Spondylitis Association of America Forums General Discussion General Message Board for Ankylosing Spondylitis and Related Diseases Anyone had spine surgery?

SarahC
My dr told me he could do injections but it would not heal the problem. Only surgery was going to give me some relief. I know all other things they have tried have failed. I am ready for relief. I hope Jerry finds some soon.

The biggest symptom is intense pain.
Yes, I've had it both in my legs/feet and arms/hands, I still have the leg/foot pain. I described it as electric shock type pain, but now that you mention it, it does kinda feel like a sting, but worse. It disrupts my sleep and for me that's the worst. It can be a persistant achy, burning pain, but also a sharp intense type pain.

Funny thing is one neurosurgeon said surgery would not help and the second NS (the first NS referred his patients to the second NS when he moved out of state) said if the pain got bad enough he could do surgery. I do not know who is right! But I am so tired of the pain I am considering going back to the second one. All the meds I've taken over the years to disrupt the pain signals have taken their toll on me and my stomach.

I don't know how much it might help, but have they ever tried ESTIM? It's the little battery powered box that has electrodes you place above and below the area of L4 or L5 (around the waist band area is usually where the radiculopathy is from), then you play with the different programs so it cause a disruption in the pain signals to the brain.

I even considered the Spinal Cord Stimulator implant.
http://www.spineuniverse.com/displayarticle.php/article1980.html.
But the first NS said if the ESI (epidural steroid injections) in my spine did not help, neither would the implant. Unfortunatly the ESI did not help me. But it's worth a try.
There's also:
IDET (Intradiscal Electrothermoplasty) and Radiofrequency Discal Nucleoplasty.
Another option recently approved by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is available for patients suffering from chronic low back or neck pain is a non-surgical treatment called Percutaneous Neuromodulation Therapy (PNT). (I'm giving this one some serious thought)

http://www.spineuniverse.com/displayarticle.php/article898.html

My NS told me about www.spineuniverse.com
when he knew I like to read up on my dx's.
Here's a link to an article about sciatica.

http://www.spineuniverse.com/displayarticle.php/article1448.html

And the main page
http://www.spineuniverse.com

I find a lot of really good information there.

Here is a link to find a NS in your area for second opinion:
http://www.abns.org/content/default.asp
click on the :find a board certified Neurosurgeon

I know how awful this is and I really feel for Jerry. I hope they find something that works for him!

I am just going to throw in this..it may not be anywhere near what you gals are talking about but anyway..I am just going to say it.

My Grandmother had Radiofrequency Ablation on her L4 L5 after 3 epidural steroid injections did nothing to relieve the stinging pain radiating down her leg stemming from compressed nerves in her lower back.(Back surgery was not an option) In essence, they go in and burn the nerves away to stop the pain signal to the brain. It is an outpatient surgery with probes. It was a huge success.

I am not sure if this is similar to Radiofrequency Discal Nucleoplasty or not..but just wanted to comment on it.

PS.Great website..and it is local for me..

Yup, I've read a lot about that Christie. Thank you for posting about your Gram...how's she doing BTW?

It's nice to see they are finding new things to try to help those who have had failures with the other treatments.

I seriously hate taking the antiseizure meds! I stopped the last one I was on and my stomach pain has been slowly disappearing. It's a MIRACLE!?!
Now why didn't the gastro tell me that? Or at least tell me something? It gets so depressing to NOT be told these things by the docs.

Uh oh....antiseizure meds.....Jerry is taking lyrica-could that be what is messing so bad with his stomach?

Thanks for all the info......doesn't look like the injections may work?? They said surgery would have to be a last option due to the risk factor of paralysis because of the nerves.

He would welcome paralysis right now-I'm not kidding-if 'everything' didn't go numb-if you know what I mean.

Burning the nerves sounds good-we have no money. After the insurance, they wanted over 1000.00 up front for this procedure on Monday. They are waiving it for us because of the intense pain and the fact that he can't do anything anymore. Thank goodness for the little blessings life gives.

I'm losing my job at the beginning of Jan. My sister has pretty much lost the business. What are we going to do??

Sorry had to vent. Thanks for all the info. Y'all are all a godsend at the time I feel like I can't hang on anymore.

I appreciate it,
Sarah

I had a lumbar fusion and then a anterior/posterior revision 9 months later. I still have pain, but not the same kind of pain. It caused more trouble in my SI joint which I didn't need! I'm starting to have neck issues, too. I'll see my surgeon in January for follow up. I'm afraid to ask, but I'm going to have him xray my whole spine to look for any trouble caused by the AS.

I've had every steroid injection you can imagine along with SI injections AND the radio-frequency ablation where my nerves were "burned" on the left side of my SI. All it did was leave me with a numb spot on my butt for a few months. And it was expensive - even with good insurance!

Yup, it was Lyrica that finally pushed me into gastritis. I had the endoscopy and that's what the gastro said.

But, I did not get a follow-up appt. or any other meds. Not sure what happened. I think I freaked the doc out during the procedure. When I woke up, the nurse gave me the discharge orders and said I need another endoscopy in a year. BUT...the doc says I need to have a general instead of just the twilight sleep shot. I must have gotten loud or yelled or something.

Anyhoo, if the doc had followed up with something like omeprazole I might havve been able to continue taking the Lyrica.

Thanks for asking Elf. Grams is doing ok for now.

They Cymbalta made her crazy. The angels and the trains roaring in her head were getting louder and louder as they were competing with each other to be heard. Then her blood pressure sky rocketed to 210/180.Done with that!

The Neurontin did nothing. A few weeks ago she started Lyrica and the angels started singing ever so faintly (which she enjoyed). Then she could hear in the distance the faint sound of a train..and she said, "Hell no, not that again!" She quit.
No one ever said anything about these medicines causing stomach irritations. My Grandmother's has UC. What were they thinking??

She had the Ablation repeated 2 months months ago as it has been almost 2 years since the last one and the nerves by now must have grown back for her to be in so much pain again. She thinks this time he didnt get the right nerve. This time she has swelling in her foot. She has been fitted with a sleeve which has helped.


SarahC..girlfriend..what can I do? Ok..I bought some lottery tickets for tonight. Hope I win so I can help you. I just realized Jerry's shirt says, "I get lucky every night" ..that is too funny. I hope I get lucky tonight!

oops double post

here are my symptoms before I had surgery: when I bent- electrical shock from my right foot all the way up my spine, tingling & burning on right side from knee down, tripping, and periodically my right leg would be like Raggedy Ann. Prior to surgery,I had PT, epidural and facet injections which didn't help at all. At The Hospital for special Surgery, they use pedicle screws, roto rutored discs L3-L5, rotated the disc to increase strength, mixed the boney matter they got for the Laminectomy and mixed it with a protein glue for the fusion. By using the pedicle screws, it allowed for more flexibility in the spine. The result was, all symptoms are gone except periodic tingling in feet at night when I have a lot of lower back inflamation. I was walking a half mile a week after the surgury.