SEVERE HEADACHES AFTER C5-C6 SURGERY

[aussienut_72]

I HAD C5-C6 DISC REPLACEMENT IN APRIL 2009. I DID REALLY GOOD FOR ABOUT 6 MONTHS AND I STARTED GETTING HEADACHES AGAIN. I'VE BEEN BACK AND FORTH TO SEVERAL DIFFERENT DOCTORS SINCE THEN AND STILL NO BETTER. THEY'VE DONE X-RAYS;TRIGGER POINT INJECTIONS;CORT-SHOTS;AND JUST LAST OCT THEY DONE SOME NERVE BLOCKS. MY NECK AND RIGHT SHOULDER IS VERY SENSITIVE TO COLD OR TEMPERATURE CHANCE CAUSING PAIN AND ACHING AND IT TRIGGERS HEADACHES AS WELL. HAVE PROBLEMS SLEEPING BECAUSE OF HEADACHES AND THEN WHEN I FINELY DO GO TO SLEEP IT ALMOST A GUARANTEE THAT I'M GOING TO GET A HEADACHE AS SOON AS I WAKE UP. THE MORE AWAKE I AM THE WORSE THE HEADACHE BECOME. THE HEADACHES ARE ALWAYS IN THE BASE OF MY NECK AND THE BACK OF MY HEAD. AND I'VE STARTED HAVING THIS WEIRD SINUS DRAINAGE AS WELL. CAN ANYONE PLEASE HELPPPPP??????? I'M TO THE POINT OF TAKING MY HEAD OFF AND USING IT AS A BOWLING BALL; AT LEAST THEN IT WOULD HAVE A REASON TO HURT.   ANY IDEAS; SUGGESTIONS; ADVICE; JUST SOMEONE HELP????????  

[aussienut_72]

YEAH IT DOES HELP SOME WHAT TO LAY DOWN BUT IT DOESN'T ALWAYS TAKE THE PAIN OR HEADACHES AWAY. I KNOW WHEN I WENT THROUGH PHYSICAL THERAPY AND THEY DID TRACTION ON MY NECK NOW THAT WAS AWESOME. THE TRACTION TOTALLY RELIEVED THE HEADACHE. I WENT IN ABOUT 2 WEEKS AGO AND HAD A CT SCAN DONE AND THEY SAID IT COME BACK NORMAL. SO THEN THEY DECIDED TO DO MORE X-RAYS AND THEY CALLED ME SAYING THE RESULTS SHOWED SEVERE STRAIGHTENING OF THE SPINE. FOR WHICH IS COMPLETELY THROWING ME WAY OFF BECAUSE I'M NOT UNDERSTANDING WHY THIS WASN'T FOUND LONG AGO. REASON BEING IS I HAD X-RAYS BEFORE THE SURGERY I DON'T KNOW HOW MANY TIMES AND SEVERAL AFTER THE SURGERY AS WELL. SO NOW THEY WANT TO SET UP AN APP WITH A EAR,NOSE & THROAT DR. AND NOW I'M EVEN MORE LOST. WHAT DOES THAT KIND OF DR HAVE TO DO WITH THE SPINE? I'M CLUELESS. I FEEL LIKE A GUINEA PIG TOSSED FROM 1 DR TO ANOTHER  

[horselip]

Usually the for a csf leak they start by doing a lumbar puncture to test your pressure. That is if your symptoms fit. Do you feel better when you lie down or have caffiene? There is another test called a CT myelogram that they sometimes do where they inject your spine with a special nuclear dye and then take pictures over a course of three days to see if the dye shows up in places where it should not.
I think CT's are not an issue with metallic objects, but not 100% sure.
Horselip

[aussienut_72]

IS THERE ANY WAY TO TELL IF THERE IS A SPINAL LEAKAGE? AS FOR ANY OTHER TEST THEY HAVEN'T DONE ANYTHING OTHER THAN X-RAYS. I WAS TOLD AFTER I HAD THE SURGERY THAT I COULDN'T HAVE AN MRI DONE ANYMORE DO TO THE METAL DEVICE THEY PUT IN MY NECK. I'M TOTALLY LOST NOT SURE WHERE TO TURN OR EVEN WHAT TO DO ANYMORE. ITS CAUSE EXTREME PROBLEMS AT HOME; I'VE LOST MY JOB OVER THIS BECAUSE THE DR PUT ME ON PERMANENT RESTRICTIONS. MY LIFE IS COMPLETELY UPSIDE DOWN

[horselip]

Two things that can think of aside from nerve damage are:

1. Could you have a Cerebral spinal fluid leak, and are you getting spinal headaches? Is the sinus drainage csf fluid? I've had several leaks and now have an intermittent one. My headaches tend to improve when I lie flat.

2. Chiari Malfornation- simplistically the back part of your brain is trying to mash itself down into your spinal canal....maybe a result of that surgery that you had, things got moved around?

You could ask your neurologist to rules those two things out. If you hit a wall, or feel like a fresh set of eyes are needed you might look to finding a new NL?

Hope this helps-
Horselip