[Scottish Girl]

Hi Everyone,

I'm hoping that someone will be able to help me out. 2 weeks ago I had a discectomy L4/5, but as soon as I came round from the anaesthetic I had leg pain which has gotten worse and worse over the days. Instead of being in my lower leg/ankle area where it was before the surgery, it's now at my hip right down to my foot. Is this normal? Has anyone else experienced this?

I'd really appreciate your help or any information you can give me.

Thanks

[Hockey]

Hello and welcome to NT!

I'm afraid that I don't have the expertise to answer your question, but I'm sure someone will come along who can.

The link to NT's Spinal Disorders & Back Pain forum is:
http://neurotalk.psychcentral.com/forum22.html

Cheers

[Hockey]

Have you had any luck finding answers to your questions searching the forum?

Cheers

[Scottish Girl]

Hi, Yes thanks. From what I've read and by digging about a bit on the internet, it looks like the pain I have now is due to nerve damage. Considering the nerve was crushed for almost a year, it's not surprising really. I was hoping for a quick fix with the surgery, but it seems I still have some way to go. Take care.

[Hockey]

I suffered crushed and damaged nerves in an accident so I know it's a long road. In addition to the pain, I have a lot of neuro symptoms like tingles, loss of sensation (I've saved a bundle on oven mitts), spasms and weakness.

Nerve pain is tough to treat. What meds are you taking? Lyrica seems to be the drug of choice. It works for some folks, but I wasn't happy with it.

Cheers

[Scottish Girl]

I'm the same - numb toes, weak feeling in leg etc. I can walk better than I did before the surgery, but am disappointed that I didn't get the "instant relief" I was told I would. Know what you mean about the oven mitts though - I have RSD in my left arm/hand which leaves me with "asbestos" fingers. I can pick up anything hot.

I take Gabapentin, Tramadol and Nortriptylene at the moment, all maximum dose, but I still have pain. I see my Surgeon on Monday for a post-op check, maybe he'll have some ideas. I've never tried Lyrica - I don't know what the equivalent to it is here in Scotland.

Thanks for your reply.

[Hockey]

That's quite the cocktail they have you on. At the moment, I'm on that old standby Tegratol. It works better than the Lyrica, but things are a long way from sunny.

Cheers

[made it up]

Originally Posted by Scottish Girl

I'm the same - numb toes, weak feeling in leg etc. I can walk better than I did before the surgery, but am disappointed that I didn't get the "instant relief" I was told I would. Know what you mean about the oven mitts though - I have RSD in my left arm/hand which leaves me with "asbestos" fingers. I can pick up anything hot.

I take Gabapentin, Tramadol and Nortriptylene at the moment, all maximum dose, but I still have pain. I see my Surgeon on Monday for a post-op check, maybe he'll have some ideas. I've never tried Lyrica - I don't know what the equivalent to it is here in Scotland.

Thanks for your reply.

hi scottish girl and hockey,
interesting posts.
i just thought i'd add that i have quite a bit of old nerve damage in one arm, found only two weeks ago during a nerve conduction study and then surgery a couple of days later where the neurosurgeon found an osteophyte and again the old nerve damage which the nerve conduction study had found.
He removed the osteophyte and did decompression which has helped with the excruciating pain and worrying numbness in my fingers but the neurologist prescribed gabapentin around the same time 300mg twice a day and 600mg at night and the two have worked well. the beauty of gabapentin also being that it's not addictive.

[Fancylady_2006]

I took it for a good while and all I'll say is I gain weight and can't hardly get it back off.
Fancylady

[Scottish Girl]

Me too! I did manage to lose around 14lbs but it took a long time to do it. Weight gain seems to be a common side effect of Gabapentin. Maybe one day they'll invent something that just does the job it needs to do, instead of leaving us with "little extras".