L2 – S1 spinal fusion pain questions

The stories here about spinal fusion gone awry scare the hell out of me. I'm 70 y/o and in very good shape and in the gym everyday. I've had both big toes fused and both knees replaced. My lumbar spine is a disaster area. My surgeon tells me that my strong core is holding my lumbar spine together and keeping me from fusion.

I dropped my weight from 190 lbs to 160 in the last year. Now my weight is normal for my height, 5'10".

Thanks to all who posted here, and thanks for your bravery. Spinal fusion is complex. I have a great surgeon and if I need fusion someday, I'll get it.

Again, thanks to all. Joe

After taking Lyrica for three weeks and getting no results, I stopped taking it completely, which my neurosurgeon said was OK.

When I first made the switch from GabaPentin to PreGabalin I didn't wean off of the GabaPentin; just went direct to the PreGabalin. Also after my partial nephrectomy in August I just stopped Tramadol cold turkey with no ill effects.

Astounding! Ask any competent neurosurgeon or physical therapist and they will tell you no BLT for the first three months. That’s bending, lifting, or twisting.

@drxtract sad part is my Surgeon had done Peyton Mannings surgery you would think he’s highly rated ! When he done the surgery he said the longest I would be off was 3 months I WAS a plumber/pipefitter I had been doing all the med gas pipes in a hospital patient and surgery rooms so a lot of climbing , twisting working overhead all day and at 3 months still couldn’t walk without a cane . Couldn’t walk to his office so I would use a wheelchair I could rub the tailbone and it went straight to the testicles and from what I’ve read when the inner thigh is tender it’s danger zone all he said to both without touching me is you don’t have that! I was able to get him to keep me of 4-1/2 months then luckily I met my new pcp that week and she signed me off the 6 weeks I had left on temporary disability then I was 8 months of no income before I finally got disability.

I'm 16 months post spinal fusion L2 to S1. My pain is still anywhere from 7-10 daily. I'll mention i was in a bad auto accident. I had a complete burst fracture of the L4. I was paralyzed from the waist down when the police and medics arrived, the weird thing was i could fell the worst pain in my legs and feet I had ever felt but couldnt move them at all. I had to be transferred to a trama unit 45 miles away. Pieces of the L4 had entered my spinal canal. Surgeons didn't even want to do surgery because they believed I was just going to never walk again and thought I may not survive the surgery. They called in a neurosurgeon spine expert and it still took them 3 days to decide to do the surgery and that's because I pretty much begged them too. They told me there was a higher than normal risk I may not make it through the surgery because I also have MS. I told them I'd take my chances and do the surgery. I suffered others injuries as well but they were most concerned about my spine. Finally the neurosurgeon spine specialist they called from a different Brain and Spine facility asked me if I was sure I wanted to go through with it. I said...where do I sign and let's get this overwith...whatever happens...happens. like I said 16 months later and still in horrible pain everyday. My left leg has partial paralysis in it and I have to walk with a really bad limp because my leg won't work the way it's all designed to work. I'm happy the neurosurgeon was able to restore what he did but this has been the worst experience I have ever been through and I had been through many at the time of being 53 years old when it happened. I can't walk downstairs and back up in my house without being in horrible pain and completely out of breath because I have to try and stay stable without falling because since my accident and having MS I have fell probably 20 times or more. Resulting in 2 hip surgeries, shoulder surgery, and I still need another hip and shoulder surgery. That wreck changed my life forever and still haunts me every single day.

I also feel the need to mention that the state I live in will do just about everything they can to deny you're disability. Even with all my issues all of the specialists saying I could never work again, they still denied my claim, it has now been 7 months after my denial that initially took 10 months, and my lawyers appeal still haven't got an approval despite the doctor that they contract out to determine y
if you're as bad off as every doctor has already told them, came out and told me I was completely disabled. My state would rather put you off as long as possible and hope you die before they will give you the compensation you deserve.

I had L2 to S1 fused February 13, 2025 and a month later I had developed a huge seroma and they had to go in and drain and clean it out, then I spent a week in the hospital hooked up to IV antibiotics and pain meds. I was sent home on 4mg Dilaudid every 4 hours which I had been on since my February surgery then a week later the Neuro Nurse practitioner said his hands were tied and he couldn't give me any more pain meds and I need to see my regular doctor for more (mind you this was 4pm on a Friday) so I went from Dilaudid to just tylenol for pain until the following Tuesday when I could see my regular doctor. She said her hands were tied and she couldn't give me anything for my pain and sent me back to Neuro again. By now I had been without pain meds for 2 weeks and I was in excruciating pain. He decided to send me to the addiction pain program to see if they could help. I said "don't you have to be addicted to something to go see them?" I was pissed because the only thing I was on was Tylenol (and that's like giving someone a lollipop and saying it will take all your pain away) The addiction pain people asked me when the last time I used meth or other street drugs was and if I've had to steal from people to get money for my street drugs. I have never used any drugs other than what my doctor has prescribed and I take them exactly as directed. She said they don't usually see people that aren't already addicted to something but she gave me some sort of tiny wafers that you put in your cheek to dissolve. All it did was give me bad headaches so she suggested going back to my primary doctor for pain meds (back to square one!) I finally saw someone who was willing to give me Lortab 10 to take every 8 hours for pain. It helped a little for about 3 hours then I was back to excruciating pain. She changed me to Oxycodone 10mg every 4 hours as needed and that isn't helping much either. Anyway, since my surgery things have been getting worse instead of better. I'm having a lot of pain in my right hip to the point of (in the last couple of days) barely being able to put any pressure on my right leg without crying. I've gone back to using my walker to get around (and it still isn't going well) I feel like my right hip is broken. Do any of you have this problem? Is it possible they pushed my hip out of alignment when they did the fusion? They have done a CT scan and they say everything looks fine and it's probably just my nerves causing problems because they were compressed for so long and it's just going to take time for them to heal. It's just, when they do a CT or MRI they have you laying down with a wedge under your knees and that position usually makes my pain less (that's pretty much the only position I can be in these days that helps my pain some) is it possible they don't see anything because when I'm in that position things align better? I don't know what to do because the pain is so bad I can't do anything. I'm doing most of my work from home right now but I have to go into the office to do bills and stuff. (I work for a local Plumber's and Pipefitter's Apprenticeship Program as their administrative assistant) and right now my doctor says no more than 2 to 3 days a week for 1 to 3 hours a day in the office and last week I had to work 3 days in a row for about 5 hours each day and I worked again on Monday for about 5 hours (I cried a lot while I was doing my work) my boss asked if I would be back on Tuesday but I told him no because I'm just in too much pain. He wasn't happy about that. When I got home from work I had to call my daughter out to the car to help get me back in the house because I could hardly walk. Since then my pain has gotten worse and I can't get out of bed or put any pressure on my right leg. Is this just a normal part of this kind of surgery or could it be something more? Does anyone have any advice on what to do? I've tried lidocaine patches and they don't do anything. I've had gastric surgery so I'm not supposed to take ibuprofen or any other NSAIDS. This pain is debilitating and excruciating and it certainly isn't helping my depression issues either. Has this happened to anyone else? If so, what do you do about the pain? Is there anything that can be done for the pain?

I don’t think I can help much but I think you are having astonishingly bad care. I am in the UK awaiting fusion delayed because of anaemia. I have buprenorphine patches plus oro morph for break through pain and paracetomol (Tylenol) every 4-6 hours. Also sleeping pill. Still extremely painful and I can barely walk but manageable. We have pain clinic specialists here who can put in implants, do epidural nerve blocks etc. where is your original surgeon in all this? Do you have a patient advocacy team at the hospital? I am so sorry you are going through this and hope you get help soon.

Peter Attia has a podcast called the Drive and he just did a segment on chronic pain that you might find helpful. Pain patients are treated with so much judgement...I am so sorry this has happened to you. If you're comfortable sharing where you had your surgery I'd be interested.

I had L4-S1 fused in Oct 2024 and was in excruciating pain for 3 months. Still alot of pain since then. In April my surgeon ordered a Myelogram where they stick a needle in your back and injected dye. In this MRI they stand you up so they can see what is happening with gravity on your back. His X-ray at the office showed everything in position but the Myelogram showed loose screws and a non-union at l5-s1. So I never fused, also scar tissue building up and pressing a nerve down. My point is this….get a Myelogram. When you get it, go home and lie flat all day and night and you probably won’t get the migraine that sometimes occurs.