cervical spondolosis depression Please help

Hi,

I haven't heard of laser surgery for cervical spine problems.

Is this something your neurosurgeon has advised?

Mike.

I have been offered no surgery at all therefore may I ask who recommended this for you please? Apart from a bucket full of pain killers I also have Lidocaine medicated plasters which can be worn for 12 hours. I wish you all the best with what you do and thanks for the post.

From your description, sound like you have more than one thing going on. First have you had ct scans w/ contrast?  My surgeon informed me that it takes more than an MRI to see nerves, and anything out of the ordinary. But with my experiences during my pain, I know I have a lot of nerve and muscle damage. I also have sciatic nerve issues in my leg and foot. NERVES are the main cause for all the different pain, numbness, heaviness affecting your limbs. I really wish I could u give some solid advice,(and maybe I just did) but hopefully you will not settle on any kind of surgery until you know the exact area's affected. A good orthopedic /spinal surgeon can find out the exact cause of your pain. I was one that (after 1st surgery to fix my entire spine) things went wrong after the premature removal of my instruments. Gravity caused me to fall forward 65°, another renowned surgeon had to break my spine and rebuild it. Suffering is part of my life now. I am beginning to have such symptoms as you described. To have a scan in a wk or so, with hopes that I don't have new bone growth (spurs on my spine) and to get some answers. I do hope you find the right diagnosis, and get some relief !           I'll be praying.

I have 4 herniated disc in neck with Some degeneration and stenosis. I have numbness down both arms and hands. My surgeon wants to do two replacement disks.  I had a back surgery 4 years ago that helped but not completely.  Do all your tests and go to a good surgeon and pray.  Then make your decision. 

I have multilevel degenerative c/s. After a short walk or me doing anything for no more than 10/15 minutes, the pain spreads around the body particularly my arms get very tired and I lose coordination when trying to do any tasks. Mentally I find it hard to capture, retain and process information. I lose focus and concentration quickly. I have constant headache which varies in intensity during the day, mostly at the back of the head but frequently whole head as well as eye balls ache like hell. I take Gabapentine with butrans patches for pain and depression tablets but so for they’ve made no difference. My pain consultant said managing pain is a full time task in itself let alone holding a job as well. Neurosurgeon suggested operation but said due to multilevel and degenerative nature of illness, surgery does not guarantee pain relief. Ageing also lowers the body’s threshold for tolerating pain. I have heard that moving to live in a hot climate and drugs like cannabis help with pain but not with mental fatigue.

I am very depressed about not being to perform at work and constant nature of discomfort. I hope others have found a way to overcome these issues.

Hi csrehman,

I am interested in your stating about poor memory function. I suffer terribly with short term memory and my gp sent me to our local senior memory clinic. After mri of brain to rule out dementia I was told my medication was to blame. After giving up my amatriptaline I had a crippling episode of sciatica in my right hip area, my gp advised that my choice was either poor short term memory or further episodes of pain outbreaks if I interfere with the pain pathway which took many months to control. So, is it proven that multi level c/s can blunt the memory? I have c/s at levels c4 5 6 and 7 with internal bone spurs trapping the spinal cord but as it requires full fusion of cervical spine my neurosurgeon recommends no operation until vital.

Mike.