Posted: 6/6/2006 2:11:52 AM EDT
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I know there a quite a few of on here from reading threads over the last few months . Have any of you ever seen your disc bulging out of your back when you look in a mirror ? Or am I just special like that? 
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That bulge is not a disc IMHO ( have you got pain) Get it checked NOW..! Taffy Here's mine before the surgery 
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Sorry gang .I thought I had mentioned all of this before . I have been being treated since March 8th or so in regards to this . I have a hosed back from L5 down to my pointy ass bone . Go me . When I fuck shit up I fuck it up good . I had my last injection on May 8th and I already called my Doctor to set up another one . My appointment with him is on Friday at 3 PM . I am going to try and get Xyban out of him while I am there also . Can't hurt to stop smoking and everything else I have tried hasn't worked yet ( Cold turkey , switch brands, smoke rollys only,nicoret gum ,lozenges, patch ,swift kick to the nuts by a true helping friend every time they see me with a cig , none of it worked and stuck more than a week or so . ) I just over did it today playing with the kids and I lost a lot of weight over the last few months ( Like 20 pounds.) and can actually see shit sticking out of my back finally. I have PT in the morning so if it is still popping out tomorrow when I get home from that I will ask Barb to snap a few pics . As for pain , how bad it hurts depends on what I do . Right now I am just at the 1-2 scale , but some days it bumps up to 4-5 and a few times I hit I can't breath with out tearing up . All that said My Hydrocodone sits in the bottle as often as it can . I took my first pill in over a week today and I still can't sleep yet . But yea I know this is a problem and it is getting addressed , my Doctor just wants to try all possibilities before he signs the line for cutting me . With him having four back operations himself and treating me for the last ten years I trust him with my children's lives as well as my own . |
Speak with your Doc about NOT taking your pain meds until its too late. Pain meds need to be taken before the pain gets too much. Have you tried Aleve Aleve. It does help for back pain if swelling is a problem. Try 2 in the AM and two in the PM for a couple of days and see if it helps. It takes a while for it to build up in your system. If it does help ask your doc for the prescription type stuff it works better. I live for my next spinal epidural. |
I just got my latest done two hours ago . Sitting in the Airport now waiting to go home . Hope it takes , but if it doesn't I am going to push to get the cut done in the next few weeks . That will hopefully give me enough time to recover to help with the baby when she gets here in OCT . |
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After a spinal epi, you should take it easy for 48-72 hours. This helps these alot, I know, I have had 3 in the last 18 months. I have the partially hearnated L-4/L-5 thing, alot with deg. disc disease. At 36 and used to doing anything, low back stuff really slows you down. Take your meds as prescribed, I used to take them only when I was in pain, now I take the meds twice daily and stretch, almost pain free, except for the wake boarding, tubing, knee boarding, watch this weekends, that usually haunt me for 24-48 hours. |
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I blew out two discs at work, L5/L6 and L6/S1. None of the epi's worked for me. PT, CT-guided injections, nothing helped. I had a double fusion operation in Jan 2004. Now the discs above and below are rotten. I've got 4 different meds to treat the symptoms, not the problem. Get it checked early. That's all I can say. My employer went cheap on the medical care, no X-Rays, no MRI, nothing. Now $250,000+ later, I'm a gimp at 37. And I have to fight for the work comp. |
When they did my DISCOGRAM a few months ago the Doc hit a root nerve.  I thought I was on fire and being electrocuted at the same time. It lasted only a second or two but WOW.  Kodiak-AK You are going to make things worse traveling shortly after spinal epidural. The pressure from sitting getting up and down will irritate the puncture wounds. Remember the Doc injected fluid so the pressure on the disc/nerves is increased. This in itself will cause new pain. Rest for 24 is a min. It can take upto a week after an epidural to settle down for me if I have to do anything the next day after one. If I can I have mine on Friday so I can just sit for the weekend, it works awhole lot better.. |
I hear ya and I would do the same. It just take longer for the swelling to go down and swelling = pain. Alot depends on the Doc, Ive had the same doc for the last 4 Ive had. I can tell by the bruising and the time he takes doing it how well its going to last. Some are much better than others. good luck. |