Nerve Inflammation

[nana122768]

I have had low back pain that goes down my right leg for 6 months. I have done Physical Therapy exercises, but that increases the pain. I have had an MRI, EEG (which showed a problem with the nerve), two steroid injections (neither worked), CT Myelogram (which showed inflammation of the nerve), another MRI (this time with contrast, which also showed nerve inflammation). The Neurosurgeon that I am seeing is telling me he's see's no reason for the inflammation, I have DDD and a mild bulging disc but it's not touching the nerve. He is telling me there's nothing he can do to help me. I am 43 years old and I love playing with my grandchildren and being active. This has limited my ability to do pretty much everything for any length of time, besides laying down. I have no desire to take pain medications and I have tried an anti-inflammatory medication with no success. Should I seek another opinion? Or what are my options since I have had all this testing done and they aren't finding a reason for the nerve inflammation?

[nana122768]

I have tried pain meds, anti-inflammatory meds and steroid injections with no success. This is what the MRI W/Contrast showed:

On the sagittal images there is disc space narrowing and desiccation at L4-5. The remaining vertebral body heights and disc spaces are maintained. There is some mild degenerative endplate change at L4-5. The remaining marrow signal is normal. There is no evidence of abnormal enhancement.  Axial images were then reviewed. T12-L1, L1-2, L2-3 and L3-4 are normal. At L4-5, there is a mild disc bulge with minimal foraminal narrowing and minimal impact upon the canal. L5-S1 appears unremarkable as well. Of note, the last disc space is labeled as the L5-S1 disc space. This appears to be slightly hypoplastic and I believe there is probable sacralization of the L5 vertebral body.

So what would you suggest my next option would be since I have tried all of the suggested routes for this problem?

[Dr Sharma]

Hello and welcome to the medhelp forum. I understand your concerns and dilemma well. The degenerative disc disease and the mild bulging disc could have caused the nerve inflammation during different spine positions when the disc could be touching the nerve root. Another possibility is a pinched nerve when there is a possible injury from constriction, stretching or compression. The involved nerve usually heals from top to bottom, over weeks to months, depending on the damage done at the time of impingement. Your physician needs to give you medication to relieve the pain and letting the nerve heal on its own. Discuss with your neurosurgeon if he thinks an epidural injection of steroids under fluoroscopic guidance would help reduce inflammation. Discuss any role of a decompressive back surgery. Best wishes and regards.

[nana122768]

I will go get some after work today and give it a try. I'm open to anything at this point! Thank you!!

[allmymarbles]

I had sciatica about 20 years ago. Nothing seemed to help. Not even acupuncture. I never had the battery of tests that you had. But I decided to try different vitamins that were specific for nerves. B6 did not work. But B1 was magic. Try taking 100 mg. about three days in a row. If that does not help there is no harm done.