Herniated.discs

[aprilfog]

Please help!!!!Iam26. year old female with [email protected]. shows weakness in my left leg. MRI does not show any nerves. being pinched. I have numbness down my left leg to the foot.10/325Percocet. no longer helps my pain. They put me.on40mg.oxycontin.and.roxicet.15mg-4xday. They don't want to do surgery, epidural s. don't work, phys therapy is wasteful. What do Ido? I'm depressed,sad, angry, nasty from the medication and I don't. want to take the medications. without them though my pain is excruciating. When I stop the medications the pain ends me. at the emergency room.

[RunningMom]

I know how you feel.  I've had one fusion and the surgeon refused the second.  He only fixed one of the three herniated discs and now my qualitiy of life is nothing.  I live in severe pain every second of my life.  I'm currently looking for another surgeon, a neurosurgeon this time to see if they will fix the problem.

[JadedSweetheart]

I feel so much for you!  My CP started when I was 26, only in my Cervical spine area, and running down my arm, then I have the weakness, serious pain, etc. (Two herniated discs, several more bulging ones, and DDD.  I rarely even mention the bulging ones to people because Neurosurgeons act like they're no big deal.    I have also had doctors tell me that the discs aren't impinging far enough into my spinal cord to do warrant surgery.  I usually leave those appointments in tears because being on narcotic pain meds at a young age is no picnic.  I have desperately wanted to get it fixed, but I recently heard from a member here that they had surgery at a young age and it didn't heal right (hard to remember exactly what happened), but that gave me some understanding as to why they may not want to do surgery right now.  
I'm 28 now and pregnant, so I have a world of new PM problems right now.  You are definetly not alone in being young and in pain, though.  Like others have said, try not to be upset or embarrased that you have to take pain meds.  To me, I can't imagine feeling guilty about taking my meds when I know how absolutely insane it would make me not to take them.
I hope you feel better!

[Tuckamore]

Hello Aprilfog,

Welcome to the Pain Mangement Forum. I am glad that you found us and took the time to post. But I am so sorry to hear the despair in your post. Please know that you are not alone. We are here to support you the very best we can.

I know I must sound like a broken record but have your physicians considered that your pain may be due to SIJ (sacroiliac joint) Dysfunction? It is an under diagnosed, often missed condition. It presents itself like so many other spinal structure problems.

My spinal MRI is not pretty but it is not the cause of my pain. I have SIJ Dysfunction. Once it was found and treated there was no need to even consider spinal surgery. Thank goodness. It's just a thought and you may not have this condition at all. However so many physicians miss it. But I urge you to have it ruled out.

None of us like to take narcotics but when nothing else controls the pain we have little other choice. Don't be ashamed or embarrassed if you require narcotics for pain control. Less than 4% of chronic pain patients ever develop an addiction so please don't be overly concerned with that aspect of pain management. If you take your narcotics responsibly you should not have any issues.

It was very difficult for me to accept that I would have to take opiates for the remainder of my life, or until they find a cure for my condition. But I don't want to spend my days in bed and my nights crying with pain. I want some kind of normalcy. I want to enjoy my family and friends to some degree. Without opiates none of that is possible.

Depression and anger often go hand in hand with chronic pain. Many of us experience the stages of grieving. We grieve for the active pain free person we once were. It's a normal reaction. Have you seen a pain therapist? They can often help you sort through these feelings of anger, loss and grief.

Please stay active in our community. You will find that we feel much of what you are feeling. We've either been there or are there. And please keep in touch. We will look forward to hearing form you again soon.

Take Care,
~Tuck

[runitskat]

I'm in the same boat as you and also 26!. I have a herniated disk at L5/S1 that is not impacting the nerve enough for them to care. As well as facet arthritis in the same spot.I also have weakness on my right side from hip to foot and muscle spasms in my legs. If it's not the nerve I don't know what it is! I'm getting the injections right now and they are not doing anything. Maybe for two days they help but that's it.

I've gone on two antidepressants because of my pain and they do help a little. Maybe you should look into that? I know I'd rather have pain medicine than not have it. I'd take anything that would take this pain away. As far as I can tell there is no cure for chronic back pain. There are ways to manage it but not get rid of it completely.

I would try to get in pain management if you're not already.

[jamlws]

I agree to get a 2nd option, what kind of dr do you go to? Have you thought about going to a pain dr? they can work with meds to get your pain under control and ones that you feel good about taking. I know it is hard to take meds just to feel better but like people on this board has said before, just think about people that are diabitics they need meds to live and people that live in pain also needs meds to live. I hate having to depend on meds to get me thru the day also but i have no choice, my kid deserve me to be the best that I can be.
Best of luck to you,
Jamie

[Shancard]

I would get a second opinion from a Spine Surgical Specialist. I was rear ended recently and I too have herniated disc fro L4 to S1 with a tear and disc protrusion at S1. I have a long history with cervical and lumbar issues. 6 weeks prior to getting rear ended I under went  an Cervical Eclipse Fusion. One Doctor in the world does this procedure. I went to level 8 to 9 to a 0 to 1 pain scale. I was only getting Lumbar injections.
However, since the rear end collision i'm in a lot of pain. I must add that the cervical Eclipse fusion remained intact no problems there.
I have been prescribed the medicine GABAPENTIN  600MG  and I take it 3 times a day along with some other meds. However, the Gabapentin has helped me a lot with nerve pain.

This medicine may not work for you but I would definitely seek a second opinion. Surgery is the last resort when there are no other options. There are other options out there as there are new procedures.