Hi,

I'm new here, and I'm terrible at keeping track of getting to support boards.

I have chronic pain from spine issues, the most current being a disc herniation in my lumbar spine. Not my first, though.

I re-injured my back in May, when the bathroom sink in the house I rent literally fell off of the wall. I caught it rather than let it crush my feet. This is when this disc really blew out- it actually overhangs the vertebra, and if this next epidural doesn't work (I don't hold much hope- none of the others have helped) then the neurosurgeon says that a full spinal fusion is needed. The disc is too far gone for the microsurgery, something I kind of figured out when I saw the MRI pics.

Since May, though, my legs/feet and toes cramp constantly throughout the day and night. The ones during the day I can feel coming on so I can avoid full spasm, but the ones at night are horrific- I don't wake up until they have fully spasmed and I have to fight with them for them to relax.

I told the neurosurgeon about this, and he said he's not sure why it's happening. He referred me to pain management to do a 2 epidural trial before we schedule surgery- he wanted to give it a try before operating. I suspect that it's the disc compressing the nerves, because if I have to do any bending my legs go into spasm.

Does anyone else have this happening with a disc herniation? I feel like my doctor thinks I'm just making this up because he apparently thinks it can't be from the disc(s) that are blown.

My primary now has me on Carisoprodol for Soma, naproxyn for naprosyn and Oxycodone for percocet. They only help so much, and the leg/foot and toe spasms occur regardless of the Soma. I don't know of any other meds that might help. As I also have bipolar disorder, I have to be careful about the other meds I take.

Thanks for giving me a place to vent where I won't be accused of "whining" about this.

Lori