[jakatak]

But, my back does feel better today. I have always thought that my feet felt better walking than sitting. By keeping my pelvis tucked in and not slouching. Or not sitting for long periods of time. This morning when I felt an electrical shock to my big toe. I consciously tucked my pelvis in, and, magically, the pain went away. I used to be conscience about doing my back exercises. I am going to begin them again. I just cringe to think that the removal of the nerve in my feet where do to poor posture and an arthritic back! Oh well....can't cry over spilled milk. If I'm able to rehabilitate this old back and alleviate the foot aches....that would be a good thing. I will be discussing the options with my doctor this morning.

[LizaJane]

The one thing I'd be careful about with your symptoms, jack, is making sure that it's not spinal stenosis. That's where I got caught, after neuropathy and before spine surgery.

You might want to google on "spinal stenosis" and "cauda equina syndrome" to make sure this isn't what's going on from your old arthritic back.

[jakatak]

LizaJane....I do have stenosis L4,5 and S1. I know they can go in there and basically scrape the bone spurring off the disk, but I'm not very keen on that. I'm going to try and work on my posture, flexibililty, and see if that helps. I just had a weird sensation this morning. I got out of my chair and got super dizzy. Didn't think anything of it, but getting out of my car this afternoon, and I literally had to stop and lean against a building do to dizziness. My cheeks are flushed and I am concerned if the Lyrica, or the neurontin is causing this. Also....does anyone know if either of these meds can cause BP to rise, and is weight gain always a done deal. I've gained about 7 pounds in the past three months, but I think bad appetite and no exercise may also be to blame.

[HeyJoe]

you can get dizzy standing up if your blood pressure drops also.

[LizaJane]

Jack, we ALL have stenosis of some sort as we age, the question is degree and symptoms. It is very important to not allow the stenosis to become severe enough to cause cauda equina syndrome, as the nerve damage may not be reversible.

Please go to their websites, or look at my earlier posts on this when I learned I had severe stenosis. If you find you're walking a little hunched forward, if you're having any change in bowel/bladder function; if you are getting cramps in your legs, or finding your legs just getting weaker as you walk longer, these are bad signs. Peripheral neuropathy is also a bad sign.

There are some great websites. Most doctors are trained to notice cauda equina only when it's full-blown and damage is already irreversible.

So, if you've got moderate to severe stenosis, and any cauda equina symptoms, that's an emergency.

Plus, I can tell you the surgery is not actually a big deal. If you have a stable spine and do not need fusion, the recovery is quite rapid. Billye's husband, I believe, had it. And others. Instrumentation surgery with fusion is a hard recovery, but a straight laminectomy is not. I would never ever let myself get nerve damage rather than a laminectomy. That would be a very bad trade-off.

Humor me. Read the websites. Okay?

[Silver Swan]

Dear Jack:

It is beneficial to us all to practise good posture - so no harm in doing that! I always look up any drugs that I have been prescribed to see what the side effects might be. Just Google the name of the drugs and you can find a lot of excellent information. Stay away from the sponsored articles - they are selling something. By the way, anti convulsants are often prescribed for nerve pain - Tegretol, Neurontin, Lyrica, Lamictal, Trileptal, etc. They all need to be taken regularly so as to keep the drug in the bloodstream. One does not take them just at the time when pain occurs, as in other pain killers.

Getting up fast after lying down can make one feel dizzy. I always stand at the edge of the bed for a little before starting in walking. Just a thought.

Keep us posted Jack. We all are rooting for you.

Shirley H.