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Lower Back Surgery. Now right leg in considerable pain. Any ideas?

Posted , 4 users are following.

george_56036
george_56036

I had lower back spinal fusion and discectomy. I also had some type of cage mounted at the S1 location, the lowest part of my spine. I think I am aggravating the situation by sitting but what am I supposed to do? I am in the pool three days a week exercising with a group for core strength and I use a large ball to roll on forward and backward. But I have severe right leg pain. Oxycodone will stop it but I don't want to get addicted to it. Any ideas on the leg pain?

0 likes, 12 replies

12 Replies

  • sandra07610
    sandra07610 george_56036

    Posted

    George, are you able to try ice and lying on your side with your back supported with a pillow. Sometimes if you put a pillow Between your legs to raise the height a little it helps. Also, the surgeon must have a help line you could call and check these options or have them suggest something. Depending on the length of time since surgery, I would not worry about addiction. If it has been more than six weeks, please check with your surgeon. Are you overdoing activity or he wrong type of activities? Maybe a pain diary to keep a record of how much pain on a scale of 1 to 10 (low to high) and what you were doing. This can help you figure it out. I would avoid sitting and really try to stand more or lay on your side. You can do this just figure out your pattern.
  • loraine121
    loraine121 george_56036

    Posted

    Hi George 56036,

    I am sorry to hear that you are in so much pain, I take oxycodon i have since April lsstvyear before thst itcwas oramorph but my respiratory consultant thoight that oxycodon would be better as its a cleaner drug what ever that means , the only thing is only took oramorph whenI had severe flare ups and my other medication wasn't helping but I can take this evey hour,

    I know that im not much help regarding the pain in your leg , could you be doing to much, maybe speek to you gp or have you alteady tried that , if you don't want to take the oxycodon is there not something that the doctors can give you ,

    • george_56036
      george_56036 loraine121

      Posted

      Thanks for your reply. I've just been placed on gabapentin and the leg pain went away after the very first day. 300mg 3 times a day.

    • george_56036
      george_56036 loraine121

      Posted

      So you're up to 2400 mg a day. I know one can go to as high as 3200 mg. Just wondering why the high dosage? My 900 mg a day really fixed my excruciating leg pain after back surgery. I mention this because that amount is making me slightly nautious unless I eat something.

    • loraine121
      loraine121 george_56036

      Posted

      Hi george56036

      I have extremely severe fibromyalgia, asthma and another lung condition as well as being on oxygen constantly, I am on a cocktails of medication for different reasons but for pain I am on gabapentin, zomorph, oxycodon , co - codamol diazapam to help relax , other medication for my breathing problems,

      I do find that i have to eat a small amount before i take my tablets and a small amount after other wise im sick, one tablet i have to keep separate as my medication is in a nomad I separate the mycrpheolate as I have to eat before I take it with a fulk glass of water and eat after i have taken it as well, I plan my meals around the times of when my medication is due especially in the morning and evening asci take mega then the afternoon and early evening is only co-codamol, gabapentin, diazapam, buscapam and bisacodyal..

      I hope you are feeling better today.

      Takecare

      Loraine x

    • george_56036
      george_56036 loraine121

      Posted

      Doing very well. Im a little concerned about feeling overly sedated at 900mg and cutting Gabapentin to twice a day to see if that helps. I just don't want ti feel drowsy. If not I'll have to go back to 900mg and just hope that the sleepiness is temporary. The leg still is responding very well to the treatment.

    • loraine121
      loraine121 george_56036

      Posted

      Hi george 57036

      If you ate feeling drowsy then maybe you should speak to your gp as you don't want to be feeling drowsy all the time it could just be they take time to get into your system and you always oxycodon to fall back on if the pain gets to bad,

      I do hope that you get things sorted out soon ,

      Goof luck

      Loraine x

    • george_56036
      george_56036 loraine121

      Posted

      I tried dropping back to two gabas a day. That doesn't work. Keeps me more alert but increases the pain. So I am going to wait and see if the drowsiness will go away. I still have things I jave to do so that could be a problem if energy levels are low. Life can be interesting to say the least. I have Bipilar Sisorder but that's been under control for a long time with no issues. So I'm sure I can manage this.

    • loraine121
      loraine121 george_56036

      Posted

      Hi george 56036

      That's good to hear that you are doing okay. Take care Loraine x

  • lucy81308
    lucy81308 george_56036

    Posted

    Don't build up the dose if it's working . You may need to go higher over time though. Hate to tell you, but coming off this stuff can be almost as hard as opiate addiction, (though it is different for everyone). Hell, life's too short to be in severe pain anymore than you have to. Glad it's working, (again, it doesn't help everyone. I went up to 3000 mgs a day, with no pain relief, docs kept saying "try a bit higher."... It took me months to get off it. All for nothing.)window.post_1488141625490_2 = function(win,msg){

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