I have 2 degenerated discs at L5 and S1. I can barely walk its gotten so bad. It takes 30 lortab, percocet and flexeril a week for me to hobble around :/

 

6 gray hairs ! That's funny. I'll trade you any day.

 

I recently had L4, L5 and S1 fused using this process:

Efficacy of the Aspen Spinous Process System in Anterior Lumbar Interbody Fusion (ALIF) - Full Text View - ClinicalTrials.gov

Another:

Back Pain

It's called Aspen Laminectomy and is used to treat (surgically) degenerative Disc disease.

Worked for me.

 

Fusing would be a last ditch effort, Im way too active to have anything fused at the moment.

 

you can barely walk...and you are active....I'd get out the welder if I were you....fuse away....stiff is better than pain....unless you need to do back flips for a living.....hell, at my age, I'm stiff now, and still get around pretty good...

 

Well, active-ish. I go out every once and awhile still work on cars. But im always in massive amounts of pain after the fact

 

You spine has right about 21 'motion segments' in it (some people have an extra ) fusing one or two lumbar levels is hardly noticeable once you've recovered. No, I've not had it done but I have been in the spine surgery business for many years. Some patients tell me the pain is LESS in the recovery room (in theory your highest pain level is right after surgery) than they had in the pre-op area. Reliving the pressure from the nerves (or the spinal cord or the factest depending on what your 'pain generator' is) has an immeadiate, dramatic effect.

Stop changing your lifestyle to suit your pain level Infinate and go see a couple quality spine surgeons, do your research first, there are really good and not so good folks in every profession


Mike

 

I like how we're discussing spinal surgery in a thread that is fishing for compliments on the lowest of low suspensions, and the thinnest of thin tires... in a car that already rides firm.

I'm no doc, but it seems like suspension compliance and big puffy tires would be on my short list, if my spine was acting up.

I'm running the SRT spring setup (minus one coil) and the ride definitely qualifies as "firm". As in, Chuck Norris has a firm roundhouse kick.

Just an observation

 

I can verify that... I herniated the L5-S1 disc twice many years ago and had surgery on it both times(5 years apart)... the relief of the pain from the pinched nerves was so good that the pain from surgery was nothing... I also had three vertebrae in my neck fused with little loss or range of motion..... I still work out at the gym 3 times a week for 2 hours with no problem....(I do watch how much pressure I put on my low back though).....

Get your back fixed before it gets any worse and enjoy your life....

 

Well, I'm building the car like I planned, back be damned as this time next week I should be on a physical therapy/fentanyl diet. This has just been a 2 month setback in my life that I really really didnt need.

The car is stiff-ish, im used to cars with full blown track suspensions so even with the srt-6 springs it feels a little spongy at times, but thats just because of what Im used to driving. To give you an idea of how the car sits, from ground to fenders, front is 24", rear is 26".

I like em low . I also have some custom built Penske coilovers that Im going to try to use on the crossfire, just need to modify arms and pick-up points. I also have the rotors on the way for my big brake kit.

With the Penske's I can have the valving tweaked and everything, Since I used to work for a huge local race shop. Plus, springs are fast and simple to swap out, plus cheap, since they used standard 3" springs. That will be the next step once I get the brakes done, as I need to see if I can fit what Im planning behind 18s up front

 

I feel for you, several years ago I was suffering just the same. could not take the medication and pain any longer. Had two rods placed in my back and two levels fused . Was able to put all medication away three weeks after surgery. Passed the physical and went back to work. It is remarkable what can be done now. Slow down and take care of yourself

 

Thats basically what I've done. Ive been sitting at home for the past 2 months. I gone out maybe 4 times, worked on 1 car... Slow for me and Im starting to get really tired of it, but I cant get an MRI until middle of next week... no MRI, no treatment plan

 

I truely do feel bad for you, I was living on loratab and valium ( spelled wrong please forgive me) and had to sleep on a sofa becouse I could not get confortable in bed, had to wait on one referal after another jumping through insurance hoops,,,, hang in there it sounds as though you are very active...only adding to the frustration...keep us informed...thoughts are with you looking forward to seeing whats next with your X Fire. There ,,,,back on track,,,that will shut up the THREAD POLICE

 

yea, right now Im on percocet, lortab, flexeril, and mobic... and nothing touches the pain. So basically i've had to take copious amounts (30/week) just to hobble around... Cannot wait for next week so I can get back on track with my life and get back to work so I have money.

Big plans in the works so hopefully it all goes well.

Coilovers

double adjustable, compression and rebound. 2.5" of travel which should be more than enough for the spring rates I plan on running. I need to take them down to the shop and get them dynoed, then go from there with the pick up points.

as for the brakes (been sitting on a shelf, ignore the dirt)



Wilwood Integra-GT 4 piston calipers. I plan on running these in the front along with 13"x1.38" 2 piece fully floating rotors. I have the rotors on the way, once they get here I can measure for brake hat offset and for the caliper mounting bracket

 

i had a massive pain in my neck. 40,000$ later and no more wife, MY PAIN IS GONE!!!!!!!

 

Let me get this straight...

Lortab. Percocet (same drug-different brand name-Hydrocodone), Flexaril and Valium/ Diazapam?

And on top of that : Fentanyl?

No wonder you're putting off surgery.

Son, if you have a physician still prescribing for you after all of this time, and all of these meds, not only are you lucky, he/she is approaching prosecutable.

You are reading from someone who has "Been there-done that" in CAPITAL EFFING LETTERS.

Ask around about the Dragon run a couple of years ago...

Either get it fixed, or try Kundalini yoga. Try my surgeon, he's local, good and accomplished:

Auburn Neurosurgery

He may look like Doogie Houser, but he's a great cutter. He'll have you on your feet in 6 weeks.

Med free.

 

dibs on the leftover pills after the surgery! (in case my neck pain comes back!)

 

You know what she looks like-just avoid her!!

 

As someone who works in the area of chronic pain, with the worlds leading authorities in this area, I hope you are seeing a pain specialist at this point in time. If you are being prescribed two opioid products at the same time, there's a little something wrong there. And all the NSAIDs your on also isn't good. There is some controversy regarding the use of muscle relaxants for the treatment of chronic pain as well. The unfortunate reality in the pain management world is that it's unlikely that all of your pain will ever go away with pharmaceuticals alone. But there are very good ways to maximize the use of the available agents--including non-pharmacologic/non-interventional therapies. I don't know anything about your situation and obviously don't have your medical records, but there are agents that can be used in certain situations that would allow you to be removed from one of the opioids and potentially reduce the dosage of the remaining opioid that you would likely still be on---referred to as an opioid sparing technique. In 2009 there was a clinical guideline document published on the topic of long-term opioid therapy for non-cancer chronic pain--so there are people out there who have a vested interest in situations like your own. The recommendations are a bit complicated for a primary care doc, but any self respecting pain doc should have at least read it.

You just gotta find the right people to do the job--after all, you're paying for it. From what you're saying, you haven't found the right guy yet. Being in the level of pain that you currently are in isn't a good place to be. I have no idea of your interest in this area, but there is a patient advocacy group called the American Pain Foundation, which might be helpful for you. I work with these folks as well--good folks over there who take pain very seriously.

Sorry to be off topic here, but I thought I'd chime in on something I know a little bit about.

 

Max, ithink you misread my posts. I'm not on the fentanyl yet. Pecocet and lortab are different. Lortab = hydrocodone. Percocet = oxycodone (stronger). I have always had a high tolerance to pain LEDs. Where you take one and get looped out I take 3 and feel nothing out ofthe ordinary. I've taken 3 today over 6 hours and I'm still in excrutiating pain and feel firmly planted.

As of today I'm on percocet 5mg/325. Flexeril and mobic. We tried toradol, naproxen. Nothing has worked. The flexeril and mobic aren't helpin either. The percocet makes walking almost possible for short distances.

As of next week after my doctor reads my MRI I will bee off of everything and started on epidurals with fentanyl to manage breakthrough pain. I'm not avoiding surgery. My doctor says I'm way too young to consider it at this point as there are other avenues to pursue. I will also be started on a physical therapy routine and see a chiropractor to hopefully put some space inbetween my discs.

This is pretty much going to be a life long problem, I would prefer to try every available nonintrusive option before resorting to surgery.