Intractable pain and arachnoiditis

[mitzymomof8]

I am a 48 year old female.  Two years ago I had horrible sciatica.  The pain was worse upon laying down, I could only pace the floor.  For two months I slept with only cat naps as I couldn't lay down long enough.  I began experiencing mild cauda equina (retaining urine and constipation).  I had an MRI and was told the only way out was surgery and "quick before you start peeing and pooping your pants!"  The neurosurgeon performed a laminectomy discectomy on my L4-L5.  I was told after the surgery that the disc had calcified and attached itself to my sciatic nerve, nerve root and thecal sac.  
The surgeon removed as much of the disc material as he felt was safe.  He stated that he did not remove the portion attached to my nerve root and thecal sac as he was afraid of tearing the dura.
Before closing he place 80mg of depo medrol and a slab of gelfoam.
I considered the surgery a success because I could sleep again.  However, I still have some pain in my lower back and left calf with a sort of numbing, tingling sensation that gets worse when I am on my feet for long periods of time.  This last year I have begun to have other sensations develop.  Sometimes I feel as though someone is pressing a wire brush in my lower back.  If I am physically active doing things that require much leg or back strength, the following day my legs are very weak to the point I am unsteady on my feet and my back hurts worse.  Occasionally  I will get the sensation of heat spreading across my saddle area or in my pelvis. Sometimes when I squat or have been walking a lot I feel as though I have stickers in my pants poking my legs.  Lately my neck and shoulders are in burning pain. I still have mild cauda equina.  My MRI showed some disc degeneration and arthritis.  I still have the disc material impinging my nerve root and spinal cord.
I have been reading about arachnoiditis and I can relate to many of the symptoms, however, I do not consider my pain excruciating.  It is constant, it never goes away it varies in intensity and wears on me mentally and emotionally, but it is not excruciating.
Is the pain with arachnoiditis always excruciating?  I plan on getting another MRI, but I'm curious if my suspicions are warranted or not.
Thank you for any info you can give me on this.

[Abhijeet Deshmukh, MD]

Hello.

Hope your pain is less today as you are reading this.

If not excruciating, "sever" and constant/consistent , is the description for arachnoiditis pain.
Your pain could be due to the degenerative disc disease itself. Did the MRI of the cervical cord also show disc degeneration ?

Regards

[mitzymomof8]

Hello,

Thank you.  I have not had a MRI of the Cervical spine as of yet.  Am planning on doing that. My pain is consistent and constant, there is never relief, only different levels.  If I exert myself, the pain becomes severe.  It is only if I take it easy that my pain level is tolerable.  Will the degenerative disc disease cause the other sensations characteristic of arachnoiditis?

Again, thank you for your reply.