L5-SI back pain - sciatic nerve

[bjquil]

I have an L5-SI protruding annulus - with sciatic nerve damage on the left side (numbness in left leg). I am being seen at a pain management center and am in the middle of havng shots in my back. I have had a total of 4 so far - each one being in different areas.  After each injection they tell me it will take a few days for the shots to take affect, however I hurt worse and the pain intensifies.  The last shots I had were the worst - I know have numbness in the right side - the shot must have hit the sciatic nerve.  Now I have numbness in both legs.  I am taking tramado hcl 50mg and tizanidine hcl 4mg for the pain and muscle spasms.  I have an ulcer and am limited on what I take. Trying to sleep at night is stressful, I wake up every 2 - 3 hours in extreme pain.  I went through PT and that did not help - i was in more pain after wards.
I would like to hear from someone who has similar problems and what they have done.

[idesofmarch]

The only thing that helped me when I had L5S1 ruptured disk into the nerve sac was surgery.  The longer you wait the damage to the nerve gets worse and will take longer to heal.  In my case surgery wasn't done for a year, I had 5 very stupid doctors with 5 stupid opinions, and the damage done to the nerve was mild but never really totally went away. I still have bouts of sciatica 21 yrs after the surgery.  I know there are many great changes now but I don't know of any one who had success with the shots when the herniation went into the nerves.  I have had many shots in my butt and in my back for various reasons and 75% of them did nothing good.  The same for many people that I know that also had the shots.  See a neurosurgeon or an orthopedic surgeon for a consult.  Good Luck to you.

[bjquil]

thanks - i will check with my primary doctor and see what he says - thanks for your info -

[embla_2010]

It sounds like you def need to see a Neuro surgeon due to the location.

Do you know anyone that may know of a good one in your area ?

[StephieBee]

My situation is very similar to yours, except my pain comes and goes.

First, I was wondering if the PM doc you were seeing is a specialist in Spinal Procedures only?  My Rheumy wanted me to see one to get epidurals...but he only did spinal procedures and thats it.

Second, if they numbness continues then Im going with embla on this one...I would find a neurologist.  Maybe a neuro would be able to run some tests to see if there is any nerve damage that would be causing the numbness and tingling.

[bjquil]

the doc i see is a specialist - they did the test on my leg and found nerve damage.  they do a lot more than just back problems - they also do headache problems too.  i'm in the KC area and the place i go to is the headache and pain center.  i just had a check up with my primary doctor and asked him a bunch of questions about the treatments i am receiving.  he said the place is really good and he has quite a few patience that go there - the only thing he did tell me is that the amount of pain i am in that maybe i should consider surgery.  my pain is constant at about a 7 - 10 every day/night.  i have another appt with the treament center this week and i will speak to them about the further treatments, etc.  i'm just tired of being in pain constantly.  my primary doc did give me talwin nx to take instead of the tramadol - he said it is a little stronger and should help with my sleeping at night.  

[bjquil]

i had my visit with the pain management today - they have referred me to a neurosurgery - will have to have an mri done in the meantime and then set appt with them.  pain is still severe - let me know what i can expect.

thanks

[mourningpain]

I have had 5 surgeries on my L5-s1. The first lasted 4 years with no pain.Subsequently I needed another, this time i was not so lucky. Ihad a neurosurgeon, that i trusted very much, I worked with in the ER, I saw this surgeon do a craniotomy in the middle of the trauma,this is unheard of. Anyway, she was definitly qualified to do a simple discectomy. She "accidently" severed my L5-S1 nerve. Leavingmy right leg paralyzed. After I was releasedfrom the hosptial and she left town. I found a really great surgeon and after 3 surgeries he was able to fix some of the damage. The moral of all of this is please please check the background of your surgeon VERY carefully. You never know what your getting.

[bjquil]

thanks for the insight - sorry to hear that you have gone through so much.  i'm a little nervous with all this - i live in the KC area and there are bound to be great docs here - i'll have to check with my primary and see what he says.  i would rather have the myelogram done somewhere else than the pain management center - don't get me wrong they are great it's just they are not in my network and it's really pricey - will let you know what happens next - thanks!

[bjquil]

i am having problems getting my rx's refilled - the pharmacy called the pain mgmt and the nurse called me - i explained to her the way i have been taking the pain meds is not how the doc prescribes them - i also told her that i have informed the doc about this for the last 2 months - she was horrified when i told her i was taking 2 - 3 tramadols every 3-4 hours for the pain and not getting the relief i should - she said she will discuss with him tomorrow and may call my primary doc as i do need to be on something stronger (narcotics!) as the pain has increased over 100%!!  hopefully i can get something to help ease the pain more - before i went to the pain mgmt my other doc had me on hydrocodone and i was on that for 6 months - been on tramadol for 3 months - the hydrocodone did better but i went through 30 (blue tabs - higher strenght) in 7 days - i even told the nurse that - she about flipped -  i think it's about time they actually listen to me -

wish me luck - i only want to be pain free and doing the things i used to do -

[bjquil]

3/22 i have an appt at the hospital to have the myelogram done - then i have an appt on 4/17 to see a neurosurgeon - the pain mgmt center and my primary are in talks to see if they can get me something more stronger than the tramadol until i get into the neurosurgeon - i have the nerve damage in my left leg and now i am experiencing numbness in my right leg (not all the time) i don't mind the left leg but it sure makes a difference when you drive and really don't know if your foot is on the excelerator - luckily i drive a big ford bronco (like OJ's except it's a standard) so it's not like driving a regular stick -

if you have any insights please let me know - thanks -

[spackle]

I had the exact same problem as you. I will tell you what happend to me and let you decide. After 3 years of on again off again pain in my left leg (ranging from moderate to through the roof) and numbness I finally elected to have surgery at "The hospital for special surgery" in NYC. One of the best in the USA. After trying everything from physical therapy to acupuncture to yoga and chiropractic I figured it was the last rational spot. I kept losing jobs because of being laid up from back pain. The doctor would give me a discectomy and a laminectomy. After the surgery my recovery time was quick and pretty painless, although the morphine pump that I controlled probably helped. For the next year I was a new man. Pain free and as good as new. Then one day while riding the bus downtown I started to feel that familiar burning and tingling in my left leg. To make a long story short. The numbness and burning moved into both legs along with back pain from prolonged sitting. My doctors told me it was from nerve damage. Damage brought on by

A) waiting so long to get the surgery done and
B) Scar tissue from the surgery growing around and compressing the nerves.

I am now on permanent disability as I can no longer sit, stand or walk for very long. I am also on Methadone, neurontin and zanaflex. Perscribed by my pain specialist. I have been told  that I will most likely need spinal fusion as I get older. I am now 40 and have been living through this nightmare for ten years. I dont write this to scare you. Everyone has different experiences. I have a freind who had the same surgery for the same thing and is absolutley fine five years out. One thing the doctors did not tell me before surgery and I pass on to you and everyone else is this.

If you are prone to growing skin tags and other skin growths you are at a higher risk of scar tissue problems.

[bjquil]

I am sorry you have such problems.  I just hope mine is not too late.  It started back in June and I have been in treatment since the last week in December - I had the myelogram done yesterday and by far that was the worst thing i've ever had done - once the put the dye in it started burning in my legs then my legs went numb and the muscles locked up - i asked the dr if this was normal and he said he has not heard of anyone complaining about that - i could hardly get out of bed this morning as the pain was so severe.  i will be picking up my test results and CD this weekend and will see the neurosurgeon on 4/17.  I have the same problem as you - i cannot sit very long, have to get up and walk around the office - and i cannot walk too long - the only thing that really helps is to lay down with pillows under my knees and under my feet.  my husband is worried that i will  become disabled - i told him i was going to fight this, we are 46 and have grandbabies and i really want to be a part of their lives -
we do have great medical facilities here in Kansas City, MO - there are a lot to choose from.  I did reasearch the neurosurgeons and found one group that comes highly recommended.

i don't have the problem with scar tissues - at least i don't think i do - keep in touch and i'll let you know how things are going.  Thanks for your insight -

[spackle]

Sorry to hear your mylogram went so bad. I went to a doctor last year to see if anything more could be done for me. He said most likely not and that he would have to do a mylogram to really give me a definate answer but recomended not to do one because it would increase my pain. After reading what you have said I am glad I didnt do it. Hope all your other tests go well. Here is wishing you freedom from pain.

[bjquil]

I can't believe they told you not to have one done as it would make the pain worse!!!  If they had told me that i probably wouldn't have had it done.  i did go by the hospital and picked up the disk with my x-rays and st scans on it.  i have also put a call into my dr to see if they rec'd the diagnosis letter yet.  the dr prescribed lyrica however my insurance denied it as being experimental for the condition being treated (back pain) - i've heard from numerous people that this is great and helps reduce the amount of pain meds taken.  right now i am taking 2 tramadols every 3-4 hours and 1 tizanidine every 4 hours and 2 at night to help me sleep.  sleeping is really a pain - i've told the dr that i wake up anywhere from 2-4 times during the night with severe back pain.  only a couple of weeks left before i see the neurosurgeon.

good luck to you

[idesofmarch]

Ditto the only thing that helped me, my husband and my son was surgery! L5S1 for all of us. Neurosurgeon or orthopedic surgeon will do.

[drnll62]

I have had disk replacement surgery on my l5 s1 and i am still in pain. i just had a fce done and my lower back is swollen and the numbness has tripled down my left leg.could that be permanent nerve damage?

[ZAHID]

I was told to have my MRI taken by E-Surgeon due to back pain which traveled down towards my leg. and foot right side .after seeing the MRI report i was told to have surgery .I had a second opinion result was the same friend of mine took me to see   Orthopedic surgeon his remarks were that i dont need a surgery instead i should take a shot as i was laying on the couch pain was irritating me and  itried to move to one side i heard a cracling sound in my back spine i was in sereve pain Orthopedic S injected morphine injection in my left arm .the next day all pain was gone but leg and foot are still numb its 8 days still no back ,leg or foot pain since then i had seen another E-surgeon who said i dont need surgery but wants me to have another MRI limited plus suger and cholesterol test which i do on monday hope positive results come out

[kencat]

My boyfriend has surgery for a tethered cord on Dec. 17, 2007.  He has pain and numbness in both legs, the pain is so severe at times... they told him to take Neurotin and it has not helped him at all.   Is there any other meds out there or a procedure that would help him, the doctor seems to think he has nerve damage from the cord pressing on his nerves for 3 years.   Can anyone help or offer advice, it would be so greatly appreciated.

Cat

[shortstop7]

Oct. 04, I was moving volleyball steel poles and hurt my back.  Annular tear and herniation in L5 S1.  I have gone through several epi./steroid injections in the disc area as well at the SI joint area.  Pain never went away, but was decently controllable with tramadol.  I had a proceedure done a year ago called IDET to try and burn the inside of the disc to seal the tear.  A couple months ago terrible burning started in my butt, down the back of my thigh, and outside of foot.  A myelogram was done and as a reaction to the contrast (dye) put in my back, it was like my low back especially tailbone area "locked up".  Could not bend forward or arch back.  Myleogram showed L5 herniation, but no significant nerve issues.  Burning seems to get worse, MRI showed tear has not only sealed, but gotten bigger.  They are wanting to do a SI and L5 nerve root block.  I'm scared to death!!!!  For 3 years I have been miserable hoping to die to be rid of pain.  I haven't read much positive about nerve blocks, but I'm desperate for ANY relief.  Can someone please tell me I have a chance at this helping???

[ovenman]

Hi  I had a partial discectomy at L  4-5 in 1992 . Since November I have been dealing with chronic back pain and pain and numbness in my right leg and foot. I was told that scar tissue has formed around the nerve root. the neurosurgeon is suggesting a neuro stimulator From what i have read the success rate is not very good. I would rather he try to remove some of the scar tissue even though I know more would form eventually. Has anyone had this done any advice helpful.

[SHOKI]

MY XRAY L.S. SPAIN A.P. AND LAT. VIEWS; THE INTER VERTEORAL DISC  SPCEES SEEN NORMAL EXCATE SPACE BETWEEN L5/SIAPPEARS SLIBHT OBLITERATED.OSTRO ARTHNHCC CHANGES SEEN IN BOUGHT 5.I.JTS

[bustedgirl]

this is my story, in oct.1989 i went to one of the best neurosurgeons in NYC for a second opinion for my L5S1 herniated disc. I was 35 at the time, working and generally living a normal life. i had severe sciatic pain in my right leg whenever i did anything too strenuous. I got the original injury when my ex shoved me and i fell on the floor when i was 22. Well, when i was lifting my garage door in 89, i felt a familiar shooting pain in my butt and my left leg, and knew i was in trouble. Usually i would have to go on bedrest for a long time before it would subside, but this time it didn't and it got so bad i couldn't even feel my foot. i went for an mri, and the ortho told me i needed surgery or it would never go away. i ended up getting a second opinion at nyhospital cp, and the dr. there said he would do it after a month of pt. Pt. did nothing but make it worse, so he scheduled the surgery for oct.1.1989. it was to be a six to eight week recovery and then i was supposed to be able to resume my life again. It never happened, within a month after the surg. i began to have excruciating low back pain and my leg still hurt.
The surgeon passed me off to pain management and said i fell into the six percent failure rate, the one he never told me about. I had all the usual treatments pain management had to offer and nothing worked, and I was told that I'd have to learn to live with it and more surgery would make it worse. This was all over the course of the last 19 years, and I now live on high doses of opiate pain killers and have had no life since the day of the operation. My right leg got weaker, and caused me to fall many times. I ended up with tears in both my knees in 2002, and had to have surgeries that made the pain worse. Last spring I broke my right leg in three places and it has taken a year to heal, due to the fact I can't rehab fully from the back pain.
Now i am facing a surgery for a different problem that is potentially cancer. The tests I need to take are complicated by the opiate use, and the recovery will be another summer in bed. I have decided not to get any treatment if it is cancer, because it will be a gift to finally end this life of pain. I have no family anymore, they have all passed away. I couldn't maintain a relationship because of my physical limitations, I am financially in ruins living on a pittance from the disability.
I am begging any of you considering surgery to exhaust all the alternatives before you take a step that could potentially end you life as you know it. Once the damage is done there is no turning back, ever. The pain you feel now is nothing compared to the pain of a failed back surgery, it is a searing stabbing constant pain that grips you in the spine and radiates into your groin, hips and legs. I never had any back pain before the surgery, just sciatic. I would trade places with anyone who is presurgical sciatic compared to this hell I have been living in. Please Please don't let these lying doctors talk you into it, and ask them if they'd let their wife or children have it done. See what they say.
All my best to those who are suffering
Bye the way I am now in my fifties and lost all the best years life could have given me.

[suzybx]

My Pain doc gave me:  Lyrica, Celebrex, Ultram ER, Hydrocodone (4 times a day - 7.5mg), Amitriptaline and Skelaxin and NONE of it is working.

I need stronger NARCOTICS and I don't know how to present this to the doctor without sounding like an idiot or drug seeker.  I have never been in SOOO much pain in my life.  My entire left side (leg, back, buttock) is in weird bouts of numbness, extreme pain, tingling, falling alseep feeling....it's horrible.  I can't stand for more than one minute.

How do I get it across to my doctor?  I need the real meds like dilauded or morphine or something major.  I can't life like this.  It's hopeless and if it continues, why live?   I'm serious.

Any suggestions?

Thanks.
Ruthie

[suzybx]

It's me again.  I just want to know how to approach the doctor and ask for REAL pain meds -- not this ultram, lyrica bull taco stuff.  It's not working. Help!!!