cervical fusion

[bdm92]

I had cervical fusion in March of this year, Since then I have just not felt well at all, I have all over muscle pain and ALOT of fatigue, also can not get enough sleep,  my doctor did many tests and all were normal except I had a positive ana, so he sent me to a rheumatologist, this guy says this is secondary fibro, and he does not pay much attention to ana tests.  He gave me some muscle relaxors and pain meds, my question is will this ever get better?

I feel like ****, and the last X ray I had done showed my fusion was not fusing as fast as the surgeon thinks it should be.  I am young and do not smoke, and I am not overweight so why would the fusion be so slow.

This fatigue and muscle pain, and dizziness, headaches, is just starting to be too much to handle.  Any thoughts.

Bdm92

[DBMac]

I had C5/C6 and C6/C7 fusion about 10 days ago. The severe nerve pain I was experiencing was immediately gone post-op. I surmise that any complications which may arise from the surgery will most likely be minor compared to the miserable nerve pain I was suffering prior to the surgery. In other words, the surgery was a success and IF I have some symptoms caused by the surgery I will not be wishing I did not do the surgery. Surgery was necessary and I am glad I had it done.

I expect to need another surgery on my lumbar L5/S1 in the years to come and maybe T1/C7 fused. Prior to surgery I went to a great physical therapist for 20+ visits and had 2 spinal epidurals. This course of treatment did not relieve the severe nerve pain, so my surgery was not without first attempting alternative treatments.

I am 34 years old and have a degenerative spine that appears to be like that of a 50 year old athlete. I have almost every vertebra/disc along my spine with some sort of issue. If alternative treatments do not relieve nerve pain (and opiates do not help at all), then find a top surgeon and get it done. I am relieved to be 95% pain free and was off the pain meds one week post-op. I went into surgery knowing that any time you have surgery there may be some long-term side-effects. For me, this was acceptable because the nerve pain was not tolerable. Nerve pain is so miserable and it doesn't help that pain meds do not directly relieve nerve pain. I had burning in my left arm and left upper back.

So far it appears that my surgeon did a great job avoiding damage to surrounding soft tissue in my neck. He also took steps to make my surgery tailored to my needs. He used removable stitches and filled in the bone taken from my hip with a special material called, Kryptonite (made by Striker?).  

[suzzzy]

3yrs ago more than 3level cervical disc fusion also failed;the bone i had grew slow too;the only reason i knew is because my own bone put into my back grew like lightening compared to doner bone. and i am a smoker and am not young. i did however quit smoking during surgery.
if you can stand the pain,don't have surgery-no guarantees and make the doctor stop and answer every question and every concern you have. if they do not;get a second opinion. normally surgery is to stop pain and keep us working. make sure,that is the idea;and your chances of.
not to mention that you need someone with you at all times after surgery for more than a month.

[DrNoopurMD]

Hi,

How are you?
Muscle pain and fatigue is seen in many patients who have undergone a cervical fusion. The rehabilitation after fusion surgery is a long drawn process and sometimes takes many months.
I would suggest you to seek the help of a trained physical therapist as physical therapy will slowly and gradually alleviate your symptoms.