Back pain HELP!!

[kka264]

In 2008 I stopped walking for 3 months due to a herniated disc leaning on my sciatic nerve.  It was painful but they also said it was weight related.  I got over that and lost almost 100 pounds.  however I find that I get more flare ups lately.  Like right now during my monthlies my back pain IS AT ITS WORST.  I currently am leaning on one side for fear that my back drops out.  I am getting burning on my legs and I feel just awful.  Is this more serious that just nerve damage from a herniated disc?

[femmy29]

Glad to hear you are feeling better and happy to be of some help.  Take care.

femmy  :)

[kka264]

thanks for the information--appreciate it :) feeling much better but I will still get it checked out.

[femmy29]

I would encourage you to get another lumbar MRI completed.  I just got a repeat MRI done for myself and things are much worse than they were 5 years ago.

5 years ago, my MRI showed that I had a disc rupture at L5 that was indenting the thecal sac and a disc bulge at S1 impinging the S1 nerve roots.  Flash forward to today and I now have spinal stenosis, osteroarthritis, ligament thickening, and bone spurs at L5 and the disc rupture has expanded and is now slamming the L5 nerve roots up against the spinal canal.  The disc at S1 is still bulging but now the disc is completely dessicated (dried up completely) and there is a possibility that given more time the two vertebrae will begin to rub together.

When I received my new MRI results, I was shocked that so much degeneration occured over the matter of 5 years.  I wonder what the next 5 years will bring.  Just realize that you can lose all of the weight you want (congratulations by the way on losing 100 lbs, that is fantastic!) but it is still a degenerative disease occuring within your lumbar spine and your body does weird mutations to try to gain back the strength lost in your spine by growing bone spurs along with thickening the ligaments.  The reduction of load on the spine from the weight reduction will help and may slow the degeneration process down but it won't completely stop it.

I didn't have sciatica 5 years ago but now I do and it makes sense given all of the new damage that has occurred.  I have been told any surgeon would perform a 2 level lumbar fusion but I have read horror stories of people coming out with worse pains than they had before surgery and one of them committed suicide because the pain meds wouldn't touch the large amount of nerve damage he had.  You must understand that a lumbar fusion can still be successful without reducing the pain that you have because as long as you fuse 100%, the goal of surgery (i.e., spine stabilization) has been achieved.  Pain reduction is a secondary goal and some people have had great success and have less pain or no pain but for most, the pain levels have remained the same or gotten worse.  If a surgeon tells you he can significantly reduce your pain through surgery, especially a lumbar fusion surgery, I would run out of his office and get a second opinion.  

For me, I have decided that a fusion is not the way to go (at least at this time).  My spine orthopedic doctors both agree that it is best for me to continue all conservative treatments until all fail to relieve my pain before considering surgery and that is what I plan to do.  I also realized that I can't do the things I used to be able to do like clean the whole house and get my son ready for school non-stop in an 8-9 hour period because by doing that, I have inflicted probably more damage.  Instead, I have learned to accomplish things piece meal versus doing everything all at once.  I hope that the changes I make going forward will slow the progression of the disease but who really knows, all I can do is try.  And it sounds like you are taking steps in the right direction to do the same.  I would only recommend that you do have another MRI done as a lot could have taken place over the past 4 years, especially given the increase pain you are enduring.

My back hurts really bad during my monthlies too but I have stopped those through depo provera injections that I receive every 3 months but I remember during the PMS phase of it, my entire back would ache and throb and there wasn't much that would help it except the passing of time.

I do hope you start to feel better.  You may also want to consider an epidural steroid injection.  They have helped me tremendously even though they are temporary and need to be repeated every 3 months.  

Wishing you more days with less pain.  Take care.

femmy