Epidural / disc bulge question - any help would be appreciated!

hello, sorry to gear you are having so much problem. I live in france now and things here are totally different, you get appointments within the week and you results there and then, and no seeing under ore sons you get to see the main man, I feel for you, I have stenosis and arthritis on my spine and arthritis in my hips and knees having my op in July as going on holiday to Chicago first.

If I were you I would try and make a private appointment with an orthopedic specialist, I don't know were you are in the Uk but there is a spine hospital in London that's very good, maybe it would cost about 50/100£ but after that you can get everything done on the NHS .

hope you get some help soon. all the best

Hi Lynne

Thank you for your reply. Sounds like you have had a tough time of it too. I'm glad things are different in France, a week is unthinkable here! People are quite dismissive of back problems it seems as you can't 'see' them like you can an arm in a sling. It's so debilitating.

I saw a private consultant but that was purely for the purposes of the accident report and all he could do was offer me physio or an epidural (all the insurance will do) but I was afraid if I went with him I would be dismissed to the back of the queue with the NHS as the insurance company won't allow you to see two physiotherapists at the same time - one can undo the work of the other. So I stuck with the NHS in the hope they will help me further. There must be so many people like me who are in this position?

If I do get some kind of pay out from the accident and I am no further down the line with the nhs then I will use that to go privately for a second opinion.

Hope you enjoy your trip to Chicago and your op goes well

Hi there I have just had a laminectomy, discectomy and fusion for the same problem but the disc was bulging and the tear is on the disc above. I too was offered injections but I didn't want to be pumped with cortisone and anti inflammatory medicine directly into my spine (I've had previous stomach bleeds).

The NHS op is around 6-9 months wait I was lucky enough to go private through my job.

I persisted on refusing the jabs just to prolong the inevitable. I could not understand why I had to have risky jabs to delay repairing damage to my back. Get a 2nd opinion I pushed and pushed as I knew something was seriously wrong with the severity and change in pain. He sent me for an x ray curled in a ball and trying to bend backwards and it was then he saw my collapsed disc was causing my back to deform and was operated on in a week.

Is it fixed no, but I'm not in constant pain and have no sciatica plus on 14 less painkillers a day woop woop.

5 weeks post op.

I guess my advice is persist if there is something that can be done to relieve the pain and discomfort then keep pushing, the jabs just delay the inevitable (although I have not read anyone who has had relief from these jabs) ask for the x ray to see how your spine moves.

Was my op worth it yes it was although its a hard road both mentally and physically.

Get fit and healthy. Stay positive and try yoga and calf stretching, oral painkillers and heat and cold compresses.

Good luck x

Hi, really sorry to read your story, in 2007 I started out of the blue with sciatica in my right leg, this was kept under control till 2010 with medication & an unsuccessful physio, when I was told if we'd continue it would create more damage to me. In 2010 when things went downhill quickly I was rushed into hospital & had my very first MRI, This showed severe prolapsed disc at L5/S1 most of the disc was gone, at this stage I lost trust in the NHS & went private, I won't bore you with the details but I've had 3 micro disectomys, 4 laminectomys a failed fusion at L5/S1, my problem was made worse because I'd be left on meds & during that time the prolapsed disc had calcified around my nerves, causing extreme pain, loss of mobility etc. Its now reached the stage where the ops are making me worse, the scar tissue is causing severe compression & I'm worse than I was to begin with! Im awaiting a spinal cord stimulator implant to be fitted in May, this is my last chance of saving my job & having any form of a normal life. But I was told by my neuro surgeon that at any stage in the beginning I could & should have demanded a referral to a neurosurgeon from my GP, if sciatica does not resolve itself within a maximum of 6 months then its highly unlikely it will without surgery. Please go back to your GP & have a chat ask for a referral to a neuro & a second opinion. Explain if you don't get help your likely to lose your job etc, I changed GP's after my previous one just left me on meds, no review, he merely upped the dose everytime i had break through pain, my new one is very understanding, very empathetic & works with me, I see him every fortnight, to discuss how I'm doing, adjust my morphine dose if its getting really bad & I'm completely honest with him, like I'm depressed but who wouldn't be, I don't want pills to fix that, I want the problem fixing & he gets that, he also periodically gives me sleeping tablets so for a weekend I can sleep & recharge my batteries, I can't sleep more than an 3 hours a night normally, usually in 40 minutes blocks! Sorry for the waffle but I'm trying to give you a view of my life & how I wouldn't wish this on my worse enemy, please please go back & ask, plead & ultimately demand further investigation & a second opinion, if they leave you like this it isn't going to fix itself, it will get worse, so why they are leaving you in this state is mind numbing. I hope you get some help & relief soon x

Thank you both so much for taking the time to reply and tell me your stories. I can see a pattern emerging of people having to fight tooth and nail for help. It's barbaric that in this day and age that people are left in pain for so long? I totally agree about the epidural just prolonging the inevitable, the problem I have though is that the orthopaedic practitioner is adamant that the consultant feels my scan is 'unremarkable' which in itself is a total insult as I haven't been given the opportunity to see him for myself - the physio said to the OP that she needed to see me to see what a state I am in - yet he is making decisions based on an MRI but no examination.

I have pushed for the epidural mainly for relief but also because they have given me a very clear idea that that is all I will get - almost as if I should be grateful for that? I have worked all my life, apart from 2 six month maternity leave periods and this is just alien to me. It's the feeling that this is my lot and I have to make do with it that makes you so desperate. It is just so lovely to speak to people like yourselves who have experienced this.

Thank you so very much. I will look at your blog Brownevo thank you x

Anytime. Look into all pros and cons for everything on offer. Start keeping a pain diary to show the consultant so they can ascertain what is causing you more pain. I did get some quite upsetting comments from an NHS consultant as to which o told him straight. Id put up with it for 6 years, something has changed in my back, I'm willing to take the risk of surgery as my quality of life was poor and that I was understanding of his concerns over an operation.

I found a site in USA called spine - health was brilliant shows videos and details for all spinal problems with a great forum. It enabled me to walk into my second consultants office with my eyes wide open

Good luck and keep your chin up

Thank you 😀

hi lisa i realise this was posted a while ago but thought you would probably still seeking some answers . my story goes back about 10yrs ago , we were on a camping/glamping holiday travelling through france and spain with our 3 children and i was suffering with a really bad back , we had to keep stopping for me to stretch and move , I only kept going because i didnt want to spoil the family holiday .  We were making our way back towards he ferry with a planned 2 nights left in france , i was stretching to help get the luggage off the car roof rack when i lost feeling in my legs , later i was in agony and spent the whole night rolling around in pain , we left fo home with the plan to get the fast ferry and go to the nearest a and e as i was sure i needed an op and didnt want to be stuck in a foreign hospital , i now wish thats exactly what i did !! i like yourself went from one senario to the next , told i had an anomaly also , an extra digit , but was not told about damage despite my desperate claims that i could feel bone grinding bone and the pain in my tail bone that you describe , after 2yrs of lying on the sofa and daily struggle to keep my job that was quite physical and involved driving as i was a rep for our local paper i went to my gp and asked for a private scan , this seemed to be the key to unlock them to send me to a consultant and get a mri , i eventualy had an op but i suffer because of the damage from being left so long , i belive the old way of sending us to bed for 6wks was the best way to heal but now we soldier on using pain relief and being fobbed off by the nhs who doesnt want us clogging up their lists, even worse when there really is a problem that needed to be operated on as they now completely avoid you as they are afraid you will sue them , if you havent already demand to see a neuro surgeon and make a list of questions to ask ,they have to answer if you ask !!!!