Cervical Spondylosis :: Anterior Cervical Discectomy & Fusion
Nov 9, 2012
I'm 48 suffered with cervical spondylosis for around 6 years, in the last two years it's got so painful. I have tried all meds, last year I had an op foraminotomy where they drilled the left side spurs C4 to C7. But the last year has been a nightmare the pain is worse. I have now had more MRI & CT scans more meds and having two injections next week. I asked the long term affect of my neck I was told I have a neck of a 70 year old. What dose this actually mean? Wheelchair what?? I am also on the list for a anterior cervical discectomy & fusion.
I have a fall time desk job which doesn't help at all but have a mortgage... holiday is taken as sick days.
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I am recovering from Anterior Cervical Discectomy, which became necessary to avoid drastic further deterioration.
I would like to tell you about my experience and what helped me. My problem started quite unexpectedly with a persistent back ache at work (I am an office worker). Within days it was so bad that I was vomiting with pain and had to stop working (I was commuting to London). I was on morphine within three weeks, but it did not help either. I won't list here all the various painkillers I was prescribed, which helped to certain extent, but the pain was so bad that I was suicidal. The doctors communicated with me hardly at all except writing another painkiller prescription. I felt totally abandoned by them. I tried osteopathy, ordinary physiotherapy and Bowen's therapy. Bowens worked the best but nothing would give more than a few hours relief from the extreme pain. My husband then hit on the Tens machine and that was the only thing that really helped. I would recommend it without hesitation. I dropped the morphine, which was a bit of nightmare for me anyway, and managed to live with the Tens machine.
Unfortunately my problem rapidly progressed to me losing strength from my arm and from my fingers and a neurologist recommended the dissection and fusion. It is not an easy fix, but to me it saved my life. I went back to work four months after the operation, seven months after first feeling the pain. I could not say I'm as good as new, but the pain has gone. My neck is stiff, gets tired very easily and a bit uncomfortable. I cannot lift, push or pull anything heavy. But I'm here, enjoying my family and grandchildren. I couldn't ask for more. I'm 63 and now feeling my age, that's all.
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The Dr told me I need 3 cervical fusions due to 3 bulging disks that are cutting off spinal fluid in my neck, I already had C4 and C5 fused. I deal with the pain constantly and it is getting old. He told me I would have very limited movement with my neck. My questions are, did anyone else on this forum have the same operation and would you do it again. My other concern, what happens if I refuse to go through with it, possible damage to the spinal cord or other complications ?
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I was diagnosed with cervical spondylitis when I was 27 ( had a severe fall when I was 16 yrs old...fell 2 stories), am 48 now and moved to Wales almost 2 yrs ago from South Africa and since being here, my pain has increased in intensity. Used to get steroid injections and am aware that I won't get that here in the U.K. I now suffer extreme nausea due to the pain and can only dry retch, as the valve below the oesophagus was tightened yrs ago and now prevents me from throwing up. I would appreciate if others with this condition could tell me what the maximum dosage of Ibuprofen one can take. Taking the normal dosage (2) does not alleviate the searing pain or spasms.
I am also very confused. After x-rays, all dr,s have said cervical spondylitis and not cervical spondylosis. Been told that I don't have arthritis and yet this is not ankylosing spondylitis, which 1 dr said it was..(he never saw the x-rays)...really confused even after numerous x-rays and dr,s. I am almost on the verge of giving up hope of getting effective painkillers from dr,s here. Do the exercises, use heated neck bags and nothing much helps, especially when I get a flare up.
Need to know if increased dosage of Ibuprofen would help.
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I dont know i have cervical spondylosis , but MRI said i have a cervical spasm < now even after eating food my heart rate increase some times and there are weird feeling all day long in the chest ,pain in arm .. i feel tingling numbness, in legs ,arms , shouledrs some time. disbalance when i just stand up
Mty Doctors are sending me to neurologist,Cardio , Rheumatologist,Internal medicine .
nothing solved . Heart is ok , ECG is ok, x-ray of heart is ok.Blood test was ok ...
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Has anyone tried reiki?
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After a fall at tennis, I am 71 y old lady, very fit normally walk 5 km each am. I thought that it may be due to my balance. feel a little dizzy when stretching to pick up the ball. has anyone had any help with spondylosis. exercises or medication.
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I have cervical spondylosis and I am suffering really bad headaches
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I am due to have cortisone injections on 7th November but am feeling a bit anxious about it.
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I'm 28, work in IT, sit 8h (With 5 min smoking breaks/h) in front of the pc and a few more at home. Exactly a month ago, while on vacation in the mountains, one morning after eating breakfast and sitting down to drink my coffee I started having slight dizziness. I panicked because I was never dizzy in my life and it was new to me, except after nights of drinking. The whole day was scared and worried. The next few days were ok again. Then I had days with light dizziness at work a few hours, then sleepless nights because of panicking that I can't sleep and what is wrong with me. Meanwhile I feel very light tingling in left arm fingers and sometimes in left foot as well. One day at work I panicked because of feeling a little dizzy again and went to the company's onsite nurse. She took my blood pressure and it was at 160/85. I started worrying more. She thought it could be a calcium or magnesium deficiency so she gave me a Berocca tablet. After I left her office and before taking the tablet I returned to normal. Next days again I was confronted with light dizziness, tingling in left hand and foot at random times, mostly at work and very bad sleepless nights. So I went to my GP. She sent me to take blood and urine test. The results of those were PERFECT. Every bit. Blood pressure was once 140/85 and 130/85. Next, I went to a neurologist. After 10-15 minutes talking to the neurologist and going through some exercises she told me I have cervical spondylosis and sent me to an x ray. Result of the xray is that I have deformed neck from siting to much at the pc and small lower osteophytes. The neurologist said its absolutely nothing to worry about, the dizziness and tingling will go away, especially if I change my lifestyle. This was 2 weeks ago. Since then I go every other day swimming for 1h, daily neck, back and shoulder stretching in the morning after waking up for 20-30 mins and will soon exchange car for bike, and go walking as much as I can. I am not sporty at all. I am 187cm and weigh 90 kg constant for the last 3-4 years. This is my story.
Now, because I was NEVER in my life sick (only the occasional cold) I am very sceptical about doctors and would like some advice from other people, because I am bit scared right now. I still experience light tingling in left hand and sometimes feels like it will go numb (but never did), can't remember when I last time felt it in the foot. Dizziness appears for a few minutes in the morning when I sit down at the PC at work, goes away shortly after. I now quit smoking (it's been 4 weeks and don't miss it), instead stretch around in the work breaks and after lunch I go walking for 30-40 minutes. But being scared about the situation I tend to "feel" different symptoms including being weekend (probably all in my head). Bottom line: is it possible to be affected by cervical spondylosis ? If I keep up with the lifestyle changes, will I have it under control and will the symptoms go away ?
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I am 63 and have been suffering with neck pain, stiffness in the neck and pain in back of head for over a year now, I also have trouble sleeping as can't turn over without pain, I have to physically lift my head with my hand to turn over. Initially my Dr said it was muscular and gave me Codeine Phosphate which did nothing for me. I gave it a couple of months and went to see a different Dr at tlhe practice who gave me stronger painkillers....Nefopam and also Amitriptyline to help me sleep. She tried to refer me for a scan but couldn't until I'd had physio which I am still having at the moment. The physio I get is about 15 mins every 2 weeks which in my eyes is not nearly enough. However apart from that I have been managing at work fine, I work in a dept store and am a bra fitter and general sales assistant. Any heavy lifting there is to do my colleagues would help and the rest of the time I have been managing fine. This week however I have been moved and put in the cafe, my first day was yesterday, I found it really heavy....carrying loaded trays of food, clearing tables and carrying loaded trays back to the kitchen. every part of the job involves some sort of lifting, carrying, pushing and pulling and scrubbing! Today was my day off and I have had so much pain and stiffness in my neck and pains in the back of my head! I am really concerned that this is going to make my condition worse. If I am feeling like this after one day I dread to think what I'll be like after five days in there. How do you cope at work, do you have a job that entails lifting or heavy work?
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my pain in my neck, shoulders and arms are really bad plus waking up with headache and not sleeping too well. Doctors gave me 2mg of diazepam to take at night, I'm not on any pain killers except paracetamol. I feel at a loss as i don't want to take codeine or any other strong painkillers as got addicted to codeine and it was a nightmare coming of them. I get tingling in my hands and wake up with a numb are sometimes. Just wish i could have a break from pain for just one day!
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I have had CS for a number of years but it is worse when I am in bed and when I lie down I go dizzy. I am on Stemetil for the dizziness and
co-codamol for the pain but it stays with me. I don't think there is a cure and I am told to learn to live with it. It drives me mad. I don't socialise any more even with family.
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It started with deep ache pain in the top half of my arm, up to my shoulder and neck with limited movement in my arm (cannot bend it backwards or raise above my head) This has been happening for approx 6 months now.
I went to see the dr and he said he thought it was a frozen shoulder so referred me to physio. After the physio session with extreme stretching of my arm I was in so much pain that I took myself to a&e where the doctor there thought it was tendonitis so sent me to see another physio.
The second physio therapist said it wasn't tendonitis and suggested that I had an xray of my arm and shoulder, had the x ray done results came back clear so my dr then referred me for an upper arm/shoulder ultrasound where i was told that all the tendons are fine and that she suggests that I have an MRI. Now I have to wait till next Tuesday before I can get to see the doc again and then another few weeks for the MRI referral.
Now since I last saw my dr the pain is now radiating all the way down my arm from my neck and into my fingers, I have also started suffering with extreme dizziness, room spins after sitting up in a morning and also when I turn my head over through the night and I cant look up without falling over, my balance is also off sync. This may also sound bizarre but I have an intermittent buzzing sensation that last for about 3 seconds stops and starts again in my left inner groin area and this has been happening about a week.
Because of the clear x ray and no problems with the tendons I can only think that it is nerve related.
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i used to go office by my two wheeler scooty but it pain on jerky or bad roads on four wheeler also i have consulted ortho he said drive with collar but online someone told me it is bad to drive bike/scooty
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anyone tell me if they suffer dizziness and fainting spells with this condition
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I have multilevel spondylosis and I have been getting numbness and tingling throughout my body . Does anyone else get this
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I have been off work since the end of May and Cervical Spondylosis was diagnosed by the Occupational Health doctor via the Local Authority for whom I work. This discomfort and pain started and deteriorated whilst working on the computer at work. The OH doctor says it is age related and will not attribute this problem to the fact that I spend most of my working life in front of a computer. I have had physio and acupuncture and they say it is to do with posture. This treatment has not resolved the problem and I have now been referred to the Orthopedic Service. I am fighting this with the help of Unison. Has anyone out there had a similar experience.
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Can Cervical Spondylosis also cause pain in the Upper back
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I wanted to open a new discussion, to allow some space for those with Cervical Spondylosis (C/S) to simply express their opinions (including my own obviously) on how they think the C/S dynamics, and its progress over time actually results in the changeable symptoms they experience. I have my own ideas about how it all combines to produce the daily struggle we endure, but I'm also aware that opinions differ, and it might be a wise thing to do to consider other opinions, so that I get a more balanced overview. Same for everyone, I suppose.
I've had C/S a long time, over 30 years, and I've many of the different phases that are common to posters on this site, and other sites. One thing that strikes me is that most posters are in different phases of the condition, and although sympathy/empathy are nice things, they don't quite get into the area of finding or sharing suitable solutions for those differing experiences. What seems to be missing is a general overview, common to all, and acceptable to all, which would give a foundation to build suitable solutions upon. Some might even think that there are no solutions, except possibly medications or surgery....but, I personally, disagree with that, because I reckon that those possible but risky solutions are only relevant to certain grades of C/S.
The one thing that really stands out for me, after experiencing many different types of C/S phases, is that reasonable manageability always seems to return after difficult phases, and I'm inclined to ask questions about that because that is not a common feature of many other chronic conditions. It's like a rollercoaster effect, which in turn plays a bit of havoc with our expectations, and with our default settings for just getting by with the least possible disruption. It adds to the overall problem, by introducing a mindset that can't predict tomorrow's issues. Also, I think that just adds to an undermining of the decisions we might want to make in the present moment, decisions which might affect how tomorrow actually does evolve.
Just going back to the issue of 'phases' which pass, I've come round to seeing that as an attempted 'corrective' dynamic, whereby most of the symptoms we experience probably result from reactions to threats of nerve compression, and that those same symptoms have little to do with bone degeneration except in the sense that the threat to nerves wouldn't happen if there weren't any bone degeneration. I realise that some people with C/S have an underlying arthritic condition which increases degenerative rates, and thus increases symptom potential, but I still think it makes sense that symptoms result from threats to nerves rather than from spinal degeneration (although one causes the other, and the other causes the symptoms). By that definition, I think it's possible that even where there is serious degeneration, it doesn't necessarily mean the symptoms will get worse....unless there is accompanying increase of threat to nerves. Make sense ?
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It has been suggested to me that I may be developing Trigeminal Neuralgia (TN) due to my rapidly deteriorating Cervical Spondylosis (CS) in the top of my neck.
The Cervical Spondylosis (CS) pain is an awful (its feels like you've just broken a bone - which is a completely different type of pain to Trigeminal Neuralgia (TN).
I use DHC (Dihydrocodeine) and Oramorph (Morphine Sulphate) daily to reduce the CS pain to a level which allows me to continue functioning at work. I have medical complication/allergies to Steroids and NSAIDS.
The suspected Trigeminal Neuralgia (TN) starts with my right eye twitching uncontrollably and then it happens about 20 seconds later ...
it feels as though my upper and lower jaw bones are being crushed/compressed/ripped out, I am almost completely paralyzed with this short sharp alternating type of pain.
If I move my neck head around - it sometimes stops the short sharp alternating type of pain for a few seconds but then it shoots down the left side of my face ...
An additional small dose of morphine 5ml helps to take the edge of this new type of pain but only after about 30 mins. I really dont want to keep having to increase my medication ...
Any suggestions as to what alternative medicines may help to reduce the pain this Trigeminal Neuralgia (TN) condition please ?
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