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Anyone ever had spinal surgery?

  • Thread starter Clint
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  • #21
I was on cymbalta 90 mg for depression and switched to Pristiq 100 mg about four months ago or so. Probably not good to take cymbalta with that since they are both SNRIs. I switched to pristiq because cymbalta was soooo expensive. It wasn't great as an antidepressant IMO anyway. Pristiq is twice as effective (for me) and a quarter of the cost.

Thanks 101, I got an appmt. With a neurosurgeon Thursday at Emory. He's the guy who teaches students how to do neurosurgery so hopefully he's pretty good.
 
  • #22
There is a difference between drug tolerance, dependence and addiction. The most recent study I have read says less than 2 percent of those taking narcotics for chronic pain develop an addiction. Part of this is that when in pain the body "uses up" the medicine. Most true addictions are from people who are abusing the substance. They are often self-medicating for reasons other than the pain. Another thing to consider is that one of the side effects of narcotic withdrawl is generalized pain, unrelated to your injury. Which causes people to take more and more narcotics. If you are not already I would suggest seeing a pain specialist. They would be most helpful to manage your prescriptions and try other often more effective drugs then narcotics, like the neurontin you are taking. From your description it does sound like you will need an invasive procedure to correct the spinal cord compression or risk decreased lower extremity function. I would definitely get a second opinion though. Not that the current plan of care sounds wrong, but there many types of treatment that may be available. Have the surgery done if possible by someone who specializes in back / spinal surgeries. Ask them how many times they have done the procedure before. Hope this helps.
 
  • #23
adding 2 things:
1: I would suggest a neurosurgeon, not an orthopedist for the surgery
and
2: remember, lots of times the depression is assoicated with chronic pain, trying to treat the depression chemically will not help a "non chemical" depression
 
  • #24
There is a difference between drug tolerance, dependence and addiction. The most recent study I have read says less than 2 percent of those taking narcotics for chronic pain develop an addiction. Part of this is that when in pain the body "uses up" the medicine. Most true addictions are from people who are abusing the substance. They are often self-medicating for reasons other than the pain. Another thing to consider is that one of the side effects of narcotic withdrawl is generalized pain, unrelated to your injury. Which causes people to take more and more narcotics. If you are not already I would suggest seeing a pain specialist. They would be most helpful to manage your prescriptions and try other often more effective drugs then narcotics, like the neurontin you are taking. From your description it does sound like you will need an invasive procedure to correct the spinal cord compression or risk decreased lower extremity function. I would definitely get a second opinion though. Not that the current plan of care sounds wrong, but there many types of treatment that may be available. Have the surgery done if possible by someone who specializes in back / spinal surgeries. Ask them how many times they have done the procedure before. Hope this helps.

just so your clear even with a true chronic pain patient there is physical addiction, but often like in my case no mental addiction....i can tell you what is gonna happen if i quit cold turkey but it aint that bad, 36-48 hour hangover....skin crawling not feeling well crap but nothing that cant be easily dealt with if yah truly want to.....but i will add i went through that at over twice as much as Clint is currently taking......and im to hardheaded to wean myself off nice and easy :crazy: it can be done with nearly no symptoms over the course of a couple weeks....i seem to prefer the quick and dirty process for some reason.....
 
  • #25
Chibae, vie been on antidepressants since the 8th grade so it's just a chemical imbalance. As long as I take them I'm fine, if i go off I'm not fine. I'd be lying if I said I wasn't bummed out about all of this but I wouldn't call that depression. At least not yet anyway. But anyway I don't want to add another AD that's used for pain in case it'll mess with my AD I take for depression... I'm happy and want to stay that way lol

I will ask about other things I can take to potentiate the opiates before increasing them though.
 
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  • #26
It's too bad that you have to deal with this so young, but you're definitely doing the right thing by following up with the experts. I don't check in here as much anymore, but are you still in school and thinking about the medical field? If so, this is some of the best education you'll get.

By the way, don't blame the mom for you not getting the MRI as soon as you might have. If everyone went for a test every time they thought something might be wrong (some do), our world would look like the area my parents retired to. There don't seem to be any playgrounds or schools, but there's an imaging clinic or medical lab on every corner. I'd rather live in a H*ll filled with fire and brimstone than one filled with medical appointments.
 
  • #27
Clint, I am sorry you are going through this. As a vetern of two spinal surgeries if you want to vent feel free to PM me. Hang in and be your own advocate.
 
  • #28
I'm not blaming her... I just wish I could because that would be easy.

I decided to go into botany over the medical field... I just wanted to be a Dr. For money over happiness and that's the wrong reason.

Im really just mostly still in shock. I'm 20. Things like this aren't supposed to happen to me for another two decades!

Chibae, I definitely will pm you if I have any questions. You've already been really helpful with your info!
 
  • #29
My mom has been through a few back surgeries herself...one being immediately after i was born....she was in a car accident when she was pregnant with me and it broke her back, i was lucky to survive that one...

the most recent being a herniated disc....L5 i believe it was?
they removed the herniation, and here now almost a year later, the muscle did not heal properly, in fact the muscle separated over that part of the spine and made a hole under the skin.....

i think shes had 3 total? but she was 30 for her first, and now had a couple throughout her 40s....

hope all goes well for you Clint....your young, you should heal just fine if you have surgery.


And about the anti-depressants, your lucky you found one that works, ive been through several, and every one of them made me far worse....so i decided it was just best to stay off of them...
 
  • #30
SOrry to hear that you are in such pain CLint. Its true as someone else said, you are still very young and its unfortunate that you have to face such an issue in this part of your life. As it is apparent with most of your messages, stick to it man! Get it worked on and try whatever you can to make it better. We hope to hear some good news from you in the coming months.
 
  • #31
Im really just mostly still in shock. I'm 20. Things like this aren't supposed to happen to me for another two decades!


tell me about it.....though my knees were screwed from birth they didnt start to cause real "quality of life" issues till i was about 21 or so.....now im 28 and trying to beg borrow and steal to post pone knee replacement surgery for aslong as possible and have a back that looks like im closer to 50 than 30.....

it really sucks but nothing yah can do but let it destroy you or suck it up and deal......ive slingshot from one end of the spectrum to the other mental wise and know the crap your going through....just do what yah need to do to get through it......
 
  • #32
Saw the neurosurgeon at Emory today (I was SOOO lucky that he decided to review my files and see me... he was booked up for a year. )

I have to get one more test called a CT myelogram. Basically they are going to shoot me up with some fluorescent dye in my spinal column and take a cat scan. I'm sorry, but that's just cool lol. I get that next thursday. I'm getting that to determine whether it's my herniated disc in my lumbar (lower) or thoracic (middle) of my spine. The neurologist said something along the lines of like... I'm walking in a way that indicated the main problem is in one area, but my symptoms indicate that the problem is in another area, so before he does surgery he has to make sure it's what he thinks it is.

I will get a laminectopy on one of my vertebrae for sure. Then I may get better and just put up with the pain of the other herniated disc and cope with medicine, OR if my nerves still aren't working right then I'll have to get another more invasive surgery on the vertebrae in my thoracic region of my spine. If I have to get that second surgery, he'll have to go in through my chest instead of my back. He also told me that the estimation of time I had before risk increases was grossly overestimated by the orthopedic surgeon. I don't have such a short timeframe as one month and things like this aren't cut in stone.

He's also performed almost 3 times the number of laminectomies that the other doctor has. I really like this guy!

The good news is that the risk of paralysis after the surgery is less than 1% for the lumbar laminectopy, and 4-6% for the other surgery that I may or may not need. I can't get both surgeries at the same time, unfortunately. I'm not worried about paralysis, but I still prefer to think of it as 96% chance I won't be paralyzed rather than 4% I will ;P

He also said I could take up to 6 percocet a day (8 if I have to but he didn't reccomend it, and I don't think I need more than 5 or maybe six if I'm really hurting) so I don't feel so bad about taking an extra here or there.
 
  • #33
a herniated disk, itself, is not that painful after the initial trauma wears off.....a herniated disk that compresses a nerve hurts but its because of the nerve getting pinched which can also be done by a bulge or a bone spur that hurts like hell....

and a major worry bout percs aint so much the opiate its also the fact the contain alot of Tylenol.....an over dose of Tylenol can fry your liver in one shot......take to much one day and it kills the liver no matter that you havent taken any for a month before.....so also be careful and read the labels of all allergy and cold type meds aswell....ive got my own lil stash of medications separate from the rest of my families because i really cant take much of any more tylenol...
 
  • #34
Clint, even though having the thoracic surgery through the chest sounds scary, it actually allows them to do work on your spine without having to cut through the bone at the back of the vertebrae. the surgery on my neck was done through the front and the healing was much less painful than the one they just did through my back.
Kepps us informed about the mylogram
 
  • #35
im only 16 and i had surgery on a fractured L3 and L5. recovery is terrible. took me two weeks just to move.

i hope that all works out with your operation and you have a safe recovery.
 
  • #36
Sorry to hear about your condition. I admit that I don't know anything about it, but studies show that most back surgeries are unnecessary. Surgeons who work on the back have a conflict of interest because they are well compensated by insurance companies for their services, so the tendency is for them to recommend surgery when it is unnecessary. They are most likely sincere people, but the money issue gets in the way of objective analysis. Do a lot of research on your own about your condition before making a decision about getting surgery because it is in most cases irreversible.
 
  • #37
actually, not quite.....

most ppl that really dont need back surgery push for it cause they want a quick fix then are disappointed when it doesnt happen and find out the only way to fix the problem is do the crap the doctor suggested the first time they came into see them.....the couple different guys i saw when i first screwed up my back flat told me i prolly would not be happy with surgery given the current state of my back and to try a laundry list of other things first, i didnt even hit the cortisone shot attempt for 10 months....and guess what, it worked till something shifted again and now it appears with a different round of treatment i may avoid surgery for awhile more....

if your back really aint all that bad you prolly wont be happy with surgery cause if you see a 40% improvement it dont mean much where the guy with a truly bad back would do damn near anything for that 40% relief.....the worse off you are the more likely surgery is going to be a relief....if your not hurt that bad and want a short cut through the pain im gonna tell yah now surgery aint gonna do it....
 
  • #38
Judy,
How did you do with the surgery?
I am looking at possibly work on my C5 and others,
although there are complications, it is a potential solution.

I heard recovery, rehab is extensive, and results vary.
(My stenosis in my neck is pinching off my spinal cord and
they want to hack off the vertebrae to open the "canal".
As I said however, there are other complications, but I am wondering
what others have experienced.)
 
  • #39
My cervical surgery went fairly well. I still have some residual cervical spondolitic myolapthy due to the bony overgrowths that had been cut away. The lesions have not spread since the surgery but I do have some left over balance issues and am on baclophen four times a day and cymbalta at night for nerve pain. But, in the three years since it was done (May 1, 2007) I have returned to all activity exceptn horseback riding and bike riding, stationary bike is okay. The neck has c-3 hrough c4 fused with two cadvor bones in place of discs, a titiamium plate and six screws spanning the vertebrae. I was back to work and enjoying life again within four months of the surgery,
I defintily noticed a hugh difference for the better in terms of arm pain, hand shaking, dropping things, They entered in through the front and the scar is barely noticible and even my yoga instructor last year could not tell that I had a fusiion.

The jury is still out on my lower back surgery, it was just two weeks ago today and much more extensive. But I can say that I've noticed a 50% improvment already in the sypmtoms that drove me to having the surgery done. But in this case they went in through the back, cut away veretbrae and replaced things with a cage, two rods and tweleve screws, saw the xrays yesterday.

BTW, prioir to both surgeries i went through a year of physical therpay, meds and nerve blocks to try and get some control without surgery.

Everyone is different. My father suffered and refused surgery and I watched him become more and more crippled. I was diagnosied with the same issues at 17 and had my first joint surgery at 24. My daughter had her first joint surgery at 17. ironically for both of us it was the left knee.

As a final note a co-workers husband put off having his neck done until the surgery was emergency and it took him almost a year of rehab to return to near normal. Waiting can hurt.
 
  • #40
actually, not quite.....

Is that opinion based on published research or just personal experience and anecdotal information? But I agree with most of what you say later.
 
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