L5-S1 herniation neurogenic bladder not Cauda Equina

phugoi1982, you are very welcome. Unfortunately, younger people are having problems with degenerating discs, the L4/L5 is the largest weight bearing disc in the spine, it really does have to deal with a lot.

Some may be genetics and being predisposed and some maybe your activities/how you sit at work etc, some maybe due to trauma. One thing that I have learnt is not to take any medics word as the only truth. They certainly do not know our body better than we do and there are always exceptions to the rule.

By the medical book and science, I am not supposed to experience spasms but I do. I would be asking your consultant to tell you how it is 'impossible' for you to experience nerve damage at S3/4, I bet they cant!

I am not an expert in any way but I dont think the nerves would show up on a scan but where the nerves enter and leave the spinal column would show and this may see changes that can cause damage.

I think that if you went for EMG testing, its quite a good test for finding out where nerves are damaged and at what level. I have had 2 and they can be very uncomfortable but very informative too.

Have you been to pelvic floor physical therapy? I got Lyme Disease last year and lost total control of my bladder after my back stiffened up for a month. It took almost three months in therapy to get rid of 90% of my back pain and 16 weeks to really make a difference in my incontinence. I was told my muscles were in spasm and are still tight and causing my issues. They can help all of your issues also. It can be expensive, and my insurance only covered 20 visits, but I plan to go as much as I can out of pocket to help rehabilitate myself.

I also take curcumin extract...Thorne brand...1000 mg a day for this. It helps with the muscle tension. Also anything that sooths the digestive tract or reduces inflammation helps. I know all of this sounds stupid and useless...it did to me also...but it works. Best to you!

I would like to sue someone for my problem but unfortunately, compression or injury due to infection (especially Lyme which no one wants to admit is a serious thing) is even more invisible than a disc herniation. I get your frustration.

Physically I have more back pain than before surgery but my sciatica is gone. Unfortunately the back pain is far worse than before and even walking for more than 20 mins causes excruciating pain in the L5-s1 region where I had surgery. Again, it's all relative. Before back surgery and in the preceeding 3 months I was running and power walking 4 miles a day and felt fine. Now, I'm a shadow of what I used to be but relative to many people I guess normal.

I had autonomic neuropathy testing done last Friday in Boston and although I'm still awaiting results the neurologist who did the test was smart and interested in my case. He feels that MS, and autonomic neuropathy could probably be ruled out because what has happened to me seems to be so localized. He said it was astonishing for someone to have such severe bladder/sexual symptoms without any leg weakness or numbness as in my case. But, based on the history and the progression of symptoms he also feels it is due to my back injury. What he proposed was that rather than direct mechanical compression of the nerves the disc herniation might have caused significant amount of inflammation and antibody responses which may have targeted the S2-S3 nerve roots just as they enter the pelvis and have branched off. That is why I don't have leg symptoms. The damage could have been much more inside than we thought. Of course, all this is theory and speculation which as he said unfortunately I will never be able to prove.

Hi. This is sort of an update on my situation. I am reallu depressed. I went to another Neuro at Mass General (top Neuro hospital in the US) who reviewed my case and again said I have no evidence of spinal cord injury or Cause Equina. I persuaded then to do a special MRI called an MRN which looks at nerves of the sacrum. The results came back normal so it looks like the pudendal nerves which control the bladder and sexual function are normal so I'm back at square one with no follow up.

I reached out to the urologist who diagnosed the neurogenic bladder who still feels I have Cauda Equina syndrome and that the nerve damage is not being visualized properly due to lack of tech to see such small nerves. He says he had many patients with back injuries and no "apparent cord compression" who develop neurogenic bladder. He is pretty fatalistic and says even though it is Cauda Equina you will never be able to prove it. I don't know what else to do.i had being saying I had neurogenic bladder for years due to disc herniation and got sent to multiple psychiatrists being called a hypochondriac and I almost got committed to a mental hospital for arguing with one psychiatrist and saying he was a quack and my symptoms were real. No I know I will neither ever get relief nor will I get justice for what was done to me