@1947 and @pedaboo, I have had a herniated disc at L5-S1, and still have a herniated disk at L4. I had outpatient discectomy--laminectomy surgery for my L5-S1 (I'm not sure which one I had as they seem to use those terms interchangeably when talking about my back) on December 22, 2016. I have -0- pain in my back on the left side now, and before the surgery on my L5-S1 I had the excruciating acute pain that I think is the same you both had. I had to use a wheelchair because my back was spasming so bad I couldn't walk. My spine doctor ordered Pregnisone 6 day meds for inflamation, and Baclofen for muscle spasms. I was already taking Tramadol 50 mg. for pain on my right lumbar from my L4, so they just continued that. My pain doctor has since added Gabapentin (which I don't like) to help with the nerve pain. My L5-S1 acute session began in early November, and ended with my December surgery. The MRI showed the spinal cord in my L5-S1 was being impinged upon by the disc and they had to cut a portion of the disc off. I also have a compression fracture of my C7, which has apparently been there so long it already healed (No wonder my neck had been hurting for about 4 years!) I also have degenerative disc disease, arthritis, and my L4 is out of alignment 7.3 mm. I have stenosis of my sciatic nerves on both sides.

My L4 affects my right side. I have had problems with it since I was in my teens, and started getting chiropractic for it in my late 20s, and I am 68 years old now. About 7 years ago I began having periodic acute pain in my lumbar about once a quarter for 2-3 weeks at a time. I decided to get an MRI about 5 years ago due to the acute pain that time lasting 3 months! The doctor said I had 4 bulging discs, L2, L3, L4, and L5, with 2 causing left side pain, and 2 causing right side pain. I told him I would not do surgery, so I doctored myself and began taking Yoga classes instead. Wow! Yoga was so great for me! It was Restorative Yoga, which is very gentle Yoga that uses mostly floor or chair poses and many props to provide support. Slowly I began to get better until after 6 months or so, I was completely better. I had built my core muscles and the poses kept me limber and fluid in my movements. I was able to do just about anything I wanted even though I was about 80 pounds overweight.

While I was still taking Yoga 3 times a week 4 years ago, I began to envision myself hiking with my husband and camping with him. I was too overweight to be a good hiker as I just couldn't walk up hills very well. I decided that I was going to lose weight so when we retired I would be able to have fun with him. Then, a year later my doctor encouraged me to check out Bariatric Surgery since my T2 diabetes was getting steadily worse and my blood pressure was high even with medications; I was also using a Cpap machine at night to breathe due to my weight. In January, 2014, I signed up to prepare for Bariatric Surgery, specifically the RnY, which is the big bypass surgery. I attended 6 months of classes in preparation, and had the surgery July 8, 2014. I have lost 80 pounds, and had lost most of it within 9 months. I go up and down about 3 pounds periodically, but have kept the weight off. That was a tremendous help for my back and my self-esteem. I had to drop out of Yoga after the surgery for a period of time, but started back until May, 2015, when I moved to a desert town in California to accept a new job. I didn't start back in Yoga there and by January 2016, I knew the job was not going to work out. I quit and my husband and I moved in with our daughter in Southern California. Nearly a year ago, while I was out cutting roses out of the raised flower bed here, I felt my back go out. It wasn't acute pain, and it was on my right side, so I figured I would go to the chiropractor, massage, rest, walk, etc. and it would get better. It didn't. Finally I went to the spine doctor here, and they sent me to the pain doctor. In the meantime, I began working on various "interim executive" jobs and took a consulting gig in September that required me to fly back and forth between home and Denver every weekend. The beginning of November, I bent over to pet our cat at home, and my back went out again. This time it was the acute sudden type of pain. That's when I got the second MRI and had surgery to correct that problem in December.

The past year I had tried Acupuncture, Massage, Chiropractic, Tramadol, Pregnisone, Baclofen, Gabapentin, and surgery to help with my back pain. None of them have rid me of pain on the right side, although the Pregnisone and surgery have helped me the most on my left side. My right side remains in pain, and I am now doing Physical Therapy for both my left side surgery recovery, and to see if it will help my right side pain. As soon as I am given the go ahead, I will start Yoga again. I am hoping to avoid surgery on my L4, as it will mean implanting rods and screws, and I just don't want to do that unless I have to. PT is already helping me I think, so I am happy about that. Both of my brothers have had multiple surgeries on their backs due to problems like mine. They are both older than me, and I don't want to repeat their problems with pain pills, including morphine, methodone, oxycodone, etc. My youngest brother looked like he was dying when they had him on morphine! He is so much better now that he's had the surgery with the rods and screws, and hardly needs any pain drugs now. I will take marijuana before I will use anything stronger than I am currently taking. I just know that my pain doctor will no longer be able to subscribe for me once I go down that path since marijuana is illegal at the Federal Level, even though it is legal in California.

I just want you both to know that the more you can do things such as Restorative Yoga with a really good teacher, and Physical Therapy, the better your pain will be. It may even go away totally as long as you build up your core muscles. It takes work, but it is SO much better than being on pain drugs. I encourage you to try a natural way to improve your backs if your doctors say it's safe for you. Good luck, I hope your pain subsides. Now, I have to stop as my neck is killing me! Ha.

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