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Has anyone suffered from lumbar spinal stenosis? Did you have surgery?

Posted by patriciajennye @patriciajennye, Feb 4, 2018

Has anyone suffered from lumbar spinal stenosis and the severe pain that goes with it? Did you have surgery? Mayo Clinic?

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Profile picture for elizadolittle
elizadolittle | @elizadolittle | Aug 26, 2025
In reply to @oveanlover1224 "I think it is because my symptoms present in the left buttocks and left leg SEVERE..." + (show)
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I think it is because my symptoms present in the left buttocks and left leg SEVERE pain can not walk and they think from my MRI i should have lower back pain but i can tell it is nerves being pinched in my back! I have Kaiserpermanente and this is what they have told me so I am in limbo NOT knowing what to do and cant afford private! I know if I had a surgeon say yes sure I can fix this it would be a whole diff story ugh crying!Thank you for answering 🙂

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I don't know whata Kaiserpermanente is. This is my experience with spinal stenosis. The surgeon gave me two choices stay on the pills forever or an operation with no guarantee. had the operation. I went from 10 pills a day to 5 a day. I'm now down to 3 a day. I've tried a lot of things to reduce pain. The most successful, unbelievably so, is the combination of acupuncture and lazar. I'm still on Tramadol but I've reduced the number of pills and extended the time between the ones that I'm taking.
I discovered to my sorrow, going cold turkey off Tramadol, is not a good idea.
Best of luck! What works for one, doesn't work for another.

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2 replies
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elizamoore | @elizamoore | Aug 26, 2025
In reply to @oveanlover1224 "I have SEVERE lumbar stenosis L3 L4 L5 with slipped discs!I have seen 2 neurosurgeons now..." + (show)
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I have SEVERE lumbar stenosis L3 L4 L5 with slipped discs!I have seen 2 neurosurgeons now and they both say if I have surgery I only have a 50/50 of it being successful WTH! seriously what kind of odds are going through such a major surgery for maybe nothing maybe worse with the knowledge that adjacent syndrome is most likely!!!So as of now I live in CHRONIC PAIN can only walk for 2 minutes at a time! I am a 62 year old woman who was a athlete and played tennis my whole life competitively!all I take for pain is advil as it does not really work flexeril doesnt work great,, and LYRICA was just prescribed and I just had ANOTHER INJECTION!AVOIDING surgery for now all there seems to be are complications! If ANYONE has any other pain medications to suggest it would be SOOOO greatly appreciated:) SRY for this long post,,, if you read it THANK YOU with my heart! cheers 🙂

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I had spinal fusion S1 thru L5 September 2024. I still have back pain, not as severe as before, but I'm now dealing with numbness on left side of left leg and a patch on the ankle, toes and too of bottom of right foot. I was told it takes time for the nerves that were compressed to "wake up". I'm still waiting and praying that is sound advice. All I can say is that I would never go thru spinal fusion if I had known this could happen. All the research I read said there would be some numbness but it would go away. I'm sorry you are going thru this. It is horrible and like you, I was always athletic and now can't walk without a walker or a cane.

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Jennifer, Volunteer Mentor | @jenniferhunter | Aug 26, 2025
In reply to @elizadolittle "I don't know whata Kaiserpermanente is. This is my experience with spinal stenosis. The surgeon gave..." + (show)
Profile picture for elizadolittle @elizadolittle

I don't know whata Kaiserpermanente is. This is my experience with spinal stenosis. The surgeon gave me two choices stay on the pills forever or an operation with no guarantee. had the operation. I went from 10 pills a day to 5 a day. I'm now down to 3 a day. I've tried a lot of things to reduce pain. The most successful, unbelievably so, is the combination of acupuncture and lazar. I'm still on Tramadol but I've reduced the number of pills and extended the time between the ones that I'm taking.
I discovered to my sorrow, going cold turkey off Tramadol, is not a good idea.
Best of luck! What works for one, doesn't work for another.

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Kaiser Permanente is a health insurance company.

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olv | @oveanlover1224 | Aug 26, 2025
In reply to @laura1970 "I’ve been thinking about you. One important question to ask is : what is my prognosis..." + (show)
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I’ve been thinking about you. One important question to ask is : what is my prognosis without surgery? Is the spinal stenosis or slipped disks progressive? Will I get worse without surgery? What are the chances? If they do get worse, what new symptoms might I get? If I have surgery will it stop the progression altogether or simply slow it down? If it only slows it down, how much time am I giving myself?

Something to think about…

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WOW fantastic questions i am going to ask! THANK you! 🙂

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olv | @oveanlover1224 | Aug 26, 2025
In reply to @elizadolittle "I don't know whata Kaiserpermanente is. This is my experience with spinal stenosis. The surgeon gave..." + (show)
Profile picture for elizadolittle @elizadolittle

I don't know whata Kaiserpermanente is. This is my experience with spinal stenosis. The surgeon gave me two choices stay on the pills forever or an operation with no guarantee. had the operation. I went from 10 pills a day to 5 a day. I'm now down to 3 a day. I've tried a lot of things to reduce pain. The most successful, unbelievably so, is the combination of acupuncture and lazar. I'm still on Tramadol but I've reduced the number of pills and extended the time between the ones that I'm taking.
I discovered to my sorrow, going cold turkey off Tramadol, is not a good idea.
Best of luck! What works for one, doesn't work for another.

Jump to this post

Thank you for you perspective on surgery i appreciate it! They do NOT prescribe ANYTHING stronger then advil where i live no Opiods

REPLY
1 reply
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olv | @oveanlover1224 | Aug 26, 2025
In reply to @elizamoore "I had spinal fusion S1 thru L5 September 2024. I still have back pain, not as..." + (show)
Profile picture for elizamoore @elizamoore

I had spinal fusion S1 thru L5 September 2024. I still have back pain, not as severe as before, but I'm now dealing with numbness on left side of left leg and a patch on the ankle, toes and too of bottom of right foot. I was told it takes time for the nerves that were compressed to "wake up". I'm still waiting and praying that is sound advice. All I can say is that I would never go thru spinal fusion if I had known this could happen. All the research I read said there would be some numbness but it would go away. I'm sorry you are going thru this. It is horrible and like you, I was always athletic and now can't walk without a walker or a cane.

Jump to this post

WOW thank you for your frank honest opinion on having surgery! I have read so much on fusions,,, I am soo sry you are still having issues and pain!

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olv | @oveanlover1224 | Aug 26, 2025
In reply to @annie1 "Yes they told me I need fusion and I don't know what the odds are that..." + (show)
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Yes they told me I need fusion and I don't know what the odds are that it'll really help my symptoms. I hate to say it but what works for me is oxycodone and it's hard to find a doctor to give you that but I do have one. I don't know if I could be on it the rest of my life though.

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thanks they do not give anything stronger then advil here never opiates i wish!

REPLY
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elizadolittle | @elizadolittle | Aug 26, 2025
In reply to @oveanlover1224 "Thank you for you perspective on surgery i appreciate it! They do NOT prescribe ANYTHING stronger..." + (show)
Profile picture for olv @oveanlover1224

Thank you for you perspective on surgery i appreciate it! They do NOT prescribe ANYTHING stronger then advil where i live no Opiods

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Be careful with Advil. Follow the directions very closely. I ended up in the hospital with extremely high blood pressure and one doctor called it a "mini" heart attack.I won't have it in the house anymore.

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elizadolittle | @elizadolittle | Aug 26, 2025
In reply to @jenniferhunter "Kaiser Permanente is a health insurance company." + (show)
Profile picture for Jennifer, Volunteer Mentor @jenniferhunter

Kaiser Permanente is a health insurance company.

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Thanks for letting me know.

REPLY
Profile picture for elizadolittle
elizadolittle | @elizadolittle | Aug 26, 2025
In reply to @oveanlover1224 "I have SEVERE lumbar stenosis L3 L4 L5 with slipped discs!I have seen 2 neurosurgeons now..." + (show)
Profile picture for olv @oveanlover1224

I have SEVERE lumbar stenosis L3 L4 L5 with slipped discs!I have seen 2 neurosurgeons now and they both say if I have surgery I only have a 50/50 of it being successful WTH! seriously what kind of odds are going through such a major surgery for maybe nothing maybe worse with the knowledge that adjacent syndrome is most likely!!!So as of now I live in CHRONIC PAIN can only walk for 2 minutes at a time! I am a 62 year old woman who was a athlete and played tennis my whole life competitively!all I take for pain is advil as it does not really work flexeril doesnt work great,, and LYRICA was just prescribed and I just had ANOTHER INJECTION!AVOIDING surgery for now all there seems to be are complications! If ANYONE has any other pain medications to suggest it would be SOOOO greatly appreciated:) SRY for this long post,,, if you read it THANK YOU with my heart! cheers 🙂

Jump to this post

Don't expect immediate miracles after surgery. Although, my acupuncturist walked out of the hospital and has not experienced the pain and challenges I've had. Looking back, I think I was born with the predisposition. I can't rave enough about the combination of acupuncture and lazer. I understand that both reduce inflamation. Whatever it is, it works for me. It's almost like I've never had spinal stenosis.

Even if I experience some pain, it is nothing compared to what I used to experience. Another thing I've noticed recently is that I have much more clarity in my thinking processes. I can do things now without thinking about it. This includes simple things. I didn't realize how much pain had affected me.

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