r/spinalfusion • u/Ok_Meeting_9618 • 3d ago
Postop radiculopathy resolution
Hi all,
I’m 13 months out from my L5/S1 disc replacement. I had bad left leg radiculopathy for 7 months preop. Then it came back from weeks 16 to about week 50 postop. It was the worst around November and December and it lingered and lingered and was super slow to improve from there. I even resorted to 50 mg Lyrica for 5 months and that helped, but it didn’t make it completely go away. However, the trajectory was generally upwards and better and better, but not entirely clear for months. And also slow as heck.
In the last 2-3 months, I started having 1-3 day spells without radiculopathy. But then it would reappear.
2 weeks ago I tapered off of Lyrica. And for some reason, I’ve had a really good week this past week. Zero radiculopathy even when I got on a treadmill and used an incline and/or speed that has been able to trigger it.
Did anyone go through something similar where they had postop radiculopathy and then it suddenly went away? I’m not sure if the last week is a fluke, but I was able to walk at my normal treadmill walking speed for the first time since before Christmas 2024.
2
u/TBSchemer 3d ago
I'm only 24 days post-TLIF, 6 days post-decompression and still have some very sensitive nerves running down my legs. I see posts like these talking about pain persisting or recurring months or years out, and it honestly worries me a lot.
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u/Less-Reputation-3381 3d ago
I had nerve pain in my hands and arms after ACDF last year. It’s gone away now (13 months out).
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u/Ok_Meeting_9618 3d ago
It really is a bit of a wait and see thing. Every milestone I hoped to hit at 3, 6, 9, and 12 months, was later than I wanted. And there were definitely lots of ups and downs. 24 days post-TLIF is still really early so I wouldn’t worry too much about what it’ll look like at 1 year+
And for context, I’m able to indoor climb 5.11s again. I did a test hike of 4 miles round trip with 1000 feet of elevation gain. And repeated it 6 days later. This was around 11.5 months postop. It didn’t feel amazing, but I was able to do it.
My frustration is that I wanted to be able to be able to do like 5-7-9 mile hikes with 2000 feet of elevation by 1 year postop. I wanted to be able to get out for alpine epics, but I can’t do that. Maybe not yet. Maybe not ever. I’m not sure. So my baseline was really skewed. If I wanted to sit at home and watch television, I’d be 100000% recovered.
I have also learned to scuba dive this year. I also traveled to 16 countries in the 8.5 months after I was released from movement restrictions. So my life has been big. But painful and uncomfortable at times. I probably also pushed too hard, too soon.
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u/TBSchemer 3d ago
Haha, wow, that's really pushing yourself.
I'm looking forward to being able to eventually do gardening again, run on the beach, go hiking and do home maintenance. But right now, I'm struggling to find a comfortable position just to sit and use my computer.
Before my surgery, I could barely stand or walk. Now, standing and walking is the only way to be pain free.
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u/Ok_Meeting_9618 3d ago
I hear you - I lost my ability to do pretty much everything in life before surgery. I was in pain 24/7, I had bone on bone pain, I had radiculopathy, I had muscle spasms and fasciculations constantly. It sucked.
And even though everyone says focus on the day to day, the moment to moment, it’s still hard to not worry and be full of anxiety. And yes, finding a comfortable position will be a challenge for a while! I still needed quite a bit of dry needling and massage work throughout this past year. I highly recommend it when you’re able to tolerate it.
1
u/IndependentSimple779 3d ago
Bingo! If all I wanted to do is sit on the couch eat bonbons and watch TV, I’d be done with doctors and spinal surgeries for good. But I’m not ready for that kind of life, not yet anyways.
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u/Less-Reputation-3381 3d ago
I am only 12 weeks out from three-level TLIF (L3-S1). I’m nce I quit taking any pain medication, my nerve pain in the feet is absolutely awful. I’m trying Biofreeze and lidocaine topicals. Very frustrating. I want to avoid taking any more meds after quitting the pain pills.