still in pain after anterior cervical disectomy

To everyone that has been suffering through this stuff....
I've posted several times, complaining, of course, because this has been such a tremendous burden to my life after having ACDF surgery over two years ago. I've had to quit my job of 30 yrs, keep all of the "love" to do things at a minimum because I am in so much pain.
I've tried several specialist to try to figure out why my body has reacted this way with out any luck. I quit going to doctors for awhile then think there has to be a reason so I go to another specialist.
This time around I've been given 2 different diagnosis and feel that either one could be the answer that I'm looking for. One diagnosis is RSD or Reflex Sympathetic Dystrophy the second has been Fibromyalga and Raynaud's.
If you do some research on these you will find they pretty much cover our symptoms.
Since exact diagnosis has not been made ( I'm waiting blood work and more test) I cannot tell any of you if this is exactly what I have or if treatment for any of the above will help.
At least it is a start for any of you whom have been to doctor after doctor without any diagnosis or results like I have.
What I have learned that if it is RSD the sooner you recieve treatment the better the chances are of recovery. Unfortunately for me if this is what is wrong with me I'm afraid I'm way past total recovery time. But if you are like me you will settle for anything that takes even a fraction of this pain away!
Keep checking back! I plan to keep all of you informed of progress (if there is any) and diagnosis hoping that maybe it will help some of you.

Keep your chin up...there has got to be a reason why we are suffering!


~~~~~~Want to hear God laugh? Tell Him your plans!~~~~~~~

I am a 33 year old female complaining about my second cervical fusion. In 2006 I had a large herniated disc at C5-6. I had weakness on my right side and paralysis of my right foot. Following the surgery, (anterior fusion with hardware) I recovered 90%. I still had a bit of weakness but nothing really noticable. I went back to my every day life. On April 7th of this year I underwent my second surgery on the level above C4-C5. This area was fused. I AM HAVING A HELL OF A TIME NOW!!! SO much so I think I herniated another one immediately after the surgery???? I still have alot of weakness, burning and tingling in both hands and feet, neck pain and leg and arm pain? I am 4 weeks out, I feel like I should be getting better by now? I went from a person who was jogging 5 miles a day to sitting all day??? I am going crazy. Also I was studdying to be a nurse, my second attempt at a career after being unable to find a job as an art educator, and my Dr. told me to forget that! I am really bummed. I just hope that I get better!!! AND I AM Praying for all of you!

Have any of you people posting to this blog ever experienced really sharp, shooting pains in the back of your neck after surgery?
I had ACDF almost 3 yrs ago and have noticed since the surgery, after doing certain things I start having these pains and wondering what could be causing it?
The pain is to the the left side of my cervicle spine and puts me down pretty quick. It seems after I rest my neck for a while on a pillow it subsides.
Thanks in advance.

i had a level 2 neck surgery and i could tell it was going to be better,then within 2 weeks after,i got whip lash and it tore my 3-4 out,had another surgery.since then i have as much cp if not more,also have back problems ,on my first surgery 6-7 level they took bone out of my hip,and put a plate in,it has never quit hurting,and now its sunk in and dont know where the plate is.sendcond one they took bone ou of my neck to put back in my neck.they dont do that anymore ,due to the pain never goes away.doc office got closed down,no pain management,cant find a doc that will treat ccp after what happened here in ks.doc thrown in jail,i went to a doc i seen on tv about this war on cc. and he is taking me off all meds ,dropped me over 200 mg just like that.1,ooo patients without help,less now,but he wont refer me to pain doc.wont do mri on my bck and hips,legs hurt,neck,shoulders,ect. been threw therapy ect.and the surgern told me to go to a pain management doc, dont know what to do,cant stand all this pain.it robs u of your life w/out meds.and they were my md as well.i dont use illegal drugs ,dont abuse meds,but will live with cc the rest of my life,docs afraid to treat anyone who went to this clinic.call a doc in the next state for help,to treat me and get a referal baack here.ive had therapy mor then once and was still doing it at home.it takes everything u love away,u no longer have a half normal life,its been since 2003 since my surgery,and was still in color stimulater ect,when had rear ended and had to have another surgery,got nothing out of it,under insured,and now looking for help.i have 2 grand kids,little,i miss out on so much.i use to do everything, miss fix it,was what they called me,worked several jobs and helped the elderly ect.the dea needs to stop this,under treated chronic pain can lead to major health problems, that can lead to death. im not a doc. but done my research and had lots of docs opions,get use to taking pain med or you will wish u did. due to those who dont need them,makes it hard for us that do need the help. check your records,u will be shocked the lies in them, go to www.chronicpainforumsofthepainreliefnetwork.com -lots of info- im a member there . god bless , hope

Go have a discogram done in shows more then an MRI or other tests..

:-( hi on the 19th may 2008 i had my c5 to c7 acdf im not feeling the best either,well the very deep pain in my left arm is gone,but oh oh oh ,pain in shoulders outer shoulders top middle back of neck right up to base of skull bad bad headaches that go on for days,shoulders gird els cant move much dune to server pain cant lift. pull,push,wash my hair,i cry lots,i i did my injury at work oct 25th 2006

I had disc surgery on 4/9/08.I have also have suddenly been getting worse.I go to physical therapy 3x a week.I'm scared to take meds I took plenty before the surgery.I have pain all on the left side of my neck,up into my head,going down my back.I had C5/6-6/7-plastic,bone,titanium.My surgeon says your muscles took on bad habits.I'm so upset I thought finally I would have the surgery and maybe be 80% better.I went through years of pain.I'm out of work on disability.I'm 53 years old.What is the answer.I do take klonopin at night and imitrex if my head is pounding.I use heat and ice and exercise.This is so deppressing.

hi Carl,im debbie,44 female who was very active in life until this work injury,if you have been prescribed meds you should take them not only does it help with pain but gives your brain a rest from thinking pain all the time,i forgot to take mine 1 day and i will never do that again,i know its depressing and very painful,but we are not alone ,i still have lots pain its been 3months since my operation,im better than what i was but hopefully pain will one day be gone,talk again soon,take it easy, don't rush it. 8-|

I had a discectomy on 7/31/08. My arm pain is gone but my index finger still burns all the time and I have pain in the middle of my neck, feels like the neck bone. My doc say its my muscles and is sending me to therapy. I am a bit discouraged cause i know my body and I know what hurts. I feel for anyone that has gone through this operation and still have problems. When I had mine, I was under the impression that my pain would be gone and I would go on with life. It seems that I have traded arm pain for neck pain. I am really hoping therapy does not cause me a lot of pain. my doc also took my pain meds away cause he felt they are not needed. Pain, frustration, worry and uncertainly. I am not back to work yet, my work is all lifting and climbing, doc says its not a good job for my neck. If anyone has any calming thoughts, I would willing to listen.

Iwish

hi all i had to go get a functional test done on Thursday,with crs oh god 2 hours later and a damn load of server PAIN,i could NOT do any of the things they wanted me to i tried so hard to complete them but could NOT,now its been 3 days since the crs test and im not moving to well and still in PAIN,i am not doing that again,hope you are all doing OK, ill let you know how the results go ,,talk again soon Deb :'(

I am a 47 year old woman who had ACDF on C-5/C-6 (twice: the second with titanium plate). I have the exact same chronic pain symptoms you describe. My surgeries were maybe 13 years ago. This pain was not present before the surgeries. Mine is right side only neck pain accompanied by spasms, right shoulder, right shoulderblade and now headaches at the right base of skull. I have been in pain management since the surgeries, tried rehab, and have been on multitude of medications so I can at least function. WhenI use the associated muscles, I feel burning and weakness and the pain is exacerbated. Now I'm getting trigger point injections, but the relief, if any, is very temporary. My MRIs, nerve conduction and other neurological tests (not EMG yet) are "normal". My doctor now says I probably had nerve damage from the surgeries, and that even if they could confirm this with tests there would be nothing I could do for a fix. Every once in awhile I sit down and search for an answer and this is how I came upon your post. I'm coping, but worry about the future as it does not improve over time.....just gets worse.

I am a 47 year old woman who had ACDF on C-5/C-6 (twice: the second with titanium plate). I have the exact same chronic pain symptoms you describe. My surgeries were maybe 13 years ago. This pain was not present before the surgeries. Mine is right side only neck pain accompanied by spasms, right shoulder, right shoulderblade and now headaches at the right base of skull. I have been in pain management since the surgeries, tried rehab, and have been on multitude of medications so I can at least function. WhenI use the associated muscles, I feel burning and weakness and the pain is exacerbated. Now I'm getting trigger point injections, but the relief, if any, is very temporary. My MRIs, nerve conduction and other neurological tests (not EMG yet) are "normal". My doctor now says I probably had nerve damage from the surgeries, and that even if they could confirm this with tests there would be nothing I could do for a fix. Every once in awhile I sit down and search for an answer and this is how I came upon your post. I'm coping, but worry about the future as it does not improve over time.....just gets worse. My advise is to find a sympathetic very broadly qualified pain management specialist who is not adverse to medication. It will help you manage your life.

Hi everyone. I had a double distecomy and fusion from c3-4 and c5-6 in Oct of 08, so I am about 3 1/2 months out. This was a redue of c5-6 that I had 18 months ago as it never fused. I am not having horrible right shoulder and arm pain. Especially at night. I came to this sight to see if anyone else had this, and apparently many of you do. I would like to suggest to all of you to get weekly Massages. That is the only thing that has ever helped my pain beside Narcotics. Have been on them for 4 years and was hoping to get off of them soon after this surgery. My range of motion has improved since this last surgery, but still have most of the pain and added shoulder pain. I hate to tell my Dr at my next appt as he looks at me like I'm full of it!
Anyway, all of you please try Massage!!!

Have any one of you been told about Myofascial Release Therapy? I've tried everything else and so thought I would give this a try. After only one session my neck has stopped shocking my thumb every time I bend my head forward. Now I'm hopeful that it will eventually end my shoulder pain as well. Just Something to consider.

I had the same acdf c4-c7 that a lot of you are talking about. I too have had nothing but severe pain after surgery and only 1/2 the pain before surgery. My doctor would keep telling me that the muscles are just sore, and that'll go away. Well, it's been 2 years and it's worse. My chiro and pain mgmt doctors say it's myofascial pain, so I've done some research on both Fibromyalgia and Myofascial Pain Syndrome. You may want to research and perhaps mention it to your doctors as well. I too have the headaches, chronic pain in my shoulders, middle top back, jaw pain, and I feel it in most of my upper body muscles. Massage MOST definitely helps. But, it's the only thing that's worked for me so far, and it's only temporary, but it's the best tool in my opinion. I take pain meds, and an anti-depressant, because as most of you stated, it robs you of your life. I am 38 and have a 15 yr. old son and I feel he's been robbed of some things too, as we can't do amusement parks, skiing, bowling, etc. like we used to. Look into FM and MPS. It may help at least some of you. Good luck and God Bless! AC