It's Sunday night. Yesterday morning, I posted that I was down to 30mg/day and I'd stay there for a few days. I lied. Last night, I took a Vicodin instead of the last Oxy. Today, I started with an ES. Since I was doing well, I switched to regular Vicodin (5/500). It looks like 4 a day will do for a while. That's 20mg of hydrocodone. It's equivalent to 16mg of OxyContin. Remember, this is down from 120mg/day just two short weeks ago! (I was at 60mg/day pre-op. The 120 dose was just for the post-op pain.)

I guess the next step is to cut them in 1/2. I've done so well with the withdrawals so far, I'm not anticipating any problems. Maybe a week or two and I'll be completely opiate free. The anti-inflammatories will probably last a while. Once everything settles out, I'll taper off the AD (Wellbutrin).

Last night after our dinner at Wahoo's, we were enjoying our drinks and watching the game. Usually, I'm waiting for her to finish, squirming like hell, taking the weight off my back and onto my arms and shoulders. We looked at each other with the same idea at the same time.... Here we were, after dinner, sitting there like normal people. No rush to leave, no pain.

So, sorry to be posting every day, but the one-month mark and stopping the Oxy seemed like a big deal to me.

Take care all. Pain free vibes out to everyone!

Mark

PS. It's still a parking lot for freighters off Huntington Beach. It looks very strange. If you live in So. Cal, this is worth a look!

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*** L4-5 and L5-S1 Disc Replacement (SB Charite III) 9/20/02 by Dr. Zeegers, AlphaKlinik, Munich, Germany ***

2/25/00 Microdiscectomy/laminotomy L4-5, 10x15x7 mm left paracentral protrusion

9/23/00 CANCELED L4-S1 360 fusion CANCELED

9/15/01 emergency microdiscectomy L5-S1, 14x13x10 mm left paracentral protrusion

Both discectomies resolved hip/leg/foot symptoms, but left the underlying back pain. Residual left foot pain and numbness. Lost axial reflex (left ankle).

Researching artificial disc options. ProDisc vs. SB Charite III looks like a toss-up, but you can see which one won.

*** The AlphaKlinik was wonderful. My expectations were high, but the clinic, it's staff, and Dr. Zeegers far exceeded them!!!

One thing I'm not clear on is why did you have to go all the way to Germany to have surgery?

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Carpal Tunnel, Myofascial Pain Syndrome, Panic/Anxiety Attacks, Degenerative disc disease at C5-6 & C6-7 with reversal of the normal cervical lordosis. Also degenerative spondylosis of the lumbar spine at L3-4, L4-5 and L5-S1. (But, hey, who's complaining?!)

Since I needed 2 levels done, I am not eligible for the Charite study. I was not willing to take the chance of getting a fusion in the ProDisc study. They are still randomizing into 2/3 ADR, 1/3 fusion.

Also, I had excellent references for the AlphaKlinik and Dr. Zeegers. He's the most experienced ADR surgeon in the world.

So, there were many good reasons to go to Munich. Once we got to the AlphaKlinik and saw how things were run and what their equipment was like, we knew we were in the right place.

We didn't know if we'd get any sightseeing in, but we did a lot and it was wonderful. Munich is a very beautiful city. The location of the hotel and clinic is awesome. It was very pleasant being there, even if there was a major surgery involved.

Bet you don't know yourself.

I know it will fall on deaf ears when I say please don't overdo.

Joanne

I can't help but eagerly open every thread I see now from you.

Keep up the good work and progress!

I have been following your progress as well and am so happy for you AND your family! What a joy for your wife to see you happy and able to do things together! I am so happy for you!

Please share your experiences (if any) with withdrawal................do you have any symptons? if so, what are they and how do you cope?

Love ya buddy!

Karen

P.S. One other question.....are you going to ever go skydiving again?

Keep on posting. This is so up lifting.

Hugs,

After 6 weeks, there are no restrictions regarding the artificial discs. But, my back muscles have gotten so weak, any athletics prior to effective rehab would be foolhardy.

Joanne, this is an interesting topic. If I had been in this for 6 months, I probably wouldn't know better. Having done this for 5 years and been down for almost 3 years, I think I truly understand what's at stake and won't overdo (physically). That's why I'm waiting until the 6 week mark before starting any serious PT. The PT that I started Friday is mostly massage, aimed at relieving the muscle spasms that I still experience. (This was a problem for months prior to the surgery and is probably due to the loss of muscle tone. Changed spine geometry probably aggravated it.)

((((( Lori ))))) Thanks for the support. I wish there was something I could do to help you.

Tim: yes, they are both excellent with proper patient selection, AND proper implantation.

I'm going to start another thread about tapering. Switching from timed-release meds to immediate-release ones is problematic. The correct technique is not obvious to me.

Thanks all,

http://www.racquetresearch.com/sevencri.htm

Thanks for sharing the news of your continued recovery - H.A.

quote:

---

Originally posted by mmglobal:
...I have some cervical issues that might. I don't think so though. I'm going to get in awesome shape before I try any athletics. Then, I'm going to start slowly. I expect to be skiing by Feb or Mar. Maybe tennis too....

---

Doc, that is way too funny!

I think I've hit the wall. I'm taking regular strength Vicodin (5/500) 5 times a day. It's not enough. Withdrawals are not too bad, but quite uncomfortable. Back pain has turned up... I thought it was gone. No worries... I just found the place where I'm pushing the limit on the tapering.

It seems that using immediate release meds is more diffucult to taper with. Any ideas?

Not racing yet but each trip out I try a bigger hill given that I'm strong enough now that a bump in the bike path isn't a challenge!

I don't think that the immediate release narcotics are more difficult to taper off of....in fact my experience has been exactly the opposite.

I've read and experienced that oxycontin is a bear to go off of.

My experience this last March was easy because I went from 20mg a day of oxycontin to the same dose of roxicodone. I was then able to taper off slowly (it took me 3 weeks) of the roxi. A piece of cake!

That is compared to my experience 6 months post op when I just dropped doses of oxycontin, with no roxicodone to substitute. I went into major withdrawals with the heebie jeebies, anxiety....etc., etc.

However, I am amazed at how aggressive you are at going off the meds and applaud you for it.

I'm also so happy for you that you are recovering. Please, do remember to take it easy because you don't want a set back.

Edit to add: it seems to be the last few milligrams of the drug that your body really rebels about....at least for me it was getting off of the last damn 5mg that was the hardest.

Karen

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42/F/Mother of two beautiful sons.
Congenital defect in lower spine.
Severe stenosis, L5-S1 spondylolythesis grade IV with L5 spondylolysis.
Pain started 2/00.
11/06/00 Decompression and L5 Gill type laminectomy and L5-S1 posterior lateral fusion with pedicle screws and rods with autogenous iliac crest bone graft harvest.
AOL IM: DesertWoman01
Email and MSN IM: desertwoman42@hotmail.com
Enjoy life! This is NOT a rehearsal.
As close to pain-free as I could hope for! My recovery just took a long time (18 months).
Off all pain meds!

Thanks all for the wonderful support.

Mark

Although today I did venture back to the pool for the first since I got my Trike.

My schedule now is to pedal splash pedal splash.

WOOHOO!