Herniated Disc...Need some feedback...

[blondie711]

Please don't think I was judging you for taking whatever you need to get throught this. (My narcotic-phobia comes from an entire other conversation.)I think you should do whatever you need to do. But do look into Amrix, maybe your doctor can give you a sample as mine did, before I had the RX filled. Flexril never had any effect on me. I believe Amrix is only about a year old, might not be popular yet.
On another RX note, I have several friends that are getting their RX's supplied to them by their doctor's at no or little cost. They went through the manufacturer's to obtain them. Most pharmaceutical firms will supply needed medications to those who qualify. It's worth a try and you would have nothing to lose.
Good luck and best wishes!

 

[vocaltest]

Ahh, good old sciatica! I have that.. Thankfully mine isn't as bad as it used to be... well, I just get it less often now. I know what you're going through, it is horrendous pain. In my opinion, all you can really do is rest... what helps me is rest and nurofen plus (ibuprofen & co-codomol together). Am I right in that co-codamol is not available over the counter in the US?

I see my mum go through the worst type of back pain each day... years ago (20+) she caught the flu and it attacked the discs in her back and completely disintegrated one of the discs at the top of her back (very, very unusual place to have a disc herniate/disintegrate as your back does not move there). She used to be 5'6 but now is only 5'4 due to the disc disintegrating. She gets referred pain through to her chest every day and along the top of her back. I can't imagine how awful it must be! She spent years visiting chiropractors (sp) and osteopaths and thinks they do nothing, but her back problem is a very extreme one so maybe her opinion is a bit biased. Anyway, I hope you feel better hun, rest lots!

 

[ImMACnificent]

Thank you guys so much for all the support and feedback. It is much appreciated <3

 

[User38]

hope you feel better soon

 

[rbella]

I used to work in Spine Surgery and unless you are in debilitating pain and are basically disabled, it is best not to have surgery. And, if you do, it is much better to have this done by a Neurosurgeon. There are so many nerves involved in disc surgery as well as the entire spinal column. Neurosurgeons are trained 1 full extra year on the spinal cord and nerve branches alone versus an orthopedic surgeon who is not.

My rec would be drink a ton of water. Physical Therapy, heat and Aleve. You might always have some discomfort, but trust me, the side effects of a surgery, especially if done incorrectly, are worse. My husband uses an inversion table and that has helped his back immensely. Basically, you are trying to stretch open the vertebral bodies so your disc will "pop back up" for lack of a better term. In a diskectomy, they just remove the protruding disc material from pressing on your spinal cord, but then you will have permanent malalignement and permanent uneven disc space.

HTH, feel free to pm me with any questions.

 

[widdershins]

I had a herniated disk and leg pain for about a year, and I can definitely relate! My leg pain was so intense that I limped everywhere and couldn't really walk. I had to self diagnose myself (the doctor I was seeing kept giving me WebMD print outs of phantom pain syndrome wtf!) I finally got an MRI and I have degenerative disk disease, but one disk in particular was really herniated. I ended up getting a diskectomy and it was one of the best things I have ever done in my life. My back hurt for awhile, but the incision was tiny, about 3 inches long, and my sciatic leg pain is gone forever! I haven't had it return or any more disks herniate, but my back does get sore from time to time because of my other bulgey (bulgy?) disks.