back. In retrospect, I wish I had stuck to my guns and only had a laminectomy instead of the lami and fusion. It set me up for even worse back problems about ten years later. I truly believe I would have done better without the fusion. I thought I would be fine since my recovery after my first back surgery went so well, but lo and behold the shelf life of my fusion was only 10 years (as I had learned later was typical). Then the next surgery, and a very poor recovery. Physical therapy & core strengthening along with a less drastic surgery (laminectomy) is what I thought I should have done at the time, & now wish dearly I had listened to myself instead of the surgeons. Maybe they were right & perhaps I would have been even worse off without the fusion, but I have my doubts especially since they don't make $ turning business away.

I would say try everything before back surgery, and think long & hard if you are told you should get a fusion. It may fix everything for a time, but the stress on the vertebrae above and below the fusion is severe. I not only developed the expected problems above & below the level of my fusion - I also developed a scoliosis and my spine was absolutely straight with no hint of scoliosis before the first fusion. My spine films were reviewed by my surgeons & they knew the scoliosis was developing but no one mentioned a thing to me until it was marked at 10 years. I wondered why I had lost 2 inches of height.

[jaimaroo]

Hi there
I have two herniated discs at L1, with one resting right on the nerve. The doctors have all told me that my only option is surgery. I refuse to believe it (even 3 doctors later). I have seen what back surgery has done to my dad and I am just not willing to take that risk yet. I was really hoping that losing the weight would help. My surgery is in a month. Did losing the weight help at all?
I did find going to the chiropractor and having her use the traction machine on me helped a lot. I just couldn't afford to go 3x a week at $25 a visit (especially when you are there for 20 minutes tops).

[Luann]

At least for me, it helped decrease the pain in my feet & knees. I am walking smoother now at a normal weight than at my heaviest, I was starting to get the lumbering gait. My back still hurts, a lot. Likely it would be worse had I not been sleeved. I am 100% certain I would not have been able to lose weight or even stay at the same weight. I was starting to gain at a faster & faster rate, being unable to work out. So while it isn't like it cured my pain, it helped my health overall.