Welcome back Hipshot. Glad to hear the back is better!

Happy to hear things are going well for you Hipshot, welcome back!

New Life to this old thread
 

I am no doc or medic, just talking about my personal situation here. I agree with all of the previous folks as far as ways to combat lower back pain. Weight control, fitness level, core strength, shoe inserts, inversion table, massage..... all good things and definately things to do before resorting to the surgical options.

I just had the same surgery (fusion at L5-S1) that Hipshot had done. I had the surgery done at Walter Reed just over 3 weeks ago and so far, so good. I was able to walk 4 miles today and get some stretching done and am down to very small amount of pain meds.
The reason I wanted to revive this thread is that I have been mis-diagnosed since at least 2003 when I had my first MRI done. I have endured every medication previously mentioned and a couple more (Tramadol takes away your manhood and my wife made me stop taking that one). I have had PT, injections, shoe inserts, massage, acupuncture, and more.
My pain doc at Womack finally figured it out. The diagnosis from the MRI's was always incorrect because my problems were caused by the instability or movement between L5-S1, pinching nerves and grinding bone and basically being a major pain in the ass. When you get up on the table to get an MRI, they give you a pillow for your head, and even stuff one under your knees and everything is perfectly unweighted and aligned.
Once I got X-Rays in twisting and weighted positions, the neuro guys suddenly thought I had a major problem and needed immediate surgery.
If your having these problems and your doc does not order X-Rays of your back in multiple positions, pitch a fit until they do it. It made all the difference for me.

WDC,
Don't know if they are in your area of the woods but there is a group that streaches the back ,looks like a torture rack!Patient is hooked up to a computor with a chain,computor is fed info,you are in recline position & computor slowly tightens chain & you get streached.It used to be called "Back to Back" .Ck it out it works,I did it years ago.Hope this info may help.
Take care,
Jim

Axeman,

I've been batteling lumber and nerve root pain for decades. Documented L5-S1 disc herniation with very little space left between the vertebra. I've had x-rays, CT's and MRI's. Each study calling for an MRI, also included a Lumbar X-ray series. MRI is a great tool for soft tissue studies, X-rays are better bone studies, IMHO. I've never considered surgery as a option simply besause I have no clinical neuro findings ( muscle wasting, loss of bowel or bladder control). I too have lumbar and radiating pain as Broadsword describes. If you consider the anatomy of L5-S1 and look at the position of sitting in a car seat, it promotes the action of L5- sliding anteriorly ( forward), and creating some nerve root issues along with back pain. Happens to me all the time.

In July I had a syncopal event related to my cardiac meds. Fell pretty hard and blew out L1-L2. Diagnosis was made with X-rays and MRI. Pretty clear rupture, but still in all I've been able to manage with conservative treattment. I am a firm believer in Physical Therapy. I go religiously, and do everything they tell me to do, the way they tell me to do it. It's not easy being on the other side of the treatment team! With posture and core training, many things get better with time and work, at least for me. I'm finding I have to really think about what I am going to do and just how to do it. What usually gets me in trouble is some simple little thing; like pulling on some socks, or twisting just a bit to pick up anything.....bang, big mistake....get the ice...get the Motrin...use your head!

So much for my woes., and my $.02.

Be Well!!

RF 1

It's been a while since I updated my condition here, so, here goes...
The surgery went well, and other than pulling a groin muscle on the last day in the hospital, I got home with no other problems. I had to get a lift chair to get my ass up and down, and actually slept in it for a few days. After a few months of recovery, and taking all the meds and health suppliments recommended by the doc, the pain of the surgery went down, and the back pain returned.

The doc said that there were three possible outcomes to the surgery, either I would get better, stay the same, or get worse. I guess I stayed the same. Now I have two hollow "bolts" where my L4-L5 disc used to be, with flexible rods and screws. The pain is exactly the same as working a full day, and getting home before the surgery. Quite depressing...

The quality of life was getting pretty bad there for a while, and listening to my 6 year old daughter describe me as "grumpy" got me motivated to fix the problem in any way I could. Watching the waif and daughter go out shopping on the weekends, and leaving me at home because I can't take the ride...

So I met with the family doc last year and told him everything I was going through, and that something had to change. We had the MRIs, X-rays, and every other test, and no one could tell me exactly where and what the problem was. All I know is, the pain is like someone hit me in the lower back with a 2x4, constantly. Hard to sleep more than a couple hours without waking up and changing position, and hard to get to sleep. Lots of leg craps, and depression.

He recommended we try a few different pain meds to see if any of them actually gave me relief. First, we tried Oxycontin. Nothing but a headache. Next we tried Morphine. They were like tic tacs. No reliefe at all, even the strong ones. Doc says some people Morphine does not help. Lucky me... Next we tried Percocet. Nada. No relief. Then Savella. Big time rash. No relief. Then he put me on a Fentanal patch. I put the patch on at 9pm, and that was the first night I actually slept all night without waking up in over 6 years. When I woke up, the pain was GONE. Hydrocodone dulled the pain, but this stuff made it completely gone. A day later I started a PT program, and dropped 35 lbs like it was a rucksack. Three months later I was 35lbs lighter and sleeping like a teenager. Awesome. I have been on the Fentanal patch for a year now, and the pain is back, but nothing like it was. I can still function, and the weight is still off. I still do the PT program (walking with 5lb-10lb dumbells for 3-5 miles @ 3.2-4mph) It does not stress out my legs and does not stress the back like jogging. Best part was, I was able to resume life with the wife and daughter, and am no longer described as "grumpy" by the most important girl in my life. ;)

The doc put me on the 50mcg patch every 72hours with Cymbalta 30mg every night, and Gabapentin 300mg 3x a day. This worked for me, and made me feel like a normal person for a year now. Not saying this will work for everyone, but might be an option for those with chronic pain like me. I plan on getting in touch with the doc and doing another series of MRI and X-ray, just to see if anything has changed back there, and to make sure the screws and rods are okay. GROG