Have you tried a tens machine or thought about a SCS, spinal cord stimulator to try and ease you pain?

have you done anything with a pain management doctor?

Do you know if they used BMP with your fusion? If so have the doctors checked into the possibility that some of your pain is being caused by bone overgrowth caused by the BMP and it is pressing on the nerves?

Maybe a lower dose of Neurontin would be enough to ease your pain, and not cause the weight gain and tired feeling.

Neurontin needs to be started at a very low dose and slowly increased until you reach a level of comfort from the nerve pain.

Sometimes it needs to be started with a very low dose of 100mg twice a day and slowly increased over quite a few weeks instead of the usual higher dose and increased even more every couple of days.

I know hat I had to start on the very low dose of 100mg twice a day and slowly increase it by adding 100mg during the day. It was a slow process of increase as I don't tolerate most meds well, but by taking 200mg before I went to bed, 100mg in the morning and 100mg mid afternoon for a total of 400mg gave me the relief I needed, but it took several weeks to get to that point.

I was tired for a couple of days when I first started, then it wore off and I was fine for about a week and a half, then I started to increase the dose and the tired hit me again for a few days till my body adjusted and I was fine. Same thing happened with the last increase for a few days, but I also had enough in me for the nerve pain to go away as well.

By taking the lowest dose possible to relieve the pain, you have less of a chance of the side affects that we don't want to have.

Good luck

Fran

Hi Em,
Nerves do recover if they get a good supply of oxygen and nutrients and aren't under pressure all the time. The fusions deals with stabilising the vertebrae but nothing has probably been done to fix the muscle trauma which more than often causes the pain anyway. It is about taking a holistic approach rather than targeting a weak area or symptom.

hello fellow back friends
yes its a nightmare, i had L5 S1 fusion 10 weeks ago.
i realise patience and time are needed, i just cant live without anti-inflamatories, its been the entire year now since taking meds, but as soon as i go off my entire body - muscles and joints ache, and i get all stiff again, like how i was pre-op...i thought my body was lackiing something, but am on all the supplements and vitamins. my surgeon offers no advice. my physios want to send me to more specialists for more blood test for virus or bacteria. i am so sick of being in pain.
it really is difficult to stay positive. i long for the day to feel normal again.
niki

Myamm
Hey I was facing some of the same surgeries you all have talked about going through. Luckily, I went for a 2nd opinion! I am going to have this newer, less invasive surgery called X Stop. It describes all my symptoms as a canidate, here on the net and the neurosurgeon I saw today is pretty right on, so far as this being a good treatment! Anyone facing a fusion should really ask about this or look it up on the net. There is alotta good info out there!
I have suffered from all the low back pain and ALL that comes with those of us needing a FUSION...but I was too afraid to have the surgery,a fusion of L/4-L/5, after I have seen and heard about how it HASN'T helped! I have been like this since Sept. of 2008, after a semi truck accident. My husband and I drive truck and we were asleep when another truck clipped our drives on the passenger side of our truck. I was flung around pretty good and suffered severe whiplash, mid back trauma and low back injuries as well. I have 6 bulging discs as well as a slipped vertabra.
I too am taking pain meds, searched and tried all manner of CONVENTIONAL treatments-which are FEW and in between. I have had the injections(one thing they NEVER tell you!!-if you are on pain meds the injections will be much less effective OR they may not help you AT ALL!) I did Physical Therapy, Acupuncture, as well as chiropractic treatments. Nothing has helped and I feel worse at times. My pain is an 8 with long periods in the mind bending 10 area. I cannot imagine trading this for something worse!
Anywho. I am going to have this procedure ASAP and will come back and tell you all how it went. I am looking forward to going back to work as soon as I am able. I pray a speedy recovery for you all as well.
My husband suffered a back injury and went to pain mgmt. bio-feedback classes and it really helped him. Mind over matter!
Hangin' In There!

hey! I found a solution - this is Joan from the getting better post above (3 mos. post op with L5-S1 fusion and L5-L4 artificial disc) I was amazed at the difference in my mobility, in just a few days, following the Egoscue system - guys, you gotta try it - after only a few days, I can bend down, get up and down easier, my quads are bulking up, pain level significantly down, sometimes all gone without meds, sleeping way more comfortably even on my side which I couldn't do before; The best part is, I now know what I can do and how to improve. I found them on the internet about 3 weeks ago and, upon reading their philosophy, I just knew that it made sense - they taught me to realign long-term imbalances that meant my muscles weren't working right - the down side is that I devote one and a half hours a day to this, but, it's worth it to me - next week I'll be stqarting on my nordic track that I haven't done for years - If you want to get better, you have to do the work! Look up
egoscue online. Hope to hear you all are feeling better - it's real hard what we're all going through-
love to you all

Sigh... life with back pain - is there nothing worse? I'm sure there is but I'm hanging by a thread these days. I am 33, I had my 1st surgery in March 2008 (a discectomy). I was doing well for a few months until the pain came back something fierce in August 2008. My surgeon decided to do a spinal fusion, he removed my L5/S1 disc, inserted some hardware, including screws & posts (not sure of the specifics). I had the surgery in April and the surgery & first couple of months went well. Fastforward June, I started having pain that worsened day by day. I'm not sure if I did a wrong move, if I've done too much, bent, twisted, WHO KNOWS, I can't remember. But the pain I have now, is a pain I haven't had in a LONG time. It's worse then I can ever remember. The pain is the worst when lying down & trying to get up. I cannot turn over in bed by myself, I cannot get OUT of bed on my own. And when I finally do manage to sit up, it takes me a good 3-4 minutes to straighten up. I am literally screaming out in pain. It's pure agony. I used to have nerve pain in my right leg and now I have it in both legs. I have shooting "sparks" through my entire lower body all the way to my feet. I am with a pain clinic right now who have increased my pain medication and even with Oxycontin (20mg, 3 times a day), the maximum dose of Lyrica (300mg, twice a day) and a muscle relaxant, I am still in ridiculous amounts of pain because I have no pain relief. I am starting to get depressed and starting to shut myself out (I suffered a depression in 2003 so I know what it feels like) and I'm terrified. I have an appointment with my surgeon on August 5th where I'll have an x-ray done and hopefully some answers. I'm sharing my story with you for 2 reasons. First is to ask if any of you experienced what I'm going through and if so, why is the pain so bad and does it go away? Please tell me it goes away. And secondly, I want to tell those of you who have not had the surgery, that don't let my post scare you. The surgery can be quite successful just as long as you heal properly and watch your movements. Even if you feel like you are OK, remember that it's the pain medication that's masking the pain and that you are STILL HEALING. It's quite an invasive surgery and you need to follow their instructions. Like I said, I don't know what I've done. I don't know, maybe all this is normal. But I won't lie, my gut is telling me that something is wrong. Sigh... Gotta keep positive (I say that on the outside just to appear like I got myself together....

Good luck to all of you & thank you for reading my story.

Jen, please check out the egoscue methodology - they are seting me up for a proper healing through aligning my body properly- It has given me control of the pain issues, allowing me to move my body with far more range now and alleviating muscle generated pain, which is probably what is giving you tha main issues. A search on internet will get you there. For starters, look for the book called "pain free" . I'm pullin' for ya!!!!
Joan

Hello everyone. I see that many people suffer terribly after spinal surgery.
I had a spinal fusion at L4/L5 on May 11 2009 with 2 rods, 4 screws and a cage. It is now 10 weeks and I still have pain in my left leg. I am having difficulty sleeping and most nights I can't sleep at all. I thought I was getting better until the other day after stumbling while walking I developed a sharp pain in my back and left leg that won't go away. I hope I didn't damage something permanently. I too am wondering how long before I start to feel better. The pain meds from the Dr make me sick and constipated so I take them very little. I wish I could get a good nights sleep. I've tried muscle relaxers, lorazepam, over the counter sleep aids, diphenhydramine, melatonin and nothing works. The Dr said that he irritated the nerve a lot during the surgery and that I would feel tingling in my foot for quite a while however he said nothing about the leg pain which I am experiencing.
Does anyone have a good story to share about finally recovering after surgery? I need some good news to have something to look forward to.

HI Alicia I am now 4 months post op (L4/L5 artificial disk and L5/S1 fusion) It certainly is a roller coaster both emotionally and physically, isn't it? I thought it would be a 2-week-and-back-at-full-speed deal - Instead I have found that the pathway is one that you must adjust to and evaluate every day, finding what works for you and allowing yourself the grace to heal in your own body's time; There is no sense in being hard on yourself so drop that emotional baggage if it plagues you. Here is my plan that seems to have made the way easier: First of all, do whatever you have to to be able to sleep!!! For me it was discovering the wonders of Benadryl - 2 put me to sleep. A few times I took another dose in the middle of the night. Sleep is critical cause it interrupts the focus on pain. Get 12 hourts a day if you can. Maybe I would only sleep for 90 ,minutes to 2 hours at a time but I would at first do it WHENEVER I could to get the most hours I could within the 24 hour period..Another good remedy was the Advil PM which contains the same ingredient as Benadryl as well as the pain meds - this allowed me to drop that horrible Hydrocodone. (Be sure to eat something with the pain meds - I used a lot of the drinkable yogurts thingies)

Next here are some markers on the path::
Step 1. Try to find the place of no pain with medications.
Step 2. Try to find the place of no pain without medication or less medication
Step 3. Now under the guidance of a physical therapist, begin to stretch out those very cramped up muscles, which are the source of so much of your pain - I was shocked how much pain went away when I began a systematic stretching. It also made me feel more normal by reintroducing me to normal movement again. If you don't have a PT, there is a wonderful system called "Egoscue" that will reorient your body mechanics beautifully. Look it up on the internet - buy one of his books like "Pain Free" and DO IT.
Step 4: walk as you are able, beginning to strengthen your quadruceps especially. Your surgeon has given you the "reconnection" so that your nerves will now communicate properly with those muscles. Walk them, not to exhaustion, just a little under what you feel you "could" do.

About that constipation, get some magnesium capsules at a health food store (Swanson Vitamins on the internet is the best source - I buy the Triple Magnesium Complex from them)and take them. They always work - I take about 5 before bed and they never fail - Oh and drink water.)

Please read the posts I put above for some other tricks that have really helped -

I still am requiring extra sleep time and must move more carefully, but I see amazing improvement and so hope you will as you walk these weary weeks of lonely recuperation. God knows all about how you suffer in this and the tears you cry at night when no one else sees. He is the great physician of our bodies and our souls as we trust in Him for our life and eternity. I'll be asking Him to heal you and for you to know His grace.
Love,
Joan

I had a spinal fusion on April 17, 2009 on L3,L4,L5 & S1. I am now almost 4 months post op and still feel crappy! I CAN stand up straight now for a short time but I can't laugh, cough or sneeze without feeling like something is on the inside of me trying to punch its way out!. I hurt SO bad and get tired of complaining because everyone says, "Well atleast you do feel a lot better." Says Who? Yes I stand straighter but no one can tell me that my feet don't hurt until they've walked a mile in my shoes. (which is impossible) I am only 32 and am depressed beyond belief! I am sick of taking medications and the Dr. had the nerves to lower my dosage on me. When I take my pain meds, I feel good enough to sit on the laundry rm floor and do a load of laundry and when the meds wear off, boy do I pay for it dearly. This surgery was supposed to make me feel better and I have yet to see that day. I walk around like somethings stuck up my butt or I'm 20 months pregnant. Not a pretty site! I can't work because I was a letter carrier and this surgery limits me too much. Everything I own is about to get repo'd (including the kids! lol) and SSA wants to deny me benefits. I have always been a "go-getter" and this only makes me want to "go get" in the bed. This is for the birds I will say that.

What I did on my Summer Vacation.

I am 55 years old and very active (when I am not injured).

Surgery:
I read all the painful results of spinal fusion on this website. Almost chickened out of the the surgery. Talked to my Neuro Surgeon about reabsorption of disc material. He laughed at me and said that 20mm of disc excrusion was not going away by itself and it is a wonder that I have not caused permanent nerve damage.

I had the surgery on August 14th 2009 it lasted 7 hours. Previously I have had 2 discectomies at L4/L5 (2002 & 2006). There was not much disc material left. The material that the MRI showed compressing my spinal nerve was not the usual ruptured disc material. The ligament surrounding the disc had been pounded down by the L4 and L5 bones banging together. The surgeon said the material had a consistancy like a plastic spoon. It was difficult to remove. He was not able to fit a cage into the space. He put in 4 pedicle screws, 2 titanium rods and filled the area with bone material that he drilled from by hip. He managed to do this all from one opening about 7" long.

Recovery:
I spent 3 nights in the hospital. Not too bad in La Jolla California with a window overlooking Torrey Pines golf course. I was able to walk around the ward with I walker the next day. The 2nd day I walked without a walker (slowly). Before I left I was able to walk up stairs gingerly. The told me that I could only lift 5 lbs. and only walk 20 minutes 3 times a day. Told me to take two 10 mg Percocets every 4 hours. The nurse told me that patients who didn't take the Percocets usually wound up frozen in pain and unable to move in bed. I followed all the recommendations except for the Percocets - tossed them after 2 days. It is easy to see how the pain could be immobilizing, but my head felt much clearer. My wife said that I stopped saying all the dumb stuff. The first few days home I could only walk about 1/2 mile in 20 minutes. My wife or kids would walk with me. By the end of the week I was covering over 1 mile in each of the 20 minute walks. Yeh it hurt but each day felt better. The back pain turned out to be the easiest part of the recovery.

Every year or two I get a gout attack. Not sure why. My uric acid level is normal. But I never had gout in more than one place at a time. I week after the surgery I had gout in my left big toe, my right big toe, left ankle and right knee. The neuro surgeon said that I could not take any NSAIDs (would mess up the early stages of fusion). The podiatrist that I went to said, Wow this is going to be a problem. I had ice packs everywhere. We finally decided that I should take Colcocine. It helped but the dose level that I needed has side effects similar to arsenic.

Well it's been 4 weeks since the surgery. My toes still hurt but I can walk around. My doctor raised my lifting weight to 10 lbs and told me not to sit for more than 30 minutes. So I am back to work today. Good thing I have run out of vacation/sick time. While at home recuperating I often spent 5 to 11 hours on teleconference anyway.

What did I accomplish? I read Ayn Rand's "Atlas Shrugged", wrote an interpretation of James Joyces "Finnegan's Wake", worked on some blues riffs on my guitar, saw all of Kurosawa's films twice and hopefully solved the lumbar problem that's been plaguing me for the past 30 years.

I certainly sympathize with many of the other fusion patients on this site who are having difficult recoveries. But I thought that it would be important to understand that quite often a lower lumbar fusion can go pretty smoothly. There will always be pain after the surgery. There will always be some kind of complication. But odds are in your favor that you can get your life back.

After 3 years of trying everything and anything, including significant quantities of Methadone 5 MG and Hydrocodone 10 MG, I located the Co-Chair of Spinal Surgery at Johns Hopkins who fused L5/L4 exactly 2 weeks ago today.

It is early but so far so good. I have already been able to reduce my pain meds by 25%. Tomorrow, a bone stimulator machine or jacket arrives that I will wear 3 hours a day for at least 3 months. It has to be easier than the brace I had because it is supposed to fit much more comfortably plus I can lie down with it on.

I do not have a great deal of detailed information yet as I do not see my surgeon for the first time post surgery until next week.

I do know that they made 2 incisions about 1/2" on either side of the spinal column, and that titanium screws/bolts were used.

During physical therapy in the hospital, I was carefully instructed in the no bending, no twistng and light lifting only (a gallon of liquid). And no driving, all for about the next 2 months. I was told again, and again that the quality of my recovery very much depended on doing what I was taught, and doing it consistently. My future, in significant part, depends on doing what is good for me, which I have never been good at previously.

So I am feeling much better after surgery with less meds. Lots of physical therapy and swimming will have to wait a couple of months. I am 64.

Ken W

my husband just had spinal surgery fusion with his own hip bone (oweeeeeee), and he feels immediate relief from the chronic herniation of his l5S1 that happened 19 years ago!!! finally it compressed and we went to a spinal center, and he is allot of pain, but does not feel the siatica pain. How ever does any one knw if heat will help his hip that they took the bone off of? please let me know. Make a diary of your conditions and you can prove to your doctors whats going on.. keeep all xrays on disc, for u.. god bless you and i will be praying for you ww

I have been often told that you can always use "cold" and be fine, but using "heat" is sometimes a problem. I have used only "cold" for many (over 10 years) but I am a layman, not a Dr.

Moist heat can be extremely helpful to relieve pain, as can cold. Once there is no risk of bleeding of any kind from surgery, the choice becomes that of the patient.

Ice numbs the area for brief periods of time, where as moist heat loosens up the muscles and helps them relax and that relief can last a long time.

If your husband's doctor says that moist heat will be fine to use, then he should give it a try and see if helps him.
The key is to use moist heat so that it will penetrate into the muscles. Using just heat does not provide the muscles with the heat that is needed.

A simple way to provide moist heat is to make your own "rice sock".

Take a long cotton tube sock and fill it about half way with the cheapest white rice you can buy, DO NOT USE INSTANT RICE OF ANY KIND.

Once the rice is in the sock, tie the open end with a knot. then spread the rice through the sock till it is flat and heat in the microwave for about 90 seconds.
Take the sock out and spread the rice flat in the sock on top of a hand towel. wrap the sock in the towel and apply to the hip.

Be careful not to leave it on too long, so as not to burn the skin. The rice will keep warm for quite some time.

You can continue to reuse the rice sock over and over again for several months before you need to untie the sock, toss out the rice that has turned brown, wash the sock and remake.

Good luck

Fran

thanks friends, my hubby has no scar from the harvesting as they did it internally, so i imagine it is so sore, even the nurses were shocked as this is a new procedure here in canada. But his back is feeling great, so far. He just my personal grizzley bear right now lol He gets his staples out on monday. I just pray to god that this works, as 19 years with a herniated disc, is brutal.. god bless you all and thanks again wanda

hi all, could i ask for any updates on how youy are getting on? i had spinal fusion on 23rd march 09 not sure which disks but i had 3 done in the lower spine with a trial technique using a tapered bolt aprox 3" long 1/2" wide inserted from the base of the spine up the centre & 2 2" screws screwed in at angles from top down in my back to secure things, previous to my op i had been on a cocktail of drugs inc tramadol & diazapan all in large doses till my kidneys started shutting down along with other organs so i finally got re assesed and put on oxycontin 20mg twice daily which balanced the pain to a suitable level. since my op i'm now on 30mg oxycontin twice daily plus oxynorm liquid 10mg every 4 hrs and this is not helping, i struggle to sleep with pain & the usual nightmares you get on these drugs & and constantly burning up i have to change my shirt 3 times a day with sweat from the pain, i'm now 6 months post op & the surgeons seem to think the op was a succsess apart from the pain, occ i try to stop my meds incase some of it is side effects but when i do i just want to die due to the pain i'm in, i have taken myself up to 40mg oxycontin which stops the pain but i fall asleep every 2 minutes on that dose! any suggestions welcome

oh i so feel for you billymc23, my husband just had his done a week ago and they used bone from his hip. U should know that when on oxycontins, u can build a tolerance to it, so don;t go over your dosage, with out consulting your doctor. I noticed my honey twitchs allot on that med, he got out and walked i told him what lastcall said and we walked the block today and did stairs 7 days after surgery.. do you know if your ok wearing metals? R u running a fever? check with your doctor about a med called tridural is a long acting med for chronic pain. i will keep you up dated.. oh and of coarse the surgeons think the surgery is a success, u should seek a 2nd opinion. write a diary of everything that has happened, keep track of meds, pain, exercise, triggers of pain.. the sweats maybe from the oxy as my hubby is having them now. r u smoking, that is a serious deterant for healing.. good luck ww

I am having surgery on 11/23. In the meantime, I am still dealing with pain management as I have been for the past year. I have had a hard time finding something that actually helps with the pain and does not cause my heart to feel like it's beating out of my chest. So far I have been on Darvocet, Dilauded and Percocet. None have helped much for the horrible pain in my butt and left leg, but the Dilauded took the edge off a bit. However, it caused my heart to pound, sent my anxiety soaring and am lucky if I get 3-4 hours sleep. I don't even take it as much as prescribed, because I'd seriously rather be in pain than constantly feel like I'm about to have a heart attack. Has anyone else experienced this, and is there anything out there that can help me cope with the pain without all this nonsense while I wait for surgery? I need to find something that works prior to surgery, that I am going to be comfortable taking post-op as well, and time is running out. Any thoughts on this is greatly appreciated, as I would like to go to my next pain management appt armed with some knowledge and possible alternatives to suggest to my doctor. He doesn't seem to be hearing me on the whole heart pounding thing, as he keeps prescribing stuff that all do the same. Thanks! Kara

Kara:

Sorry to learn of your pain. I have taken Clonazepam (lowest dose) for two years for muscle spasms and slight left leg pain due to completely degenerated disc and mostly degenerated disc at L4/L5 and L5/S1 respectively. Fortunately, my spine has remained stable with no severe pinching of nerves, therefore Docs say surgery (fusion or decompressive) would not be indicated for my condition and most likely would not alleviate my pain. Since taking the lowest dose of Clonazepam once daily and having a laser thermal ablation of my Facet Joint nerves at the lowest three lumbar levels, I have achieved 90% relief from the back and leg pain that plagued me and have been able to do and enjoy almost all the activities I undertook before my L4/L5 disc completely collapsed. A single dose of Clonazepam seems to relieve my residual pain for 30 hours, but I take one pill once every 24 hours each morning. Ask your Doctor if something like Clonazepam, which can work as a muscle relaxant and pain perception modifier (somewhat like Neurontin but without the extreme drowsiness), might help you.