Does anyone know about lumber and neck stenosis

ccrider

Hello all, I am a 60+ male, and I am hoping to get information about an illness I believe that I have called lumber and neck stenosis which is still under investigation by hospitals and GPs, and i was hoping to chat to someone who knows all about this very painful illness. Thankyou.

Adrian_Scope

Hello @ccrider and a warm welcome to the community. 🙂

I'm afraid I don't know much about the condition but we do have members on the community that have lumber and neck stenosis and hopefully they'll be able to share their experience with you.

Has your hospital or GP told you much about the condition?

AKR

Hello @ccrider what is it that you want to know about stenosis ?

onedayatatime

Hello @ccrider I suppose what would really help you is to firstly get results from maybe CT or MRI scans from hospital that can confirm what sections of your spine are affected by stenosis and if there are any other conditions resulting from the investigations. Hope that makes sense. I'm not a medical person, but I have stenosis in sections of my lumbar that affects the nerve roots causing pinching and pain down my left limb. I've just had decompression surgery to hopefully help with freeing up some space with a pinched nerve. I've also degenerative discs and arthritis that have caused scoliosis which is mainly managed by medication and lifestyle changes right now. With a clear diagnosis, your consultant and GP should be able to inform you of all options to help manage your pain. Are you currently on any medication to help you right now or receiving any physiotherapy or support from pain management?

ccrider

Thankyou for your reply, I am at present under an investigation to what is causing this horrendous pain, which all started 4 years ago in my neck and lumber as an aching for one to two days and was expelled by taking cocodamols, then each flare up would start to got longer IE 3 to 4 days, then i started to get pain in both my shoulders due to growth spurs, i have had numerous x-rays and MRI scans on my neck ,back and shoulders, which have detected signs of osteoarthritis in neck and back and is still in early stages of investigation, the latest flare up in my back started last week Tues 13th aug and i am still incapacitated and in alot of pain this flare up will most probably last up to 10 days + so from 1 to 2 days to now 10 days+, and the main problem i have at moment is the lack of urgency by my GP, who for whatever reason I have been trying to make an appointment since two weeks ago but can not and have not been given any reason for why my doctor is unavailable, I have my next MRI this Friday 23rd aug on my left shoulder and neck which is for a scheduled growth spur surgery, and repairing damaged ligaments, I can put up with the amount of stalling and red tape involved by the whole process of the NHS and my out of touch GP, but what i can not put up with is this intolerable and such intense pain but all i have is cocodamols, which when I first started taking worked perfectly, but after 4 years of use , these have become more or less useless and I feel I have be come dependent on cocodamols, so the biggest question i have is there a pain killer out there that will work for acute lumber stenosis and what are these called, any help I receive on this question, i would be most grateful, i hope

onedayatatime

I totally understand the whole lack of urgency you feel right now and your priority to at least have some help with managing pain. I've been on codeine / paracetamol for over 4 years now, dosage increased over time to now maximum. GP tried to change me over to Tramadol, but I really didn't get on with it. For the arthritis, discs and what not, I am prescribed Naproxen. It's an anti inflammatory, like ibuprofen, but only available on prescription. With naproxen I also have to take lanzoprazole which helps protect the stomach. I would suggest that when you can see your GP, you perhaps suggest taking a combination of both opiods and anti inflammatory medication. I do find the Naproxen helps.I am also prescribed Gabapentin which is for the nerve pain. Hopefully, I will now be able to come off this very soon. On top of all that I have diazepam for the spasms. By no means am I suggesting that you should be taking all or any of these, but your GP seriously needs to help and give options of medication that may help manage some of the pain you are in right now. Does your GP surgery offer phone consultations at all? They obviously have a history of your conditions and are aware of your results and future procedures. I really hope you can get somewhere with help managing pain right now. Your GP seriously needs to make themselves available to you. Would contacting your GP surgery manager to complain help perhaps? The only other option right now might be talking to your pharmacist perhaps? Waiting on scans, results, consultations and procedures is moving in the right direction but does not address your immediate needs. Keep trying with your GP @ccrider and keep us updated with your progress. All the best to you.

older01

Hi @ccrider ,

I have stenosis of my upper spine and neck. I have been waiting for spinal surgery consideration for the longest time in the South West of England. I have heard of pain killing injections into the facet joints being very helpful indeed for many. Depending on how advanced your condition is, this may be a very good route forward. It’s far more beneficial than painkillers alone.

There’s nothing much that a pharmacy can offer you over the counter. I am on the maximum dose of painkillers and I do understand that some days are excruciatingly painful, but on the days that aren’t, please try to help yourself by doing the regular exercises that you may be aware of. Take care, and best wishes x