People with Spinal Disk Degeneration....

[bob4432]

is it painful? the reason i am asking is because i have 3-4 discs that are f*cked up and a spinal tumor, trying to figure out what is causing the pain.

 

[Amused]

Naw. It tickles.

 

[Chrono]

I'm shrinking as we speak. I used to be 6'1". Now I'm 4'2"

 

[D1gger]

I know a fine lady who has degenerative disk failure, and she is in constant pain and is fast losing mobility. It is very sad to see that she and her husband are not enjoying the retirement they had dreamed of.

 

[Red Dawn]

Not the disk itself but the disk above it that was herniated compensating for the degenerated disk. However it has since calmed down and I feel fine.

 

[eits]

yes, it's very painful at times and makes life very difficult. i don't have it, but i will be treating it for the rest of my life.

 

[bob4432]

the reason i am asking is because i have 3-4 discs that are f*cked up and a spinal tumor, trying to figure out what is causing the pain. i will add this to my op...

 

[Muse]

Originally posted by: Chrono
I'm shrinking as we speak. I used to be 6'1". Now I'm 4'2"

I was once a 6 footer - that is when I became "full grown" and early in the morning. Even then, by evening I was 5' 11.75". Now, I doubt I ever ever make 5' 11".

My brother tells me that by the time you are 50 years old or so you are virtually certain to have spinal degeneration. He's a doctor and knows his stuff. Thus, when I told him that I had a ruptured disk (boy, that sounds serious, doesn't it?), he just said everyone my age has that. Many people have those things and no symptoms at all. It all depends on things like whether or not a nerve is being pinched.

A tumor, obviously, depends on what kind of tumor, where it is, whether it's benign or malignant, whether it's growing, a host of things.

Sounds to me like the OP needs good doctors who know what they are doing, and undoubtedly some tests. Everybody is different. A correct diagnosis would be helpful. Of course, it may be a combination of things.

 

[bob4432]

Originally posted by: Muse

Originally posted by: Chrono
I'm shrinking as we speak. I used to be 6'1". Now I'm 4'2"

I was once a 6 footer - that is when I became "full grown" and early in the morning. Even then, by evening I was 5' 11.75". Now, I doubt I ever ever make 5' 11".

My brother tells me that by the time you are 50 years old or so you are virtually certain to have spinal degeneration. He's a doctor and knows his stuff. Thus, when I told him that I had a ruptured disk (boy, that sounds serious, doesn't it?), he just said everyone my age has that. Many people have those things and no symptoms at all. It all depends on things like whether or not a nerve is being pinched.

A tumor, obviously, depends on what kind of tumor, where it is, whether it's benign or malignant, whether it's growing, a host of things.

Sounds to me like the OP needs good doctors who know what they are doing, and undoubtedly some tests. Everybody is different. A correct diagnosis would be helpful. Of course, it may be a combination of things.

i was just wondering to those that have just disk degeneration what it felt like. unfortunately i have a host of issue and was curious as to how much pain the disk degeneration was accounting for.

as far as testing, i have another mri tomorrow and then my neurosurgeon will decide if/when i go in for surger for the tumor, which is inside the spinal canal at L3.

unfortunately i am on a decent amount of pain medications for other ailments and still have issues, but unfortunately the pain medications probably masked it when it was in its infancy and allowed me to keep going until it became much worse. then i started having lower back pain and numbness and pain in my quads, started to have issues walking or standing for any length of time - and this all happend in about 6mos...

 

[eits]

Originally posted by: bob4432
the reason i am asking is because i have 3-4 discs that are f*cked up and a spinal tumor, trying to figure out what is causing the pain. i will add this to my op...

the pain is coming from the firing a-delta and c fiber nociceptors. the screwed up discs cause a change in the biomechanics of your back, so your body's trying to tell you, "hey, dude... get me fixed... i'm messed up right now."

where's your tumor?

 

[eits]

Originally posted by: Muse

Originally posted by: Chrono
I'm shrinking as we speak. I used to be 6'1". Now I'm 4'2"

I was once a 6 footer - that is when I became "full grown" and early in the morning. Even then, by evening I was 5' 11.75". Now, I doubt I ever ever make 5' 11".

My brother tells me that by the time you are 50 years old or so you are virtually certain to have spinal degeneration. He's a doctor and knows his stuff. Thus, when I told him that I had a ruptured disk (boy, that sounds serious, doesn't it?), he just said everyone my age has that. Many people have those things and no symptoms at all. It all depends on things like whether or not a nerve is being pinched.

A tumor, obviously, depends on what kind of tumor, where it is, whether it's benign or malignant, whether it's growing, a host of things.

Sounds to me like the OP needs good doctors who know what they are doing, and undoubtedly some tests. Everybody is different. A correct diagnosis would be helpful. Of course, it may be a combination of things.

there's a difference between a ruptured disc and a disc herniation. almost everyone gets disc herniations and most don't realize they have it. a ruptured disc, however, is more serious.

 

[bob4432]

Originally posted by: eits

Originally posted by: bob4432
the reason i am asking is because i have 3-4 discs that are f*cked up and a spinal tumor, trying to figure out what is causing the pain. i will add this to my op...

the pain is coming from the firing a-delta and c fiber nociceptors. the screwed up discs cause a change in the biomechanics of your back, so your body's trying to tell you, "hey, dude... get me fixed... i'm messed up right now."

where's your tumor?

inside the spinal canal at L3

 

[eits]

Originally posted by: bob4432

Originally posted by: Muse

Originally posted by: Chrono
I'm shrinking as we speak. I used to be 6'1". Now I'm 4'2"

I was once a 6 footer - that is when I became "full grown" and early in the morning. Even then, by evening I was 5' 11.75". Now, I doubt I ever ever make 5' 11".

My brother tells me that by the time you are 50 years old or so you are virtually certain to have spinal degeneration. He's a doctor and knows his stuff. Thus, when I told him that I had a ruptured disk (boy, that sounds serious, doesn't it?), he just said everyone my age has that. Many people have those things and no symptoms at all. It all depends on things like whether or not a nerve is being pinched.

A tumor, obviously, depends on what kind of tumor, where it is, whether it's benign or malignant, whether it's growing, a host of things.

Sounds to me like the OP needs good doctors who know what they are doing, and undoubtedly some tests. Everybody is different. A correct diagnosis would be helpful. Of course, it may be a combination of things.

i was just wondering to those that have just disk degeneration what it felt like. unfortunately i have a host of issue and was curious as to how much pain the disk degeneration was accounting for.

as far as testing, i have another mri tomorrow and then my neurosurgeon will decide if/when i go in for surger for the tumor, which is inside the spinal canal at L3.

unfortunately i am on a decent amount of pain medications for other ailments and still have issues, but unfortunately the pain medications probably masked it when it was in its infancy and allowed me to keep going until it became much worse. then i started having lower back pain and numbness and pain in my quads, started to have issues walking or standing for any length of time - and this all happend in about 6mos...

get the spinal canal stenosis taken care of. hopefully, he won't have to cut into your disc. don't let the surgeon cut into your disc unless it's 100% absolutely necessary. once the integrity of the disc is compromised, the discs above and below will become compromised.

if you don't get your back fixed and correct your disc angles, you're going to end up with degenerative disc disease earlier than you'd like and you'll be regretting why you didn't see a chiropractor sooner whenever you can't pick your kids up to hold them.

 

[eits]

Originally posted by: bob4432

Originally posted by: eits

Originally posted by: bob4432
the reason i am asking is because i have 3-4 discs that are f*cked up and a spinal tumor, trying to figure out what is causing the pain. i will add this to my op...

the pain is coming from the firing a-delta and c fiber nociceptors. the screwed up discs cause a change in the biomechanics of your back, so your body's trying to tell you, "hey, dude... get me fixed... i'm messed up right now."

where's your tumor?

inside the spinal canal at L3

do you ever get weakness in your thighs/quads? do you ever feel any shooting pain along your leg from your back?

 

[bob4432]

Originally posted by: eits

Originally posted by: bob4432

Originally posted by: Muse

Originally posted by: Chrono
I'm shrinking as we speak. I used to be 6'1". Now I'm 4'2"

I was once a 6 footer - that is when I became "full grown" and early in the morning. Even then, by evening I was 5' 11.75". Now, I doubt I ever ever make 5' 11".

My brother tells me that by the time you are 50 years old or so you are virtually certain to have spinal degeneration. He's a doctor and knows his stuff. Thus, when I told him that I had a ruptured disk (boy, that sounds serious, doesn't it?), he just said everyone my age has that. Many people have those things and no symptoms at all. It all depends on things like whether or not a nerve is being pinched.

A tumor, obviously, depends on what kind of tumor, where it is, whether it's benign or malignant, whether it's growing, a host of things.

Sounds to me like the OP needs good doctors who know what they are doing, and undoubtedly some tests. Everybody is different. A correct diagnosis would be helpful. Of course, it may be a combination of things.

i was just wondering to those that have just disk degeneration what it felt like. unfortunately i have a host of issue and was curious as to how much pain the disk degeneration was accounting for.

as far as testing, i have another mri tomorrow and then my neurosurgeon will decide if/when i go in for surger for the tumor, which is inside the spinal canal at L3.

unfortunately i am on a decent amount of pain medications for other ailments and still have issues, but unfortunately the pain medications probably masked it when it was in its infancy and allowed me to keep going until it became much worse. then i started having lower back pain and numbness and pain in my quads, started to have issues walking or standing for any length of time - and this all happend in about 6mos...

get the spinal canal stenosis taken care of. hopefully, he won't have to cut into your disc. don't let the surgeon cut into your disc unless it's 100% absolutely necessary. once the integrity of the disc is compromised, the discs above and below will become compromised.

if you don't get your back fixed and correct your disc angles, you're going to end up with degenerative disc disease earlier than you'd like and you'll be regretting why you didn't see a chiropractor sooner whenever you can't pick your kids up to hold them.

would the surgeon cut the vertebrae to get the tumor out? i have had chiropractic care in the past, but it was for a neuromuscular disorder i have in my upper neck/back and shoulders.

as far as kids, my wife and i are not planning on having any due to my health....

is it common for the symptoms to jump up like they did within the last 6mos? for years there were no issues i could feel, the all of a sudden i can't walk far, etc

 

[bob4432]

Originally posted by: eits

Originally posted by: bob4432

Originally posted by: eits

Originally posted by: bob4432
the reason i am asking is because i have 3-4 discs that are f*cked up and a spinal tumor, trying to figure out what is causing the pain. i will add this to my op...

the pain is coming from the firing a-delta and c fiber nociceptors. the screwed up discs cause a change in the biomechanics of your back, so your body's trying to tell you, "hey, dude... get me fixed... i'm messed up right now."

where's your tumor?

inside the spinal canal at L3

do you ever get weakness in your thighs/quads? do you ever feel any shooting pain along your leg from your back?

yes, the pain the lower back and the weakness/numbers in my quads led my doc to order the mri, then we found all this. as far as shooting pains, no.

 

[ValkyrieofHouston]

If you have inflammation and degeneration of any of the joints of your body (including disk degeneration) You can go to an orthopedist and ask them to put you on Prednisone for a short period. Prednisone will decrease the inflammation and ultimately stop the pain. However, Prednisone is not meant to be used long term unless your doctor has a good reason to keep you on it.

Get to a doctor and find out what is going on with your spine. Only a doc can tell you for sure what is causing the pain and administer the correct treatment.

 

[Muse]

do you ever get weakness in your thighs/quads? do you ever feel any shooting pain along your leg from your back?

I do (quads), but it's fairly stable.

There are some new procedures wherein they go in rather non-invasively and place a little object in the spine, that serves to keep the disks from collapsing. It sounds very promising. I read an article about it in the S.F. Chronicle Sunday paper around 6 months ago.

Edit: It probably wasn't Zimmerman... I may have to ask my sister. I'll find it, though.

 

[bob4432]

Originally posted by: ValkyrieofHouston
If you have inflammation and degeneration of any of the joints of your body (including disk degeneration) You can go to an orthopedist and ask them to put you on Prednisone for a short period. Prednisone will decrease the inflammation and ultimately stop the pain. However, Prednisone is not meant to be used long term unless your doctor has a good reason to keep you on it.

Get to a doctor and find out what is going on with your spine. Only a doc can tell you for sure what is causing the pain and administer the correct treatment.

i am trying, just frustrated atm. i went to a pain mang doc and the course of action was going to be nerve blocks and steroid injections, then the mri came back so he sent me back to my neurologist who referred me to the neurosurgeon. it seems like time is standing still due to pain and the stress of not knowing what is going on and even though i see one the country's best neurosurgeons, i don't get any concrete answers because "everybody is different".....

 

[eits]

Originally posted by: bob4432

Originally posted by: eits

Originally posted by: bob4432

Originally posted by: Muse

Originally posted by: Chrono
I'm shrinking as we speak. I used to be 6'1". Now I'm 4'2"

I was once a 6 footer - that is when I became "full grown" and early in the morning. Even then, by evening I was 5' 11.75". Now, I doubt I ever ever make 5' 11".

My brother tells me that by the time you are 50 years old or so you are virtually certain to have spinal degeneration. He's a doctor and knows his stuff. Thus, when I told him that I had a ruptured disk (boy, that sounds serious, doesn't it?), he just said everyone my age has that. Many people have those things and no symptoms at all. It all depends on things like whether or not a nerve is being pinched.

A tumor, obviously, depends on what kind of tumor, where it is, whether it's benign or malignant, whether it's growing, a host of things.

Sounds to me like the OP needs good doctors who know what they are doing, and undoubtedly some tests. Everybody is different. A correct diagnosis would be helpful. Of course, it may be a combination of things.

i was just wondering to those that have just disk degeneration what it felt like. unfortunately i have a host of issue and was curious as to how much pain the disk degeneration was accounting for.

as far as testing, i have another mri tomorrow and then my neurosurgeon will decide if/when i go in for surger for the tumor, which is inside the spinal canal at L3.

unfortunately i am on a decent amount of pain medications for other ailments and still have issues, but unfortunately the pain medications probably masked it when it was in its infancy and allowed me to keep going until it became much worse. then i started having lower back pain and numbness and pain in my quads, started to have issues walking or standing for any length of time - and this all happend in about 6mos...

get the spinal canal stenosis taken care of. hopefully, he won't have to cut into your disc. don't let the surgeon cut into your disc unless it's 100% absolutely necessary. once the integrity of the disc is compromised, the discs above and below will become compromised.

if you don't get your back fixed and correct your disc angles, you're going to end up with degenerative disc disease earlier than you'd like and you'll be regretting why you didn't see a chiropractor sooner whenever you can't pick your kids up to hold them.

would the surgeon cut the vertebrae to get the tumor out? i have had chiropractic care in the past, but it was for a neuromuscular disorder i have in my upper neck/back and shoulders.

as far as kids, my wife and i are not planning on having any due to my health....

is it common for the symptoms to jump up like they did within the last 6mos? for years there were no issues i could feel, the all of a sudden i can't walk far, etc

it's possible. do you know where the tumor is inside the canal?

you're not gonna have any kids ever just because you've got a bad back? lame, yo.

yes. it only takes a little extra pressure on a nerve to make it tell your brain tell your body to do something you don't want it to.

 

[bob4432]

Originally posted by: Muse

do you ever get weakness in your thighs/quads? do you ever feel any shooting pain along your leg from your back?

I do (quads), but it's fairly stable.

There are some new procedures wherein they go in rather non-invasively and place a little object in the spine, that serves to keep the disks from collapsing. It sounds very promising. I read an article about it in the S.F. Chronicle Sunday paper around 6 months ago.

is it in the spine or on the vertabraes? i saw some cool looking hardware when i was at the neurosurgeons office, not that i want any of it in me, but cool nonetheless...

 

[eits]

Originally posted by: bob4432

Originally posted by: eits

Originally posted by: bob4432

Originally posted by: eits

Originally posted by: bob4432
the reason i am asking is because i have 3-4 discs that are f*cked up and a spinal tumor, trying to figure out what is causing the pain. i will add this to my op...

the pain is coming from the firing a-delta and c fiber nociceptors. the screwed up discs cause a change in the biomechanics of your back, so your body's trying to tell you, "hey, dude... get me fixed... i'm messed up right now."

where's your tumor?

inside the spinal canal at L3

do you ever get weakness in your thighs/quads? do you ever feel any shooting pain along your leg from your back?

yes, the pain the lower back and the weakness/numbers in my quads led my doc to order the mri, then we found all this. as far as shooting pains, no.

so you didn't find any major disc herniations i take it...

 

[bob4432]

Originally posted by: eits

Originally posted by: bob4432

Originally posted by: eits

Originally posted by: bob4432

Originally posted by: Muse

Originally posted by: Chrono
I'm shrinking as we speak. I used to be 6'1". Now I'm 4'2"

I was once a 6 footer - that is when I became "full grown" and early in the morning. Even then, by evening I was 5' 11.75". Now, I doubt I ever ever make 5' 11".

My brother tells me that by the time you are 50 years old or so you are virtually certain to have spinal degeneration. He's a doctor and knows his stuff. Thus, when I told him that I had a ruptured disk (boy, that sounds serious, doesn't it?), he just said everyone my age has that. Many people have those things and no symptoms at all. It all depends on things like whether or not a nerve is being pinched.

A tumor, obviously, depends on what kind of tumor, where it is, whether it's benign or malignant, whether it's growing, a host of things.

Sounds to me like the OP needs good doctors who know what they are doing, and undoubtedly some tests. Everybody is different. A correct diagnosis would be helpful. Of course, it may be a combination of things.

i was just wondering to those that have just disk degeneration what it felt like. unfortunately i have a host of issue and was curious as to how much pain the disk degeneration was accounting for.

as far as testing, i have another mri tomorrow and then my neurosurgeon will decide if/when i go in for surger for the tumor, which is inside the spinal canal at L3.

unfortunately i am on a decent amount of pain medications for other ailments and still have issues, but unfortunately the pain medications probably masked it when it was in its infancy and allowed me to keep going until it became much worse. then i started having lower back pain and numbness and pain in my quads, started to have issues walking or standing for any length of time - and this all happend in about 6mos...

get the spinal canal stenosis taken care of. hopefully, he won't have to cut into your disc. don't let the surgeon cut into your disc unless it's 100% absolutely necessary. once the integrity of the disc is compromised, the discs above and below will become compromised.

if you don't get your back fixed and correct your disc angles, you're going to end up with degenerative disc disease earlier than you'd like and you'll be regretting why you didn't see a chiropractor sooner whenever you can't pick your kids up to hold them.

would the surgeon cut the vertebrae to get the tumor out? i have had chiropractic care in the past, but it was for a neuromuscular disorder i have in my upper neck/back and shoulders.

as far as kids, my wife and i are not planning on having any due to my health....

is it common for the symptoms to jump up like they did within the last 6mos? for years there were no issues i could feel, the all of a sudden i can't walk far, etc

it's possible. do you know where the tumor is inside the canal?

you're not gonna have any kids ever just because you've got a bad back? lame, yo.

yes. it only takes a little extra pressure on a nerve to make it tell your brain tell your body to do something you don't want it to.

i can see it on the mri.

and the kids issue isn't because of the back, this decision was made long ago due to other ailments i have that are all genetically transferred.

 

[eits]

Originally posted by: Muse

do you ever get weakness in your thighs/quads? do you ever feel any shooting pain along your leg from your back?

I do (quads), but it's fairly stable.

There are some new procedures wherein they go in rather non-invasively and place a little object in the spine, that serves to keep the disks from collapsing. It sounds very promising. I read an article about it in the S.F. Chronicle Sunday paper around 6 months ago.

wow, if you can find that article, i'd like to check it out

 

[eits]

Originally posted by: bob4432

Originally posted by: ValkyrieofHouston
If you have inflammation and degeneration of any of the joints of your body (including disk degeneration) You can go to an orthopedist and ask them to put you on Prednisone for a short period. Prednisone will decrease the inflammation and ultimately stop the pain. However, Prednisone is not meant to be used long term unless your doctor has a good reason to keep you on it.

Get to a doctor and find out what is going on with your spine. Only a doc can tell you for sure what is causing the pain and administer the correct treatment.

i am trying, just frustrated atm. i went to a pain mang doc and the course of action was going to be nerve blocks and steroid injections, then the mri came back so he sent me back to my neurologist who referred me to the neurosurgeon. it seems like time is standing still due to pain and the stress of not knowing what is going on and even though i see one the country's best neurosurgeons, i don't get any concrete answers because "everybody is different".....

that's the tough truth, though... everyone's different..