davies2209
01-27-2007, 02:24 PM
Hello,
My story started when i suffered a prolapsed disc from lifting at work (I am a nurse with the British NHS.) After months of agony i was persuaded to have an operation by my doctor, who stated it was a relitively quick and simple operation and that my surgeon did hundreds a year. Unfortunately, through neglect, the surgeon happened to rip part of my nerve out whilst taking out part of the disc and i have been left in major pain. I am currently taking an anti-epileptic drug (pregablin) for the nerve pain, as well as durogesic patches. Unfortunately, I am suffering terribly with the horrendous side effects.. can anyone offer me any ideas of an alternative drug? I do have a pain specialist, but unfortunately I have lost faith after this mess up. I just want my life back.
Please, please help me..
davies2209
dejerine
01-28-2007, 04:56 PM
Okay, this is NOT a medical opinion. It is an exploratory educational communication ie. I am no one to rely on. Having said that, St. Thomas in London enjoys a world class reputation on pain. Have you tried there? Secondly, when the disc is being removed from an anterior approach, they typically drill a small hole in the middle and then tease back to the posterior longitudinal ligament. Then, they use an angled tool to remove the disc. If there is a bone spur or osteophyte, they may use a harder tool, sometimes even a footed rongeur. A footed rongeur is big. It sounds as if they were going laterally after an osteophyte, perhaps, and somehow cut off a nerve leaving the spine. Whether this would be considered central pain or peripheral nerve injury I do not know. I mention this because peripheral nerve injuries respond to many more kinds of medications than central pain. Do you have both sensory and motor loss at the level of injury? I might get a copy of your operative report to see what kind of rongeur was used. Then, you could see St. Thomas or Queens pain specialist. Just an idea. If you have central pain, at some point you are going to have to accept that you are not going to get your life back. That is all any of us desire, but it is not in the nature of central pain to allow that. What you can hope for is to obtain A life, modified so as to derive some satisfaction via service, some comforts, some entertainments, etc. but most of all with expectations curtailed realistically to match your injury. It may seem selfish to you at first to stop giving what a nurse gives,but there will be room to be of service to others. It may sound ugly but I think CP is kind of like drowning, you have to look out for number 1; however inclined your personality is to look out for others. Family need a realistic awareness of what represents good effort for you, what indicates love from you. If you have an incurable disease, it doesn't matter what doctor you go to, nor what medicine you take, it is still incurable. Better to use your energy to learn coping skills than to waste time and money and hope on a wild goose chase. You will see many stories of benefit to mechanical pain here at this site, but the instances of benefit for severe central pain are far fewer. I think first you should learn if you have CENTRAL or PERIPHERAL nerve injury pain. Then, you can read the literature for yourself on what works. This sounds harsh but truth in the long run is more caring than false information.
I am so sorry you have had this happen, but I do not want the sequelae to be what I went through, years of chasing every chance, hope, or rumor of hope, until I finally found a doctor kind enough to tell me my CP was not curable. This was the greatest kindness he could offer, and gave me the dignity of being a patient.