I know you are worried about the fusion. Talk to your doctor. Have him explain it to you in terms you understand. So far the fusion I have is the best thing to happen. My pain was off the chart and my meds did nothing for it. Good luck at the doctor.

Well,
In my humble opinion if the Lortab's are not working for you let him know and asked him/her to give you something stronger or some other medication, an extended release medication, something else.
As far as the fusion goes, make sure that he explains the procedure to you step by step, I will suggest to write all of the questions that you might have for him ahead of time at home and bring that list with you so that way you won't forget at the time of your appointment.
If he recommends a fusion, make sure to get a second or third opinion. Never go with what one Doctor tells you. A spinal fusion is a life changing experience and sometimes not for the better, so you want to go into that OR as informed and comfortable as you can possibly be. Trust me, Ive been there 4 times and have done that.......
Good luck to you,

T

Sorry about your pain.
Hope it all goes well.
I'm on alot of painkillers, tramadol, norspan patch, gabapeton and the rest for foot and back pain.

I would not wait for your appointment - call your doctor and say that what you are taking is ineffective and that you need to try something else for your pain. I know nothing about fusion -- my treatments have been injections so far, but as you can see from the differing points of view in this thread, it looks like a serious option and you should get more than one opinion. I wish you good luck with all this!

I agree with tipper. Make sure to get a second opinion. I had a spinal fusion 2 years ago and had wished I had done something else. I have permentant nerve damage from the surgery and have had another surgery to have the screws taken out and also there was bone spurs built up around the fusion area. And the dr. makes out like it will keep building up from now on. And it didn't help the pain if anything its worst. Good luck with what every you decided to do. I'm on lortabs and they don't seem to help most of the time. again good luck, Mona

When you make your list as Tipper suggested, be as pointed and definitive as you can. For instance, one neurosurgeon I talked to was claiming a 94% success rate for a stable fusion. The I ask what percent chance to I have of being pain free for at least 3 years [NONE]. He wouldn't give and stats for three other levels of pain or guess on the 1-10 scale. This taught me to be blunt a specific with questions.

Before seeing the next doctor, I heard talk on a board about retrograde ejaculation and impotency. You can really tell how badly a mans pain is if you say there is a "possibility" of decreasing your pain but you might have to give up sex. I know I was singing that country song "gimme three steps gimme three steps mister and you won't see me no mo".

Another comment, for whatever reason my low back pain does not seem to be as bad as it was 4 years ago. I didn't have surgery but did have about every other thing that can be done with a neddle. One thing that helped is I quit doing stupid stuff like trying to match a 25 year old in manual labor. (I'm 61)I do take pain meds but have cut the dose by 3/4. I'm planning to cut the rest in about a month. Narcotics seem to be worse than sigs to get past the 4-6 month clean stage.

The buzz from your pain meds wears off fast after your body gets use to it but the pain control tolerance lasts much longer.

Hi there. I tried lots of stuff and ended up that ibuprofen and tylenol work the best. I still can't walk or stand for long, but that's o.k. for now. I take it before getting out of bed in the morning (an hour before), and before bed but not during the night. They say NSAIDS help with healing because they reduce inflammation, but I found Tylenol just as helpful. Also, Gabapentin was prescribed to me for sciatic nerve pain caused by the herniated disk, but I've been too scared of the side effects to try it out, plus, I am breastfeeding and it is not a great one for that. Gabapentin seems to help an awful lot of people though. Also, you might want to see a recent thread about John Sarno's book. The last entry is the only one that was inspiring, but it is pretty inspiring!

Hi Brenda:
Its really hard for any of us to say if your Dr. will give you something stronger for your pain. In my honest opinion, if you have a good relationship with your doctor and he trusts you and knows you are truly in pain and knows that your current pain medication is not working, then he should give you something different. No one should be left to suffer. I say different, not stronger, because if I remember from a previous post of yours, you have been on lortab a long time and our body can build up a tolerance to a particular chemical and it will stop working. You may just need something different, but not something stronger. Make sure he knows how much you are taking and that's its not working. If he does not give you something different for the pain, then I would find a new doctor. A pain managment doctor should manage your pain - if he's not doing that, then move on to find one who does. The key is consistency. You need to see him often enough for him to know the severity of your problem. You say you saw him once before. Is this only your second time seeing him? Who's been prescribing your lortab all along? Was it this same doctor?

One thing that might be helpful is to do a Google search for a narcotic or opioid conversion chart. These seem to be helpful once you figure out how to work them.

One thing for sure is unless you doctor is a pain management specialist they probably won't give you anything stronger than Lortab because they are afraid of being sued. Even post fusion surgery they only gave me Lortab. I did get them to change it to Norco though so I didn't have to take so much Acetominophen. It was 21/2 years before I finally got to a pain management doctor that prescribed Oxycontin. Ocycontin works wonders and sometimes makes me feel too good so I only take half of what was prescribed. Lortab is Hydrocodone, Oxycontin is Oxycodone. Try asking your doctor for a low dose Oxycodone like 5 or 10 mg maybe he will go for it. Good Luck!!!!