Hello. My name is Chris and I'm new to this board. I've been poking around the last few months as this page always comes up when doing any back pain related searching. I probably should've signed on several months ago as I'm discovering there are a lot of things I don't know. Had I known those answers before, perhaps I would've spared myself some grief.
Anyway, I am here because I've been having ongoing back pain. I can't sit or stand for long periods and just forget riding my bikes. I've been more diligent with all of my physicians because things have been getting worse in the last 6 to 8 months.
I've had back problems since high school, but nothing like the last two (1.75) years. Even the car accident wasn't this bad. There is a burning/pain that sticks close to the spine on the right most of the time. When things are really bad it goes to the left across my lower back just above my butt. It doesn't migrate to my legs or anything, usually, but I do have little flashes run down them every couple of weeks if I turn or sit the right way.
I started out seeing my primary care doc and he referred me to PT. Went to PT and didn't see any improvement. Actually, when I do a lot of ab work, I end up worse. Was referred to the neurosurgeon #1, had an MRI and he said there wasn't anything they could do. Was referred to the 1st pain clinic. They tried an injection, but that made me feel worse. I really didn't particularly care for that clinic because I only saw the PA. I never once saw the physician with the exception of him doing the injection. I asked for a second opinion from my primary care doc from a different neurosurgeon. This particular doctor, neurosurgeon number #2, specialized in nonsurgical interventions. He recommended McKenzie physical therapy. While it has a very snake oil-esque feel to it, it actually improved my baseline. (Even if it was just placebo, I'll take it) I never did make it back to riding my bike. I still continue to do the exercises, but I don't see any improvement. Again, it's only been getting worse the last 6 to 8 months. I went back to see neurosurgeon # 2 and he referred me to neurosurgeon #3 for possible disc replacement.
Neurosurgeon #3 referred me to have a discogram at pain clinic #2. I had the discogram yesterday and I'm still in a lot of pain. Overall, that was not a positive experience. Everything people said about it is true, it hurts like heck. I also wondered if other people had an experience similar to mine. They gave me Versed (I'm not sure how much) so I ended up pretty dopey. They didn't come right out and say it, but I don't think I gave them very good feedback. The actual process didn't really hurt that much until he got to the last disc. Now he said that he hit a nerve and so that's why it hurt so bad there, but I can't really recall from there to being back in recovery. Once I got to recovery it felt exactly like my worst symptoms. And those symptoms continue today. The doctor came in after and showed me the images and said that my discs held up pretty well. He did say that I have a septum in the lower vertebrae (I cannot remember which ones) so that's why he had to do two injections at the last vertebrae. He did the first injection and I didn't feel anything, but the second one, again, that really felt terrible. I told him it felt terrible and I had that radiating pain on the left, but then he tells me that it's just because he hit the nerve. I told him that hurt, but again, he just dismissed it as him hitting the nerve. Have other people had that experience? Why did it hurt then when the other four or five spots didn't?
I still have yet to get copies of the follow-up CT scan and main reports, but the impression I got from the pain clinic was that I didn’t seem to be a good candidate for ADR. I had the pain everyone said you should expect, but unfortunately the test didn't give me the answers I was looking for. Part of me wonders if I should ask for a do over with less medication. I know that's crazy because I experienced pain as it was, but in order to adequately report, it seems like I would need to be less sedated. Has this happened to anyone else?
I have a follow-up with neurosurgeon #3 next week on the 17th and I'm not sure what he's going to suggest. Obviously, I don't want to have surgery if I'm not a good candidate, but I really want to start feeling better. It’s clear that I need to start educating myself and I plan to continue reading posts.
This seems like a good group. Take care, all.