Fatigue After Back Surgery

Hello,

I had a cervical laminectomy a year ago to take care of spinal stenosis. (I lost the feeling in my right hand - after 2 MRIs the Drs determined that spinal stenosis/arthritis had caused spinal cord damage).

Since the surgery, I have seen quite a few changes. I am always tired, and my physical activity is limited because of this. My wife has also expressed concerns over personality changes (irritability, loss of sexual interest, lack of focus). I am constantly in pain, but have had bad reactions to most pain meds, including Lortab and Ultram (severe itching, nausea, loss of appitite, inability to urinate).

Is there any good reason why these issues would persist so long after the surgery? I understand that the surgery was necessary to prevent further spinal cord damage, but this has been the absolute worst year of my life. If I had known it was going to be this miserable... I don't know if I could have gone through with it.

Thanks in advance for your help!

[ggreg]

Have your physician review any medications you are still on now, for side effects that may be causing some of your problems.  Keep in mind that any kind of pain will cause you to feel frustrated, tension will build in your body, and you might get tired, angry, and lose focus on account of all that.  Best way to resolve that is to exercise on a regular basis, even simple stretching will do, to release tension.  I know, your physical activity is limited, but with practice you can indeed build it up slowly.  I think you could also benefit greatly from a professional massage therapist a couple times a month, they release tension in a similar way.  And you should have been put in a physical therapy program, where they can teach you ways to move your body to strengthen the muscles that support the spine.  As for pain relief with meds, you have really got to pursue other types of drug relief, there are many categories to choose from, like Lyrica (nerve pain) and Klonpin (tranquilizer/anti-seizure), the latter of which will increase your appetites of all types!

[ccr128]

I had the same experience.  My surgery was in 2004, and I was in pain for a solid 18 months.  During that time, if I carried a gallon of milk into the house, I had pain for a whole week.  

The fatigue was overwhelming, even after I went off all medications cold turkey in 2005.  Each year, the fatigue was a little better.  It was not until 2008 - 2009 that I could say that the fatigue was under control.  

Exercising made it worse and had a reverse effect, and still does if I am not careful.  

I did what the doctors told me to do (exercise), and it made me ill, as well as I was so fatigued that I was nonfunctional.  I have never been so tired in my life.  It would seem that there is a healing process that takes time that we are either not being told about, or that they do not understand.  I still cannot use my arms for lifting or carrying objects over 10-15 pounds without having pain the next day that lasts for up to a week, and yes, I do work out with weights.  There is a physical reason for these problems.  It is not in your head.

I continue to  have migraines and will have to undergo more surgery some day. Again, let me stress that Physical Therapy and Exercise do more harm than good right after surgery.  The best thing you can do is walk, eat well, and get plenty of rest.  You will always have to be careful and pace yourself.  

[ggreg]

CCR, these two posts are three years old.  I would like to respond to you, however.  Obviously taking walks or doing easy stretching (which I suggested) ought to be bearable for anyone, despite pain and whatever else.  I am in pain all the time, and yet I MAKE myself go for brief walks, some go better than others.  And physical therapy just makes doing simple stuff like that easier.  My physical therapy, they taught me exercises that I still do some of them 30 years later, it keeps my back strong.  And this weight lifting you say you do, for gosh sakes, PLEZ don't do that!  What you are reporting to me is a worsening of your original problem or perhaps a new one.  You need to get in for a CT scan with a neurologist or orthopedist, and see what kind of treatment plan they can offer you to straighten you out.  There is no reason to go thru all this pain and suffering all your life when there are so many good medicines out there.

But I will say this in sympathy.  No matter how carefully we tell some docs what it feels like to have pain that affects our entire being, takes all our attention, and creates so much muscle effort just to sit or move that we can barely breathe without panting, no matter how much it hurts, these docs are under some kinda insurance company restriction or drug war law restriction, where if they give a person morphine, for crying out loud (I should have a mainline of it permanently installed with a button I can push), they might lose their license.  So much BS.  I could stand in front of the Supreme Court and just show them a video of me over the next Summer of 300 Years and they will not argue that I need pain relief.

And with good pain relief, a little practice at walks, and of course REAL correction of the existing problems, we can all feel a whole heck of a lot better.  It's either that or for gosh sakes put me in a wheelchair and show me the nearest heroin corner.  I know where you're at, CCR, and I still stick to what I said.  I hope you will listen to me and get some better help than you've been getting.  I've been on that road and it is SO HARD.  If my neuro doesn't help me next time I see him, with CT scan in hand (which already my B&W X-rays show a totally wrecked back), then I'm going to a pain clinic.