I do...its so painful. Moving and changing positions but the best is applying Heat. I use a thermalon heat pad you heat in the microwave and it calms it.

@annie1

I have lumbar stenosis and DDD. I have been getting injections to delay surgery as long as possible. Did you have cramping before surgery and he is you have a neurologist do an EMG/nerve conduction study before surgery to identify the nerves involved? Did the neurologist or spine surgeon say that surgery would help address the cramping? I have not heard that lumbar spine would be linked to leg/calf cramping. I wonder if dehydration, blood flow, nutritional deficiencies, small fiber neuropathy, etc. could be linked to your symptoms. If the surgery was meant to relieve pressure on certain peripheral nerves causing your cramping, it could take a long time for nerves to heal or regenerate after being decompressed. You may want to look into what can be done through diet, exercise and supplements to support nerve health. Are you doing physical therapy to help increase movement, blood flow, strength and reduce scar tissue formation? I wonder if scar tissue could be compressing nerves causing cramping sensations.

I have severe lumbar stenosis. I injured my upper spine while lifting weights on New Year’s Eve, and have had full body twitching and cramping since then. About 3 weeks ago, all of my symptoms started to wane. My calves still can cramp if I try to flex that muscle as much as I can, but never out of the blue anymore. I attribute the improvement to doing calf raises at the gym both standing and sitting alternating every 3 days. Believe me, I had to start very slowly, but I have been gaining strength every week finally, and yesterday I was close to full strength on my calf raises. I really need to work on getting my thighs back to normal as I have obvious wasting on my left thigh and slightly on my right. The hardest thing to do is get back full thigh strength with a bad back. They go together in just about every exercise that improves thigh strength.
I have not had any back surgeries yet, but I just looked up your procedure and will mention it to my spine doctor when I see a new guy for a second opinion next month. It sounds like something that could help my back and regaining strength in my legs. I thank you for your post.
I wouldn’t freak out about the cramping. Just stay hydrated with electrolytes and keep getting stronger. I thought my situation would never improve after 4 months of no improvements. I now have hope.

@annie1 - Sorry you have leg cramps! They can be painful and often interrupt sleep. I had both cervical and lumbar "big" surgeries in 2023 and leg cramping was not one of my pre-surgical symptoms. In fact, only at 12+ post surgeries did leg cramps become a problem for me. The fact that all my other DDD, stenosis, and spondy pre-surgical symptoms are gone - I can't make a connection between lumbar stenosis and leg cramps.

I have been experimenting and have found two things that seem to alleviate the cramping: (1) Greatly increase water consumption. I drink 80-100 ounces of water a day and consume at least 20 ounces of water containing concentrated electrolytes. I currently prefer Liquid IV. (2) I now take 500 mg of magnesium as a supplement. Magnesium is difficult to get through normal dietary intake yet a deficiency can create leg cramping.

So far so good. Cramping is much less frequent and when it happens, less severe. Might be worth a try for you? If you try it - let us know if it helped. Trying to build our knowledge base!

Annie,

Since 1994 I have had several back surgeries, including a short fusion from L4-S1. BTW, the fusion didn't fuse all the way. Another topic. To the point, I have leg cramps most of the time especially if I over due it. On a side note: I have seen several surgions (experts) in spinal stenosis, disk degeneration, etc. I have also had ablations, as well as blocks, none of these have helped that much. Now the Doc's want me to have a PSO. Virginia Mason in Seattle, WA performs 700+ of these a year. It's a very length surgery and a year if you are lucky for recovery. I tell you all of this so that you are aware of the road you travel. Be very careful with whom you elect for any future back specialists. As you know the hospitals are for profit.

The last thought: if I had to do it all again I would go to PT for as long as you can until the pain is unbearable and consider AZ, CO, CA, NY TX for second opinions. Well, that's my two cents and probably more information than you really need. Just thought I would share.

Good Luck

Thanks for your response, I have to remember to drink more water !

@annie1 - I did have fusion surgery, both were four levels, and in the cervical plus lumbar spine. I always wonder why I don't set off the magnetometers at airports...

I had all my spinal work done at Mayo JAX with Dr. Pirris who is a neurosurgeon. In my case, since there was disk work done over many levels, the fusion was required to create the necessary post-surgical spinal stability/support.

Have you discussed your concerns about a fusion and how your osteoporosis might be a problem?

Go have another glass of water!