Back Pain Forum - pain 2 yrs after herniated disc back surgery

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Q: pain 2 yrs after herniated disc back surgery

asked by: hugh1976 on February 20th, 2004

New User

I have been suffering from back pain on and off for 7 years. I am 27 years old and had back surgery to remove part of a herniated disc in 1999. The pain went away after the surgery until 2 years ago. Since then I have been in constant pain. Sometimes it is extremely bad to the point where I can't even breathe (that has only happened once since I started taking meds and it was last saturday). Other times it is a lot less intense. Generally it is tolerable with pain medication. I did three months of pt last summer which made the pain worse.

I had an mri done in november of 2003 that revealed a budging disc, a ruptured disc and degenerative disc disease. I had been seeing a neuro/spinal surgeon at the time the mri was done and after he got the results he sent me to pain management. I have been taking 8 percocet 5/325 (2 four times/day), 900 mg of neuronton (300mg three times/day), and two oxycontin 20mg twice a day. I am always in some pain but it is usually controlled fairly well by the medication.

Last weekend I was on a short vacation and was doing a lot of walking. Halfway through the day on saturday my back went out completely. I couldn't move or breathe. I was finally able to get back to the hotel and after lying in bed for several hours the pain was a lot less intense. It was still bad but at least I could breathe easily again. After the pain was under control I got out of bed and tried to walk. I was having severe pain shooting down my leg. I haven't had that sensation since before I had the back surgery in 1999. The leg pain gradually got a little better over the next two days but it hasn't improved since then and I am still in pain. I have also had a severe aching pain in both of my sides since the incident on saturday. The medication isn't helping very much.

When I got home on monday I called the pain management center and told them about what happened. They wanted me to come in to see someone on thursday (yesterday). When I got there they had me see a pharmacist instead of my regular doctor. Is that a normal thing? I have never seen a pharmacist before. Anyway, I told him about what had happened and that the meds weren't working at all. I said that I think the situation in my back had changed and maybe I should get another mri. He said that it wasn't necessary. After I told him that the pain medication wasn't cutting it he told me that I was taking too much already and I needed to cut down on the percocet (from 8/day to 6/day) and completely stop taking the oxycontin. I asked him what the hell I should do for the pain then and he prescribed some patch thing that has a local anesthetic in it. You're supposed to stick in on your back for 12 hours a day. I've got it on right now and it isn't doing a thing. So here I am in severe pain and the doctor lowers my pain medicine doses. I don't get it. I honestly don't care if I get hooked on anything as long as it helps me. If i'm taking it everyday anyway I can't see that it would matter if i'm hooked on it. I just want something to help my pain. I hate living like this!

Has anyone had a similar experience where you were in worse pain than normal and the doctor lowers the dose of you meds? I am so angry right now. Any advice would be appreciated.

Thank you!

Hugh

Replies(5)

Crystal Chanda Leir

replied on March 16th, 2004

Experienced User

Hi hugh,

that is a shitful situation you are in. Actually my husband is experiencing a similar situation to yours. He has ruptured discs in his back aswell as disc degeneration. He is 34 years old and has been suffering for about 6 years. We have now managed to get an appointment to see a neuro but if he can have surgery, he will probably be on a 1 - 2 year waiting list. His doctor has prescribed him with panadene forte for his pain, which does absolutely nothing. He also has shooting pain down his left leg, which is a result of sciatica. Where the bulging discs are pressing on the nerves in the back, and the pain radiates most of the way down the leg. You sound as though you have already had a micro discectomy or something of the sort. I think my husband will be needing that proceedure as soon as possible.

purple333

replied on March 17th, 2004

Extremely eHealthy

Hugh,

i have had back, neck, hip & knee problems starting from birth. At birth my neck was twisted (scoliosis) & stuck - it took 2 years of painful(so i'm told) physio to correct this but it left me with long term neck & spinal pain, my knees started disclocating at age 10 & the knee caps were finally removed (after 2 failed surgeries) at 19, but they caused furthre back plus hip problems & i'm told my lower spine is disintegrating.

I am unable to take the "right" meds for all this but have found mersyndol (not mersyndol forte as it's no better) 4-10 a day, vioxx, once a day & glucosamine with chondriotin (750 & 600grams combined tablet, twice daily) have helped alot.

As to saying that you don't care if you get hooked, you already are & what's more you are your own worst enemy, what the hell do you think you're playing at, do you want to be in a wheelchair for the rest of your life????

Going walking, hasn't anyone told you the basics of dealing with pain, especially back pain - you should not be walking especially alot of it - you get what you ask for when it comes to pain - you be stupid & you pay the price, you be smart & it's alot easier.

That said, I can't understand why you were sent to the pharmacist you should have seen a dr & had an mri - but you do need to cut back on the meds & anyway what's the point of taking them if you're going to go out & do things that cause not only pain but aggravate the problem as well.

The meds I mentioned are under those names here, check on a search engine for what they're known as in the us. Although the glucosamine & choindroitin should be sold there too as they're basically health supplements - but come to me recommended by a Dr.

lINDAp815

replied on March 28th, 2004

New User

I Was Put On Avinza For Pain And It Helped

It helped more than the percocet and other stuff.

But nothing beats finding a doctor who knows what they are doing/saying.

Lots of people with back, butt, leg problems are being misdiagnosed.

Good luck

scotti2000

replied on May 2nd, 2004

New User

Purple,
i think this is a dangerous game you are playing with peoples lives. While I realize your intensions are well, I don't think you realize that some of the things you are offering will not work with everyone, and some could perhaps cause more serious problems. Hugh, when you are standing the weight of your upper body is being supported by your sacroilliac joints, they are stable so you feel no pain. When you sit the weight is shifted to your sacrum and compresses the spine. You have a disc problem. I know you know this and if you have read my other post, and post of others here you will find that drugs (pain killer, anti-inflams, and muscle relaxents) are not the solution. They only serve to destroy your liver and kidneys, creating other oportunities for the doctor. Please find a chiropractor who will find the problem, relieve the pressure, and the pain will subside. Your quality of life is very diminished in that it has effected you ability to breath, this is what I have referred to in my other posts as function.. Not only is it causing pain, by the muscles it serves are affected, and possibly the lungs... I really think that you owe it to yourself to find a different means of dealing with this then the way you have. What I hear you saying is that traditional medicine has failed you, give chiropractic a try...

scotti2000

replied on May 6th, 2004

New User

Chiropractic treatment for a variety of neuromusculoskeletal conditions is gaining wider acceptance among the medical profession. Because students of chiropractic spend significantly more time studying the spine than do medical students, many medical doctors recognize the value of chiropractors as the appropriate source for diagnosis of and first line of treatment for functional disorders of the entire musculoskeletal system.
Medical doctors now categorize chiropractic manipulation with the highest rating: "generally accepted, well-established and widely used." spine, 1991. North american spine society.
"a majority of family physicians (in washington) admitted having encouraged patients to see a chiropractor, and two-thirds indicated a desire to learn more about what chiropractors do." the journal of family practice, 1992. "family physicians and chiropractors: what's best for the patient?" " our trial showed that chiropractic is a very effective treatment, more effective than conventional hospital outpatient treatment for low-back pain ... Particularly in patients ... Who have severe problems." t. W. Meade, m.D.
"the only difference that I can see is that the patients at john f. Kennedy get chiropractic manipulations. And in my experience, the patients at j.F.K. Almost without fail get out of the hospital in a week. At lutheran, it usually takes, oh, not uncommonly, 14 days." per frietag, m.D., an orthopedic surgeon, on why he prefers to admit his patients with back pain to john f. Kennedy hospital, which has staff chiropractors, rather than lutheran general, which does not have staff chiropractors. Manipulative medicine is no longer a taboo topic." norton hadler, m.D., self-described "cantankerous doctor who would have never dealt with manipulation in the past," professor of rheumatology, university of north carolina medical school at chapel hill, time magazine, 1991.
"ten years ago if you practiced manipulation ... You couldn't get published and were never invited to meetings. Now I can't keep up with the invitations." neurologist scott haldeman. M.D., d.C. New york times. 1991.
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