New and Seeking Help

November 1, 2006

Hi Tina, You sure have your hands full at such a young age!! I take it you had an MRI..did your doctor mention anything about surgery especially if you are having numbness in legs and arms and bladder problems which is very serious..please ask him about this. It must be so hard for you to take care of your children in this constant state of pain!! I can't believe all the meds you are on..I am not taking any pain for my stenosis, I have a high tolerance for pain and feel at this point I don't need it..the heating pad is my best friend!!! You may want to also consider water therapy for your stenosis, it is very good and combination of the warmth and exercises helps alot!! Have you had a MRI on your neck, I recently did and found out I also have stenosis there..this could also be a cause of your headaches and numbness in your arms and hands.. hang in there and have faith!! tinam_herron <tinam_herron@...>

wrote: Hello all!My name is Tina. I am 24, married with two small children and I was diagnosed with Spinal Stenosis about 2 months ago. I have seen more doctors in the past two months than I have in my entire life! I'm still trying to get used to this whole thing, but I'm having a hard time with it all. In addition to the Spinal Stenosis I have Meniere's Disease and Polycystic Ovaries. Way too many medical problems for someone my age! I'm taking so much medication that I had to get a pill organizer! I'm scheduled

for my first round of injections next Friday and I'm very scared! Can anyone tell me what that's like? I have migraines so I'm totally paranoid that the injections are going to cause a really bad migraine because I got those spinal headaches after each one of my epidurals. Also, I think my meds are affecting my personality a little. The problem is that I don't really know which one it is! Can anyone tell me if they've had any experiences with these meds? I take Detrol LA due to bladder issues either caused by the Spinal Stenosis or by loss of support due to having children. I also take Celebrex, Lyrica, Chlorzoxozone, Tramadol, Fioricet (for migraines), and Topamax (for migraines.) Most days I don't know if I'm up or down! Actually my main problem is not pain in my back...it's pain and numbness in my legs, arms, and hands. Does anyone else have this? I have a hard time sleeping because I cannot get comfortable. I have

virtually no reflexes in my legs an my chiropractor believes the nerve damage might be permanent. I'm scheduled to go back to a Neuro to do another envoked nerve potential test which I hate! They are always so painful for me! Does anyone have any suggestions for the numbness? Or the meds? I'm thinking it might be the Tramadol that my pain management doc gave me, but I'm not sure. I'm open to any suggestions anyone might have! Thanks!Tina

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November 1, 2006

Hi Tina,

I was diagnosed with Spinal Stenosis a couple of years ago, but I

have suffered from it for years before an official diagnosis. I

have high blood pressure, high cholesteroal, type II diabetes, and a

hietal hernia. In March, I had my first round of kidney stones. So

I completely understand about taking a TON of medication.

Last year I went thru my first round of injections for Spinal

Stenosis. I had numbness going down the outside of my thigh and

affecting my calf as well. The injections eliminated the numbness

and helped for about a year. When I had my kidney stones, the

following day from being released from the hospital, I started

having numbness on the front of the right thigh. Hmm....so I waited

until August before going back to my Orthopedist. He sent me for a

second round of injections which I had the first one a couple of

weeks ago.

The second round is helping me as much as the first round. Luckily,

my pain is still responding to them. I was scared about the first

round, but it didn't hurt as much as it was uncomfortable. When

they are injecting the meds, I feel a pressure sensation for

approximately 30 seconds. Then it's over. The recovery takes

longer than the procedure. I have to lay down for 45 minutes as my

blood pressure drops dramatically from the meds. Doc told me that

is why I have to stay in recovery so they can monitor.

Doc told me that I could get a severe headache from it, but that has

never happened to me. I have a friend who just had the surgery.

She is doing MUCH better, but is still experiencing some numbness in

one of her feet.

I see a orthopedic guy for my medication for the SS which is

celebrex and flexaril. He has never given me a med for pain. I see

a pain management doctor for the injections and he has never

mentioned medication for me. I wonder if I'm not expressing to them

just how much pain I'm in at times and that is why I don't get

anything for pain. HMMMM.......

Hope this helps answer some of your questions.

Nessie

>

> Hello all!

>

> My name is Tina. I am 24, married with two small children and I

was

> diagnosed with Spinal Stenosis about 2 months ago. I have seen

more

> doctors in the past two months than I have in my entire life! I'm

> still trying to get used to this whole thing, but I'm having a

hard

> time with it all. In addition to the Spinal Stenosis I have

> Meniere's Disease and Polycystic Ovaries. Way too many medical

> problems for someone my age! I'm taking so much medication that I

> had to get a pill organizer! I'm scheduled for my first round of

> injections next Friday and I'm very scared! Can anyone tell me

what

> that's like? I have migraines so I'm totally paranoid that the

> injections are going to cause a really bad migraine because I got

> those spinal headaches after each one of my epidurals. Also, I

think

> my meds are affecting my personality a little. The problem is

that

> I don't really know which one it is! Can anyone tell me if

they've

> had any experiences with these meds? I take Detrol LA due to

> bladder issues either caused by the Spinal Stenosis or by loss of

> support due to having children. I also take Celebrex, Lyrica,

> Chlorzoxozone, Tramadol, Fioricet (for migraines), and Topamax

(for

> migraines.) Most days I don't know if I'm up or down! Actually

my

> main problem is not pain in my back...it's pain and numbness in my

> legs, arms, and hands. Does anyone else have this? I have a hard

> time sleeping because I cannot get comfortable. I have virtually

no

> reflexes in my legs an my chiropractor believes the nerve damage

> might be permanent. I'm scheduled to go back to a Neuro to do

> another envoked nerve potential test which I hate! They are

always

> so painful for me! Does anyone have any suggestions for the

> numbness? Or the meds? I'm thinking it might be the Tramadol

that

> my pain management doc gave me, but I'm not sure. I'm open to any

> suggestions anyone might have! Thanks!

>

> Tina

>

November 1, 2006

Hi Tina, I'm amazed that with all the meds that you are taking that you are able to function at all and take care of your 2 small children. I hope that you are able to get some help in that regard. First let me tell you that I had spinal stenosis L4-L5 and had surgery for it last June. Prior to that, I tried 3 rounds of spinal injections that did nothing to relieve the inbarable pain, numbness and tingling that I was having in my right leg starting from the right side of my buttocks all the way down to my foot. By the time I had the surgery people thought I had had a stroke because I couldn't even bend my right knee and just dragged it as I walked. The pain management doctor that I used worked with my sports medicine spinal orhopedic doc in the same large practice. The injections where done in a facilitie that is part of the office in a separate surgical suite where they

do their day surgery. An IV was inserted and I was brought to the surgical room. There, an xray machine was used to be sure that the injections went directly to the area that they where needed in. Prior to the injection, I was given a sedation medication that knocks you out, so I felt nothing with the needle going in or anything else. I woke up back in a room with the IV still going. I stayed about an hour, was given some coffee, toast, and water. I felt know affects from the sedation, and my hubby drove me home. I was told that I could get a headache and recommended that I lie down. It took about 45 minutes for me to get home from the docs office. I had another cup of coffee when I got home, because I felt a lack of caffeine headache coming on and had some soup. I did feel tired, once home and did lie down for a few hours, but I really didn't have anything that I would call a headache from the

injections. I'm concerned about some of the symptoms that you are having that sound like the stenosis is getting very severe and is affecting your bladder. If that is the case, the usual recommendations are immediate surgery before the nerves to the bladder and rectum are permenently damaged. The pain in your arms and neck sound like their may be some cervical stenosis that should be checked out ASAP. I've posted on this forum before, about my experiences with docs getting other opinions before I had my surgery, and I'm sure if you check through some of the posts you will find the info that I posted. In brief I will tell you this. I saw a neurologist, 3 different orthopedic spinal surgeons, and a few sports medicine orthopedic surgeons and my conclusion is that the best to use for spinal stenosis of any kind, spinal problems of any kind for that

matter, is a sports medicine spinal orthopedic surgeon. The docs that I saw all came from the top hospitals in Boston MA. To make a long story short, all wanted to do surgery, but the sports medicine ones wanted to do the least cutting which would result in the least damage and shortest recovery. I found them to be the most up to date in new and developing procedures and the ones that understood what a patient was experiencing and suffering with the most. I went with my original sports medicine spinal surgeon and it was the best thing I did. He was wonderful and always tell people to go to a sports medicine orthopedic surgeon, not just an orthopedic one. Neurologists where the worst and wanted to do the most cutting. My incision was only 1 inch and had only 1 stitch. the others were planning to do at least 3 inch one and the neurologist was a 5 inch. You are more complicated in

all of your medical problems, and are swallowing an awful lot of medication during the day. Some of it can be causing some of the symptoms that you are suffering with. My hubby tried the detrol for his bladder problems and couldn't take the side affects, dry mouth,thirsty all the time, shaky and he says he felt very "spacey". like he was outside his body and looking at it. He also didn't think it helped but rather, made him go more often because of all the extra fluid he was drinking. I wonder if you really do need all of the meds that you are taking. Sometimes, one med can cancel out another and you aren't getting the affects that you want from that medication. When that happens you can end up having another one added and so on. It is possible that you are in that kind of situation. I would suggest that you have all of your meds evaluated to see if they are really

necessary to take and if one is affecting the other, as well as trying to determine how they are affecting the way you feel. The other thing I would strongly urge you to do, is get some other opinions about what is going on and the best way to treat everything. All of your docs need to work very closely with each other to monitor the meds because of all the medical problems that you have. For sure, see a sports medicine spinal orthopedist for another opinion about the stenosis, and the problems in your arms, hands and neck as well as the symptoms of your bladder. I would think that you are quite young to have a bladder problem from having children. It is possible, but more important to rule out that this is from the stenosis, and nerve damage to the bladder from it. I would wait on the nerve tests and get another opinion ASAP. I know those tests are painful,

have had them, and an MRI can help determine some things about the nerves and the bladder. Good luck and feel free to e-mail me directly if you want to ask me anything else. Frantinam_herron <tinam_herron@...> wrote: Hello all!My name is Tina. I am 24, married with two small children and I was diagnosed with Spinal Stenosis about 2 months ago. I have seen more doctors in the past two months than I have in my entire life! I'm still

trying to get used to this whole thing, but I'm having a hard time with it all. In addition to the Spinal Stenosis I have Meniere's Disease and Polycystic Ovaries. Way too many medical problems for someone my age! I'm taking so much medication that I had to get a pill organizer! I'm scheduled for my first round of injections next Friday and I'm very scared! Can anyone tell me what that's like? I have migraines so I'm totally paranoid that the injections are going to cause a really bad migraine because I got those spinal headaches after each one of my epidurals. Also, I think my meds are affecting my personality a little. The problem is that I don't really know which one it is! Can anyone tell me if they've had any experiences with these meds? I take Detrol LA due to bladder issues either caused by the Spinal Stenosis or by loss of support due to having children. I also take Celebrex, Lyrica, Chlorzoxozone, Tramadol,

Fioricet (for migraines), and Topamax (for migraines.) Most days I don't know if I'm up or down! Actually my main problem is not pain in my back...it's pain and numbness in my legs, arms, and hands. Does anyone else have this? I have a hard time sleeping because I cannot get comfortable. I have virtually no reflexes in my legs an my chiropractor believes the nerve damage might be permanent. I'm scheduled to go back to a Neuro to do another envoked nerve potential test which I hate! They are always so painful for me! Does anyone have any suggestions for the numbness? Or the meds? I'm thinking it might be the Tramadol that my pain management doc gave me, but I'm not sure. I'm open to any suggestions anyone might have! Thanks!Tina

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November 2, 2006

Fran, Thank you so much for your advice and help. I'm still really nervous about the injections, but I'm sure I'll be fine. I guess it's just fear of the unknown! I am seeing a chiropractor who is helping me a great deal by doing very simple treatments! He actually took the time to explain all of my MRI results in plain English and I was horrified! It turns out that Spinal Stenosis is the least of my problems! I don't remember all of the medical language he used, but I had no idea what all was going on with my spine! I have some sort of birth defect. I was born without part of my spine, which is apparantly pretty common according to my chiropractor. Of course no one knew about this. I was very active when I was younger. I was never active in sports, but I was a jr high cheerleader for 2 years and then a competative varsity cheerleader through high school. Apparently

all of the movement is what originally caused some of my problems. The doc said that I acutally sustained a small fracture in one of the bones in my spine (news to me) and my body tried to heal itself by depositing calcium into the fracured area. So this area of my spine moved forward and is crushing on of the main nerves which explains my numbness and pain in my legs. There are two other areas in which vertebra have moved and caused two discs to slip forward and this is what is caused the narrowing of the spinal canal (i.e. Spinal Stenosis). In addition, on the of the discs is directly pushing on my spinal chord. He said that my MRI's indicated several points of arthritis, but I'm too young to technically have arthritis so they are calling it something else. He basically told me that I should try and wait as long as possible to have any type of surgery because there are several techniques being perfecting for my specific problems. He

said that if I had surgery right now it would fix the immediate area, but then all the tension would fall on the next available spot and since I have 3 bulging vertebra all in a row this would be a bad thing. Surgery would drastically affect my range of motion. I would walk like enstein! However, he did say that if my envoked nerve potential test came back showing nerve damage that I should have some type of surgery done to prevent further damage. My stenosis is only at a 1 and he said that doctors like to wait until the bulge is at a 5 or something like that before they do surgery. Can you believe that? If I'm in this much pain now, I can't imagine what it would feel like at a 5! So, I have a future of arthritis to look forward to I guess. The Detrol is helping me a little bit, but I don't know if I'm going to stay on it or not. I think I need a diffrerent approach to the problem. I

think the problem is more than just my bladder so I plan on talking to my urologist about it at my next appointment. I do know what you mean about the spaced out feeling. When I first started taking Detrol I was really tired and loopy for about a week or so. Now, my body is used to it and it doesn't really have any side effects that I can tell. The majority of the other medication I am taking is for inflamation or nerve pain which seems to be helping a little bit. I just wish they would stop raising my dosage! That's what throws my body for a loop! Mainly the lyrica makes me really sleepy, but it seems to help the leg pain as far as I can tell. I'm not so sure about the Tramadol though. I think I'm going to ask if there's a different pain med that I can take instead of that one because I don't really like the way it makes me feel. Thanks again for your advice and help. I'll be sure and let you know how my

injections went...after I wake up and get my wits about me! TinaFran Barron <sunhineagain@...> wrote: Hi Tina, I'm amazed that with all the meds that you are taking that you are able to function at all and take care of your 2 small children. I hope that you are able to get some help in that regard. First let me tell you that I had spinal stenosis L4-L5 and had surgery for it last June. Prior to that, I tried 3 rounds of

spinal injections that did nothing to relieve the inbarable pain, numbness and tingling that I was having in my right leg starting from the right side of my buttocks all the way down to my foot. By the time I had the surgery people thought I had had a stroke because I couldn't even bend my right knee and just dragged it as I walked. The pain management doctor that I used worked with my sports medicine spinal orhopedic doc in the same large practice. The injections where done in a facilitie that is part of the office in a separate surgical suite where they do their day surgery. An IV was inserted and I was brought to the surgical room. There, an xray machine was used to be sure that the injections went directly to the area that they where needed in. Prior to the injection, I was given a sedation medication that knocks you out, so I felt nothing with the needle going in or anything else. I woke up back

in a room with the IV still going. I stayed about an hour, was given some coffee, toast, and water. I felt know affects from the sedation, and my hubby drove me home. I was told that I could get a headache and recommended that I lie down. It took about 45 minutes for me to get home from the docs office. I had another cup of coffee when I got home, because I felt a lack of caffeine headache coming on and had some soup. I did feel tired, once home and did lie down for a few hours, but I really didn't have anything that I would call a headache from the injections. I'm concerned about some of the symptoms that you are having that sound like the stenosis is getting very severe and is affecting your bladder. If that is the case, the usual recommendations are immediate surgery before the nerves to the bladder and rectum are permenently damaged. The pain in your arms and neck sound like

their may be some cervical stenosis that should be checked out ASAP. I've posted on this forum before, about my experiences with docs getting other opinions before I had my surgery, and I'm sure if you check through some of the posts you will find the info that I posted. In brief I will tell you this. I saw a neurologist, 3 different orthopedic spinal surgeons, and a few sports medicine orthopedic surgeons and my conclusion is that the best to use for spinal stenosis of any kind, spinal problems of any kind for that matter, is a sports medicine spinal orthopedic surgeon. The docs that I saw all came from the top hospitals in Boston MA. To make a long story short, all wanted to do surgery, but the sports medicine ones wanted to do the least cutting which would result in the least damage and shortest recovery. I found them to be the most up to date in new and developing procedures and

the ones that understood what a patient was experiencing and suffering with the most. I went with my original sports medicine spinal surgeon and it was the best thing I did. He was wonderful and always tell people to go to a sports medicine orthopedic surgeon, not just an orthopedic one. Neurologists where the worst and wanted to do the most cutting. My incision was only 1 inch and had only 1 stitch. the others were planning to do at least 3 inch one and the neurologist was a 5 inch. You are more complicated in all of your medical problems, and are swallowing an awful lot of medication during the day. Some of it can be causing some of the symptoms that you are suffering with. My hubby tried the detrol for his bladder problems and couldn't take the side affects, dry mouth,thirsty all the time, shaky and he says he felt very "spacey". like he was outside his body and looking at

it. He also didn't think it helped but rather, made him go more often because of all the extra fluid he was drinking. I wonder if you really do need all of the meds that you are taking. Sometimes, one med can cancel out another and you aren't getting the affects that you want from that medication. When that happens you can end up having another one added and so on. It is possible that you are in that kind of situation. I would suggest that you have all of your meds evaluated to see if they are really necessary to take and if one is affecting the other, as well as trying to determine how they are affecting the way you feel. The other thing I would strongly urge you to do, is get some other opinions about what is going on and the best way to treat everything. All of your docs need to work very closely with each other to monitor the meds because of all the

medical problems that you have. For sure, see a sports medicine spinal orthopedist for another opinion about the stenosis, and the problems in your arms, hands and neck as well as the symptoms of your bladder. I would think that you are quite young to have a bladder problem from having children. It is possible, but more important to rule out that this is from the stenosis, and nerve damage to the bladder from it. I would wait on the nerve tests and get another opinion ASAP. I know those tests are painful, have had them, and an MRI can help determine some things about the nerves and the bladder. Good luck and feel free to e-mail me directly if you want to ask me anything else. Frantinam_herron <tinam_herron > wrote: Hello all!My name is Tina. I am 24, married with two small children and I was diagnosed with Spinal Stenosis about 2 months ago. I have seen more doctors in the past two months than I have in my entire life! I'm still trying to get used to this whole thing, but I'm having a hard time with it all. In addition to the Spinal Stenosis I have Meniere's Disease and Polycystic Ovaries. Way too many medical problems for someone my age! I'm taking so much medication that I had to get a pill organizer! I'm scheduled for my first round of injections next Friday and I'm very scared! Can anyone tell me what that's like? I have migraines so I'm totally paranoid that the injections are going to cause a really bad migraine because I got those spinal headaches after each one of my epidurals. Also, I think my meds are affecting my personality a little. The problem is that I don't really

know which one it is! Can anyone tell me if they've had any experiences with these meds? I take Detrol LA due to bladder issues either caused by the Spinal Stenosis or by loss of support due to having children. I also take Celebrex, Lyrica, Chlorzoxozone, Tramadol, Fioricet (for migraines), and Topamax (for migraines.) Most days I don't know if I'm up or down! Actually my main problem is not pain in my back...it's pain and numbness in my legs, arms, and hands. Does anyone else have this? I have a hard time sleeping because I cannot get comfortable. I have virtually no reflexes in my legs an my chiropractor believes the nerve damage might be permanent. I'm scheduled to go back to a Neuro to do another envoked nerve potential test which I hate! They are always so painful for me! Does anyone have any suggestions for the numbness? Or the meds? I'm thinking it might be the Tramadol that my pain management doc gave me, but

I'm not sure. I'm open to any suggestions anyone might have! Thanks!Tina Check out the New - Fire up a more powerful email and get things done faster.

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November 4, 2006

HI Tina, Glad to respond and after reading about all of the orthopedic problems that you have, I will urge you to see a sports medicine spinal orthopedic doctor ASAP. You remind me of a woman I met at the hospital, while getting me pre-op tests done the day before my surgery. She was also a patient of my doctor and was having her 3rd operation with him. She had all kinds of spinal ortho problems and had been going to neurosurgeons, chiropracters etc. for years. All of them said she had to wait till the pain and MRI showed a certain level of "disfunction" and pain. She finally went to my doc after quite a few years of suffering and had other medical problems. She told me that our doctor said that the info she was getting was "behind the times and the old method of doing spinal surgery. Now we don't wait like that because the patient suffers in needless pain and

when you do operate, the damage is far more severe and difficult to repair, if at all. It's easier on the patient and the doctors to not wait." She had disc problems, congenital spine defects and several other things not including other medical problems. She had been in severe pain for over 5 years and taking at least 7 different medications just for her spinal and orthopedic problems. She told me that our orthopedic doctor first did all new MRI's both spinal and cervical, then he spoke with all her other doctors and weaned her off half of the meds she was on. She felt far more physically with it, alert etc and some of her symptoms of pain, numbness and tingling vanished within a week of this med change. The ortho doc saw that some of the meds where increasing pain with the side affects. Then he laid out a plan to correct the ortho spinal problems in 4 steps of surgery. All

where day surgery events and very small incisions. She was going in for her third and was now mostly without any pain, able to stand up and walk straight, move around, do light housework and it was the first time in over 5 years. None of her other doctors ever talked about doing the surgeries that she has had, all they did was keep adding more and more pain meds and her bladder problems that she had and was seeing a urologist, all came from the stenosis that was corrected in time to prevent permement problems and damage. I'm not saying that the same thing is going on with you or the problems are the same but only that sports medicine spinal orthopedic surgeons are more up to date on new procedures, understand the pain that the patient is suffereing with and more able to help and deal with the problems than a regular orthopedic spinal surgeon and a neurosurgeon. That

was my finding in getting other opinions before my own spinal surgery. Where you are suffering from so many orthopedic and medical problems and not seeming to get any good results with the docs that you are using, if it where me, I would be off for other opinions ASAP, and not just suffering in pain. You are far too young to have to live your life like this. Good luck and let me know what you decide to do and how your injections go. Frantina herron <tinam_herron@...> wrote: Fran, Thank you so much for your advice and help. I'm still really nervous about the injections, but I'm sure I'll be fine. I guess it's just fear of the unknown! I am seeing a chiropractor who is helping me a great deal by doing very simple treatments! He actually took the time to explain all of my MRI results in plain English and I was horrified! It turns out that Spinal Stenosis is the least of my problems! I don't remember all of the medical language he used, but I had no idea what all was going on with my spine! I have some sort of birth defect. I was born without part of my spine, which is apparantly pretty common according to my chiropractor. Of course no one knew about this. I was very active when I was younger. I was never active in sports, but I was a jr high cheerleader for 2 years

and then a competative varsity cheerleader through high school. Apparently all of the movement is what originally caused some of my problems. The doc said that I acutally sustained a small fracture in one of the bones in my spine (news to me) and my body tried to heal itself by depositing calcium into the fracured area. So this area of my spine moved forward and is crushing on of the main nerves which explains my numbness and pain in my legs. There are two other areas in which vertebra have moved and caused two discs to slip forward and this is what is caused the narrowing of the spinal canal (i.e. Spinal Stenosis). In addition, on the of the discs is directly pushing on my spinal chord. He said that my MRI's indicated several points of arthritis, but I'm too young to technically have arthritis so they are calling it something else. He basically told me that I should try and wait as long as possible to have any type of surgery because

there are several techniques being perfecting for my specific problems. He said that if I had surgery right now it would fix the immediate area, but then all the tension would fall on the next available spot and since I have 3 bulging vertebra all in a row this would be a bad thing. Surgery would drastically affect my range of motion. I would walk like enstein! However, he did say that if my envoked nerve potential test came back showing nerve damage that I should have some type of surgery done to prevent further damage. My stenosis is only at a 1 and he said that doctors like to wait until the bulge is at a 5 or something like that before they do surgery. Can you believe that? If I'm in this much pain now, I can't imagine what it would feel like at a 5! So, I have a future of arthritis to look forward to I guess. The Detrol is helping me a little bit, but I don't know if I'm going to stay

on it or not. I think I need a diffrerent approach to the problem. I think the problem is more than just my bladder so I plan on talking to my urologist about it at my next appointment. I do know what you mean about the spaced out feeling. When I first started taking Detrol I was really tired and loopy for about a week or so. Now, my body is used to it and it doesn't really have any side effects that I can tell. The majority of the other medication I am taking is for inflamation or nerve pain which seems to be helping a little bit. I just wish they would stop raising my dosage! That's what throws my body for a loop! Mainly the lyrica makes me really sleepy, but it seems to help the leg pain as far as I can tell. I'm not so sure about the Tramadol though. I think I'm going to ask if there's a different pain med that I can take instead of that one because I don't really like the way it makes me feel.

Thanks again for your advice and help. I'll be sure and let you know how my injections went...after I wake up and get my wits about me! TinaFran Barron <sunhineagain > wrote: Hi Tina, I'm amazed that with all the meds that you are taking that you are able to function at all and take care of your 2 small children. I hope that you are able to get some help in that regard. First let me tell you that I had spinal stenosis L4-L5 and had surgery for it last June. Prior to that, I tried 3 rounds of spinal injections that did nothing to relieve the inbarable pain, numbness and tingling that I was having in my right leg starting from the right side of my buttocks all the way down to my foot. By the time I had the

surgery people thought I had had a stroke because I couldn't even bend my right knee and just dragged it as I walked. The pain management doctor that I used worked with my sports medicine spinal orhopedic doc in the same large practice. The injections where done in a facilitie that is part of the office in a separate surgical suite where they do their day surgery. An IV was inserted and I was brought to the surgical room. There, an xray machine was used to be sure that the injections went directly to the area that they where needed in. Prior to the injection, I was given a sedation medication that knocks you out, so I felt nothing with the needle going in or anything else. I woke up back in a room with the IV still going. I stayed about an hour, was given some coffee, toast, and water. I felt know affects from the sedation, and my hubby drove me home. I was told that I could get a headache

and recommended that I lie down. It took about 45 minutes for me to get home from the docs office. I had another cup of coffee when I got home, because I felt a lack of caffeine headache coming on and had some soup. I did feel tired, once home and did lie down for a few hours, but I really didn't have anything that I would call a headache from the injections. I'm concerned about some of the symptoms that you are having that sound like the stenosis is getting very severe and is affecting your bladder. If that is the case, the usual recommendations are immediate surgery before the nerves to the bladder and rectum are permenently damaged. The pain in your arms and neck sound like their may be some cervical stenosis that should be checked out ASAP. I've posted on this forum before, about my experiences with docs getting other opinions before I had my surgery, and I'm sure

if you check through some of the posts you will find the info that I posted. In brief I will tell you this. I saw a neurologist, 3 different orthopedic spinal surgeons, and a few sports medicine orthopedic surgeons and my conclusion is that the best to use for spinal stenosis of any kind, spinal problems of any kind for that matter, is a sports medicine spinal orthopedic surgeon. The docs that I saw all came from the top hospitals in Boston MA. To make a long story short, all wanted to do surgery, but the sports medicine ones wanted to do the least cutting which would result in the least damage and shortest recovery. I found them to be the most up to date in new and developing procedures and the ones that understood what a patient was experiencing and suffering with the most. I went with my original sports medicine spinal surgeon and it was the best thing I did. He was wonderful and always

tell people to go to a sports medicine orthopedic surgeon, not just an orthopedic one. Neurologists where the worst and wanted to do the most cutting. My incision was only 1 inch and had only 1 stitch. the others were planning to do at least 3 inch one and the neurologist was a 5 inch. You are more complicated in all of your medical problems, and are swallowing an awful lot of medication during the day. Some of it can be causing some of the symptoms that you are suffering with. My hubby tried the detrol for his bladder problems and couldn't take the side affects, dry mouth,thirsty all the time, shaky and he says he felt very "spacey". like he was outside his body and looking at it. He also didn't think it helped but rather, made him go more often because of all the extra fluid he was drinking. I wonder if you really do need all of the meds that you are

taking. Sometimes, one med can cancel out another and you aren't getting the affects that you want from that medication. When that happens you can end up having another one added and so on. It is possible that you are in that kind of situation. I would suggest that you have all of your meds evaluated to see if they are really necessary to take and if one is affecting the other, as well as trying to determine how they are affecting the way you feel. The other thing I would strongly urge you to do, is get some other opinions about what is going on and the best way to treat everything. All of your docs need to work very closely with each other to monitor the meds because of all the medical problems that you have. For sure, see a sports medicine spinal orthopedist for another opinion about the stenosis, and the problems in your arms, hands and neck as well as the

symptoms of your bladder. I would think that you are quite young to have a bladder problem from having children. It is possible, but more important to rule out that this is from the stenosis, and nerve damage to the bladder from it. I would wait on the nerve tests and get another opinion ASAP. I know those tests are painful, have had them, and an MRI can help determine some things about the nerves and the bladder. Good luck and feel free to e-mail me directly if you want to ask me anything else. Frantinam_herron <tinam_herron > wrote: Hello all!My name is Tina. I am 24, married with two small children and I was diagnosed with Spinal Stenosis about 2 months ago. I have seen more doctors

in the past two months than I have in my entire life! I'm still trying to get used to this whole thing, but I'm having a hard time with it all. In addition to the Spinal Stenosis I have Meniere's Disease and Polycystic Ovaries. Way too many medical problems for someone my age! I'm taking so much medication that I had to get a pill organizer! I'm scheduled for my first round of injections next Friday and I'm very scared! Can anyone tell me what that's like? I have migraines so I'm totally paranoid that the injections are going to cause a really bad migraine because I got those spinal headaches after each one of my epidurals. Also, I think my meds are affecting my personality a little. The problem is that I don't really know which one it is! Can anyone tell me if they've had any experiences with these meds? I take Detrol LA due to bladder issues either caused by the Spinal Stenosis or by loss of support due to having

children. I also take Celebrex, Lyrica, Chlorzoxozone, Tramadol, Fioricet (for migraines), and Topamax (for migraines.) Most days I don't know if I'm up or down! Actually my main problem is not pain in my back...it's pain and numbness in my legs, arms, and hands. Does anyone else have this? I have a hard time sleeping because I cannot get comfortable. I have virtually no reflexes in my legs an my chiropractor believes the nerve damage might be permanent. I'm scheduled to go back to a Neuro to do another envoked nerve potential test which I hate! They are always so painful for me! Does anyone have any suggestions for the numbness? Or the meds? I'm thinking it might be the Tramadol that my pain management doc gave me, but I'm not sure. I'm open to any suggestions anyone might have! Thanks!Tina Check out the New - Fire up a more powerful email and get things done faster. Want to start your own business? Learn how on Small Business.

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February 20, 2008

We have had Alaina in speech therapy since she was 15 months. When we

first strted they thought it was simply low tone. At age two Alaina was

diagnosed with PDD and now apraixia. She is now three. We have her in

an intensive ABA/Floortime program at home with two theaprist,but have

yet

to find any great guidence with speech. I am tired of speech theapits

who spend 50 minutes playing games and getting nowhere. Alaina is doing

some approximations for words and does use signs. Her receptive

language is really strong. We did go see a speech therapist that wanted

to start PECS and/or an aug-com device, but alarms went off in my head.

Alaina seems like such a verbal child singing, talking (we don't

understand what the words are) I just hesitate to have her become

dependent on devices if there was a way to teache her to speak. I came

across the Kaufmann method and was even tempted to fly out to MI to

have Alaina evaluated. I really feel discouraged with the speech

therapists out here in AZ. I have not found any that have been helpful

in getting Alaina speaking. Should I just buy the Kaufmann kit and

teach her myself? I really need any guidence you all could give me.

Thank you so much for listening!

February 20, 2008

My son who is non-verbal and not on the spectrum is waiting for an ACD. Speech

is a way to COMMUNICATE and when we show our children ways to communicate in

only fosters them to try much more. An ACD is a way to communicate. I found that

when I introduced the PECs and signing to my son it only increased his ability

and desire to communicate with me. Just my opinion.

kristin_pattison <kristin_pattison@...> wrote: