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Have you had these treatments?

Posted , 3 users are following.

heathermac32
heathermac32

I am so excited to have found this site. I have been feeling very alone lately and exhausted from explaining to people that I did not simply herniate a disc last year.  I have recently had a worsening of pain and I am looking for any other stories out there that may relate to mine. As a kid/young adult I was a serious ski racer and golfer.  I gave up ski racing, but continued to play golf and working out as an adult.  My career was in the event field and often involved lifting items that were far too heavy for my small frame.  Long story short, I did not know a life without some back pain starting in my teens.  I definitely ignored the warning signs of a disc injury and when I woke up on May 24, 2016 and I felt my disc herniate, I thought “well it finally happened”.  The pain was excruciating, but I knew there wasn’t much the dr to do other than prescribe pain meds (I am an alcoholic and was avoiding the pain med route in fear of my sobriety). After 24 hours, I went to the bathroom and realized I could not feel from my waist to just below my saddle.  I went to the emergency room and was immediately taken into to surgery (very lucky I live in Boston and top notch healthcare). A week after surgery I had to go back in for a second. Another disc had herniated!  My recovery had been moving slowly along and I was doing traditional PT and women’s Health pt.  I had some incontinence, but mostly could make it to the toilet with a bit of leakage.  Urination was definitely more frequent.  About two months ago my back pain took a turn.  Oh and I should add that I have been taking oxycodone under the supervision of my doctor and sponsor. The nerve pain is so intense that at night I have had to return to using my walker. I cannot roll over in my bed and I often do not to make it to the bathroom without loosing bladder control.  I have gone to the pain management clinic and we are going to try a caudal esi injection tomorrow.  If that does not alleviate the pain we will do a spinal cord stimulation implant.  Has anyone had any relief with either of these methods?  Thank you for listening.

0 likes, 4 replies

4 Replies

  • misty-dawn94528
    misty-dawn94528 heathermac32

    Posted

    I'm going to follow along with your replies because I too have non stop pain. I did get a little relief from the esi injection or more likely from the cortison injected into my si. I recently had 8 facet injections which the instructions warn the freezing could sting a little...who cares about the freezing those injections into the nerve are excruciating. I will have a follow up with my pain Dr to decide what route they will take with me one of which might be a spinal cord simulator.

    This message boards are great for sharing info.

    Misty

    • misty-dawn94528
      misty-dawn94528 heathermac32

      Posted

      I had both si's done and 8 facet joints. I am guessing everyone is different because I feel I have a high pain tolerance and after the 8 in my back i almost threw up from the pain. That being said some joints hurt worst than others so maybe it depends on if it is inflamed. The next step for me is nerve eblation or apply for the stimulator. I've read about the eblation and you are awake for it but given some kind of mild sedation which scares me cause none of the sedation they use for scopes or dental surgery work. The only thing i can say is I'm going back for the s.i. even though i found it extremely painful because it's only a minute or two of severe pain compared to daily non stop pain.

  • heathermac32
    heathermac32

    Posted

    I go back to the doctor today for my follow up after the ESI injection. They ended up also doing a lysis of adhesions while she was doing the injection.  My dr warned me that the lysis (which broke up some of my scar tissue) would cause me some pain over the next few days.  The ESI did not do anything to improve my symptoms and they actually worsened. I am not sure how much of that is from the lysis vs. the steroid injection. I am pretty sure today she is going to tell me that we need to try another round of steroid injections to see if that helps.  The step after that will be the nerve implant.  This has been such a long road and I know I am luckier than most of you, but it I struggle with adjusting to my new normal. The implant scares me, but I have met people who lives have changed because of it. Sorry, to blab. Just a little confused on what to do next. I have my book of questions for my dr today. I would love to hear from anyone that has gotten the implant.
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