Cervical myelopathy and cognitive dysfunction

@michc56 I would suggest having your PT check your cervical alignment. You may be having muscle spasms that are shifting the vertebrae above the fusion. This has happened to me before and after my C5 C6 fusion. I have had dizziness and vertigo when my C1 & C2 twist themselves. You PT should be able to realign your vertebrae gently if that is what is causing the symptoms. Vertigo in the morning may be from your neck position on your pillow at night. My PT has me turn my pillow so it's parallel to my body so I can't tuck my chin and cause the vertebrae to slip. That helps a lot.

Have you discussed the vertigo with your PT?

@ray666 Thank you for sharing. I started my analysis in 2020, did not have surgery or PT but initiated - walking, stretching, yoga, deep-tissue massage, acupuncture on my own. Things improved significantly, but I still had intermittent loss of balance. Then my legs weakened and I had pain at night in my neck. When seeing a non-invasion physician she directed me to the neurosurgeon for surgery due to the image of my C5-C6. They both addressed the need for surgery "necessary to protect you from paralysis or worse if you fall or are in an accident." I agree with you - serius approach to self-help and manipulations of associated muscles may be better, while it lasts, then surgery, when in my case, I was not in significant pain.

@ray666
I am 69 and had C5-C6 fusion surgery in March 2026. Since 2020 I complained to various physicians that I had very weak legs, wobbly "drunken" gait and easily lost my balance. No serious falls, no serious pain (intemittent over these years) and was directed to have surgery on my neck related to weakness / numbness in my upper torso.

Only in my first week of PT (focused on my cervical area recovery) and continue to have weak legs, lack of balance, and tire within 20 minutes of walking on my own, with a cane or with a walker.

I am told patience yet they only ask me how my neck and arm / hand numbness feels. I fear that the surgery has done nothing for my walking.

Now I am suffering vertigo in the morning and less so throughout the day. I am not on medication, drink electolyte enriched liquids, but nothing has improved over the past 5-6 days.

Will see what else my physician pool has to offer.

@michc56 i’m really sorry they made you wait so long for surgery.
My understanding is the longer the disc is putting pressure on the nerves, the more nerve damage you’re going to be left with.
I am new to these conversations. I experienced pain in my right , It felt like I was bit by a bug in September 2021. Age 62 very active hike 5 -6 miles a day live in the mountains , “mountain living “ is not for everyone. It requires a lot of strength. I thought I was doing everything right to keep myself healthy. My one big mistake was not looking on the inside of my body no MRIs or no x-rays.
I will continue to preach that.
Insist on them.
I had my first surgery in January 2022..C 5-6 , second surgery Feb 2023 L 3-5.
Still Incredible amount of neuropathy 2 Nerve test was left with nerve damage.
I thought I moved quite quickly on the first surgery, but apparently it had been festering for a long time. After many tests, It was a 14 MM bulge disc in my neck.
It started with a pinch in my hand like a bee, stung me .
Time is the essence Don’t wait insist on tests insist on MRIs
No one knows their own body better than themselves
I also had that numbness in my upper torso. that was the most frightening.
I thought I was going to be paralyzed..
I had to break down and cry and say there’s something really wrong with me again nobody knows their body better than themselves insists on more tests.
If you’re not comfortable, tell your Doctor, tell him there’s something more wrong. Don’t wait.
They already made you wait five years for surgery

I find it interesting, @michc56, our varying experiences with neurosurgery. When I told friends I as going to see a neurosurgeon, their reaction was typical: "Watch out, Ray. He's a surgeon. You'll be talked into surgery." And yet my experience with the neurosurgeon proved quite the opposite. He mentioned things like falls and paralysis, but something in how he was telling me these things made his delivery seem rather pro forma. What didn't come across as pro forma was his saying the spinal encrochment was "borderline," and that he was reluctant to suggest there might be any urgency when he, privately, didn't believe there was urgency. What enabled me to decide on not having surgery was the neurosurgeon's saying, with considerable emphasis, that I might elect to have the surgery, only to discover post-op that my balance hadn't been impacted one jot. Interesting business, isn't it, trying to life a full and fulfilling life, with a woozy balance? Keeps us on our toes, doesn't it (pun unintended)? Best wishes, Ray (@ray666)

@eagoss
They didn't make me wait -- March 2020 I had a sharp pain in my leg, the orthopedic surgeon identified spinal stenosis in my Thoracic area and connected me to a Neurosurgeon, who wanted additional MRIs. Remember it was the beginning of the Pandemic. My insurance denied another MRI and then the world shut down.

Years go by, I was feeling better through weight loss, yoga and PT, then in 2024/25 my legs weakened and balance got worse so I revisited the whole diagnosis hoping for non-surgical solutions. That journey took me to a different Neurosurgeon who told me the Cervical Area needed immediate attention.

I watched my father with spinal stenosis (lumbar was operated on when he was in his 70s) progress to not being able to walk and in a wheelchair for the last two years of his 98 years of life.

I am a sceptic - surgery is not a proven solution as your spine continues to deteriorate. As I said to the Neurosurgeon in 2020 - So you want to fillet me like a fish! I went ahead with the Cervical surgery this year, but it is not solving my issues of balance, strength, to walk and emjoy life. I wasn't in severe pain in my neck -- but they insisted I needed to have the surgery, so they are the experts. Will I get more surgeries? Likely not, as they do not promise I will improve my stamina when walking.

You do you - I came to this group to see if other people are having post-op issues that seem unrelated to the actural surgery. So far Itchiness - Yes, Vertigo - Yes. Improved strength in legs - No.

@ray666
I am (was) in good health for a 68 year old last year, except walking like I was drunk, not having stamina to travel, hike, or do anything you are supposed to be doing in retirement. The surgeon was selective in what was said, never promising me a rose garden of walking without caution - or - solutions other than surgery!!! I did it but I likely will not do any other surgeries and try PT, etc. I am no better off, and have added a few other ailments (vertigo, digestive issues) which I know can be caused by spinal stenosis but the Cervical Neurosurgeon and staff deflect those issues to my PCP.

Oh well - if you walk like a drunk maybe you should drink like a drunk!

Enjoy life the best you can,

@michc56
I also walk like a drunk & fall alot. I'm new, but was so happy cuz thats me. I had a cervical fusion about 50+ years ago. Now I'm having issues. Getting an MRI soon. We could drink together maybe then walk straight (scary thought)
Anne

@ray666
I am (was) in good health for a 68 year old last year, except walking like I was drunk, not having stamina to travel, hike, or do anything you are supposed to be doing in retirement. The surgeon was selective in what was said, never promising me a rose garden of walking without caution - or - solutions other than surgery!!! I did it but I likely will not do any other surgeries and try PT, etc. I am no better off, and have added a few other ailments (vertigo, digestive issues) which I know can be caused by spinal stenosis but the Cervical Neurosurgeon and staff deflect those issues to my PCP.

Oh well - if you walk like a drunk maybe you should drink like a drunk!

Enjoy life the best you can,

Hi, @michc56

I have fond memories of "walking like a drunk." Of course, I wasn't pretending back then. As happy as I am that I quit drinking damn near 40 years ago, I'll tell anyone who asks that I had good times in the years when I was drinking. I thank my lucky stars I was a "survivor" drunk! No broken-up relationships, no DUIs, no lost jobs, no barroom brawls. If today I've any regrets about how I walk with my PN, it's that now I'm embarrassingly aware of how I walk. Back in the days when I would be walking pretty much the same way I do now, I was, of course, drunk––that's to say, totally oblivious to how I was walking. That was Jack Daniel's kindness. It blotted out the reality of my wonky gait. PN, by comparison, is a cruel companion. PN keeps me wide awake so that I'm fully aware of what a weird way I'm walking. 🙂

Ray (@ray666)