Steve, so sorry to read your still going thru so much pain. After reading your posts I thought I would chime in.
Some of us have had such radical multi level surgeries, it should be to no surprise we are in some level of pain. I would imagine our bodies trigger off more pain alarms than a "normal" body would. From nerve pain to myofacial pain, to bouts of pain free day's to debilitating days.
As you, I get weird things happening. I went several months with no arm nerve pain, then all of a sudden I will feel nerve pain from my arm pits to my fingers. Then it will be gone. Make's no sense to me. Any ideas? I've had muscle pain and trigger points around my thoracic spine and shoulder blades. Then I'll get reprieve. It's a roller coaster.
I did CT's, MRI's, I had bi-lateral ablations at ever cervical level to T1. Trigger point injections, myofacial release and I'm sure I'm missing something. Today I take about 800 mgs of Ibprofen during the day and flexeral with 600 mg of neurotin at bed time.
Here's what I do know. We went into surgery hoping for a fix, but there was no magic bullet. So has history taught us anything? Do we try and wait out the next "pain problem". Or do we find ways to deal with it till it passes, if it passes. Everyone's pain is different. I hope you can find relief before you jump under the knife again. Remember there is no going back.
As for Annular tears showing up on MRI's, I have one that was clear as day at L5/S1. So now I'm dealing with that. Aren't spine problems a blast.
By the way my Dr. had a full blown herniation. He said he was crippled for 18 months but refused surgery. He made it to the other side. Keeps fit, eats right and hasn't had pain on 8 years. He may be one of the lucky ones, I don't know the statistics, but it's hope.
Good luck and I hope the best for you.
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