I just heard from someone who asked about discs in the back turning black and dying. Does anyone know of any other instances of this, and is it connected to Lyme disease?
Ann - OH
Posted by daystar1952 (Member # 3255) on :
I don't know about discs dying and turning black but it is thought by some lyme docs that the spirochetes weaken the discs and therefore cause gradual collasping of the spine. I had lyme that was untreated for 8 years and near the end of that 8 years I acquired severe sciatica.
Tried for a year to get an operation. They told me I did have a mild disc bulge but that excercise would help. Well...it made things worse. I was using a walker and it felt like I was walking on glass.
Finally they were going to operate. They found out that it was all severely compressed in there. It was a miracle...no more pain. It was right about that time I found out I had lyme and began treatment.
The operation had made the severe pain go away but I was still left with achy hips when I sat on unlevel surfaces. It seemed as if my ligaments or muscles were weakened also and were not holding me in place properly.
My lyme doc took me off antibiotics for a while and then I began to have neck problems. It's a long story but to make it brief....I was scheduled to have an operation on my neck but had to wait three months. One lyme doc asked that I have the disc material sent to the NIH to be cultured.
In the meantime my doc put me back on antibiotics. When the three months were up I went to Chicago for the operation. They did another myleogram just to be sure ....and there was no more disc bulge. Didn't have to be operated on.I think the antibiotics corrected the situation
Posted by tdtid (Member # 10276) on :
Ann,
I also don't know about the disc turning black and dying, but I do know that my LLMD also talks about us lymies having all sorts of disc ailments that they feel are related.
In my case, I was told I had degernerative disc disease. It was very painful so after five years of not knowing what was wrong, it was good to see some test show something.
But the bad side was that since I knew nothing of lyme, they gave me the option of either surgery or epidural steroid injections. I felt injections would be safer than surgery, so would start with that....
I'm sure you know where it goes from there with the steroids and not a pretty sight. But atleast it made me bad enough at that point that I finally stumbled to the right doctor to ignore all my negative Elisa's and look deeper into it. The rest is history.
So although I can't say whether black and dead are lyme related, I do know that lyme definitely causes all sorts of craziness with discs.
Cathy
Posted by wentworth (Member # 10359) on :
back disc and lyme. well I had 2 herniated disc's & then when I had pain mangement (a Storiod into the spine) I had gotten really sick chills fever pain in right eye neck and high liver count. well it turned out after all this plus back fusion on the L-4L-5 disc's that I had lyme.
my holestic Dr. said do you think it was lyme all along that gave you the disc problems.... HM I never thought of that.
yes and when they opened up my back the lyme disease went CRAZY,but Dr's were saying no you don't have lyme. If they had caught it before my big surgery perhaps I wouldn't have needed the surgery and then what followed afterwards would have not been hell on earth.
lyme is sneaky.They do attack your joints, muscles & can mess up your nervous system.
Rocephin works great but you need it for along time,it will destroy your gallbladder.
but for sure I feel lyme messed up my back FOR YEARS cause it took YEARS to get the right diagnoses.lyme disease
Posted by lucy96734 (Member # 8372) on :
I would say YES!
Before finding out I had Lyme I was dxed with Fibro and degenerative disc disease. I had a number of MRIs on my cervical and lumbar spine show more and more discs turning black. They couldn't give me a reason for it.
The ortho said I had the spine of an 80 year old, I was 32 at the time.
I had no trauma but my spine was a mess.
I had symptoms for over 5 years before dx of Lyme. The damage is done.
Posted by Truthfinder (Member # 8512) on :
Lucy, my story is very similar to yours, including the diagnoses and finding out about Lyme much later....
....however, I don't think my discs 'turned black'.... no one mentioned this to me and I can't read an MRI very well.
Posted by mushroomman06 (Member # 13088) on :
I am sure that Lyme has a effect on the back and disks. I was diagnosed with Lyme 4-26-07. Was having back pain before that time and just put it aside as age and the bed I was sleeping in.
In June I had a bad Sciatica attack. Layed on the floor for 3 days and my movement was put to a halt. Took 7 weeks before any free movement could be made.
I was told that I had two bad disc, hoping no further serve attacks come about. I am sure that Lyme has attacked my back. Its better but far from good.
It looks like many people with Lyme do develop back problems. I have had so many other problems come about thru out my body. This Lyme is one heck of a life wrecking machine. My muscle are really paying a price
Posted by LocalMan (Member # 11648) on :
I have never had any sort of back/disc problems until last spring...exactly when (it turns out)I had a lyme relapse, 4 yars after inital treatment. C6 and T8 discs show "moderate" herniation, but not severe enough to cause all my symptoms. I also have a horrendous case of rotator cuff pain that just will NOT go away.
So here's my related question:
Are there people out there who were told they had disc degernation etc but were able to fully recover after antibiotic treatment?
I have been a competitive distance runner for 30 years, with no real injuries...this disc stuff is just killing me...let alone the other symtoms.
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