r/SpinalStenosis

I’ve had spinal stenosis for a while, alongside bulging discs and arthritis in upper back. I received spinal injections 4 weeks ago, however the pain in my back has increased significantly.

I currently take 300mg x3 daily gabapentin, co-codamol 30/500 x4 daily 2 capsules each time and diclofenac sr x2 daily.

I have tingling/numbness in my groin area that comes and goes, pins and needles in my hands and constant back pain. The medication isn’t working.

I’m in horrific pain and no matter what I do - rest, walk, heat applied nothing is easing this pain.

Any suggestions on what I can do?

Mentally I can feel my mood dipping and spend my days crying.

Hi, I’m new to this and can’t see my doctor til Monday so I’m freaking out. This was my MRI result:

“Diffuse disc bulge and broad-based central disc herniation at L4-L5 with 2 mm retrolisthesis of L4 on L5, resulting in severe spinal canal stenosis.”

About a month ago, I woke up with the worst pain in my life. With PT and time has almost completely resolved, but I do have some residual pain and numbness in my foot. Decided to get an MRI just for fun and this was the result. Google is scaring me. Will I need surgery? Does this progress to cauda equina?

Hey everyone, for full disclosure, I had gemini help turn all of my results and symptoms into a post. I’m looking for some insight from anyone who has dealt with multi-level spinal issues or has felt "dismissed" by surgeons despite clear neurological symptoms. I’m 41 and my mobility and autonomic health are tanking fast.

The Background:

• March 2025: Had C6-C7 ACDF surgery. Had severe canal and foraminal stenosis with cord signal loss.

• The Problem: Since the surgery, I have developed a complete obliteration of cervical lordosis and new MRI reports are still showing moderate to severe stenosis and spurs at that level. and it takes a massive effort to maintain a horizontal gaze.

The Current Symptoms

• "Jelly Legs" & Repeated Falls: My legs feel like they have a heavy blanket on them or they randomly give out.

• Autonomic Issues: Blood pressure drops, random sweating/hot flashes, and muffled hearing/vision.

• Neurogenic Bowel/Bladder: Severe gas/bloating and changes in bladder control.

• Positional Pain: Severe buttock/thigh pain (S1 distribution) that is much worse when laying flat.

The Imaging Evolution (2025 vs. 2026):

1. Cervical: MRI now shows moderate-to-severe stenosis at C5-C6 (the level above my fusion) and Cerebellar Tonsillar Ectopia (CTE). I’m concerned my loss of neck curve (Kyphosis) is "tethering" my cord and pulling my brainstem into the foramen magnum.

2. Lumbar (The "Tight Garage"):

• The Foundation: I have congenital stenosis (short pedicles) throughout my lumbar spine.

• June 2025 MRI: Showed multiple disc bulges and facet arthrosis already causing moderate narrowing.

• March 2026 MRI: A new 4mm mystery mass (sequestration vs. conjoined nerve root) has appeared in the subarticular recess at L5-S1.

• The Tipping Point: Because my canal is already narrowed by short pedicles and previous bulges, this new 4mm mass seems to have turned "moderate" narrowing into critical crowding of the nerve roots.

The Conflict:

My original surgeon retired since my operation. He was very dismissive of my symptoms after surgery too. I recently met with a new neurosurgeon who told me "nothing on the MRI could cause these symptoms" and joked that "radiologists get paid by the word" regarding the 4mm mass. When I pushed for answers, he told me I was free to find another doctor. He was in the same group and was fiends with my original surgeon. Not sure if that adds anything.

Questions for the group:

1. Has anyone with congenital stenosis (short pedicles) found that "moderate" MRI results actually cause "severe" symptoms because there is zero reserve space?

2. Could Cerebellar Tonsillar Ectopia (CTE) be responsible for these Vagus nerve-style symptoms (BP drops, GI issues) even if it's below the 5mm Chiari threshold?

3. For those who lost their cervical lordosis after ACDF, did you find it caused a "domino effect" of issues in your lower back?

4. How do you handle a surgeon who dismisses neurogenic bowel/bladder symptoms because they don't see "gross cord compression" on a static, laying-flat MRI?

I have a lumbar MRI with contrast in 12 days to see if the 4mm mass is an active disc fragment or an anatomical variant, but I’m struggling to walk in the meantime. Any advice or similar stories would be greatly appreciated.

So I ended up in the emergency room last Saturday with an inability to move my legs, a bilateral sciatica and numbness in my toes, groin numbness/inability to urinate, and severe spine pain. Sounds exactly like cauda equina, right? Well I was given an emergency MRI and the results were... inconclusive. I DID have a "minor" spinal stenosis, but the neurologist decided that it wasn't severe enough to cause my issues, despite clearly stating that he clearly saw a compression of nerves from the stenosis. But it was "too minor" to cause cauda equina. I stayed in the hospital for about a week (was discharged earlier today) and am still unable to walk, feel my toes or groin, unable to urinate except in a VERY specific and hard to get into position, and severe pain. I was diagnosed with functional neurological disorder and was given a PT referral. So I guess my question is, is there any way this could be a misdiagnosed cauda equina? The symptoms are just too perfect, and the MRI results aren't reassuring at all to be honest. This doctor also clearly wasn't the sharpest tool in the shed, because his first theory was... constipation. They proceeded to give me the most torturous enema to ever happen (do NOT get an enema with severe nerve pain and an inability to move) and only after that was I given an MRI to rule out cauda equina. (Was given an x-ray first which is where they discovered the constipation). I'm still in severe pain and fear for the future of my life considering the lasting effects of cauda equina... any reassurance/advice would be greatly appreciated. Thank you for taking the time to read.

I'm 20 years old and I was recently diagnosed with congenital foraminal stenosis at C4 and C5 and a loss of normal cervical lordosis, after experiencing main in my neck, traps and back for months. The doctor put me on pills to alleviate nerve inflammation and muscle relaxants. I've been taking them for a month but I haven't been seeing much of a difference in pain. In fact, I'm starting to notice the pain radiating down my arms and fingers, and legs. I'm really hoping to not have surgery done because it's just not financially feasible right now. In addition to taking the pills, I've been doing some stretches and exercises focused on alleviating the localized pain. Is there anything else I could do to help deal with this? I have trouble sleeping because I can never find a comfortable position and I deal with vertigo on really bad days.

I’m new here but have had lumbar stenosis symptoms since 2022 with MRI confirmation in 2024.

I have constant tightness in my lower back after walking for 5 to 15 minutes and it always feels as if I need to stretch out my glutes and my hamstrings and no amount of stretching ever relieves the feeling.

Leaning forward, generally relieves the pain. Back extensions always causes it.

When it first started, I was a runner and I started noticing some shooting pains down my leg while I was jogging. Then I got into a terrible car accident, and while I was recovering from, it didn’t really feel any symptoms at all, but once I was recovered, they came back and I’ve gotten worse.

I started going to Orangetheory to work out and since that time I noticed some progressing numbness down my left leg in particular and on the bottom of my foot.

Now, if I go on a longer walk like a hike, I experience numbness up from the bottom of my foot up above my knee and feel as if if I weren’t looking down, I might trip or lose my balance.

This feels like a serious issue and I have scheduled another MRI to compare with the one that I got two years ago and I also have signed up for PT starting next week.

Once I have the results from the new MRI I’m planning to go see a neurologist to evaluate my options.

It’s really rough to deal with the constant pain every day all day and also at night and it’s hard to focus on work or family or other things with this in the background.

I’ve read that some people are taking gabapentin which I’ve never tried so I’m thinking about giving that ago and also anti-inflammatories seemed to help a little bit here and there, but they don’t really get to the root.

I’ve just today started learning about energy medicine and I’m curious if anybody here has tried it and what their experiences have been. And really if there’s any other advice or suggestions than anybody has at this point, I’d appreciate it.

Here’s the MRI report from a couple years back:

…FINDINGS:

Anatomy: Five lumbar-type vertebral bodies are present. The most inferior well-formed disc space will be referred to as L5-S1 for purposes of numbering in this report.

Prior surgical findings/hardware: None.

Vertebral bodies: Normal in height. Minimal dextrocurvature of the lumbar spine. Small Schmorl's node along the superior L2 endplate. Mild retrolisthesis of L2 on L3.

Bone marrow: Normal for age. Focal fat deposition at L1.

Intervertebral discs: Multilevel disc desiccation. Mild disc height loss at L1-L2.

Conus medullaris: Normal. Positioned at: L1.

Paraspinal muscles: No evidence of denervation or inflammation.

Congenital shortening of the pedicles bilaterally. The following axial levels are detailed below:

T12-L1: Unremarkable.

L1-L2: Minimal posterior disc bulge, mild facet arthropathy. Mild spinal canal stenosis. Mild to moderate bilateral neural foraminal narrowing.

L2-L3: Posterior disc bulge, ligamentum flavum thickening. Moderate spinal canal stenosis. Mild bilateral neural foraminal narrowing.

L3-L4: Posterior disc bulge, ligamentum flavum thickening, mild facet arthropathy. At least moderate spinal canal stenosis. Moderate bilateral neural foraminal narrowing.

L4-L5: Posterior disc bulge, ligamentum flavum thickening, mild facet arthropathy. Mild spinal canal stenosis. Mild right neural foraminal narrowing.

L5-S1: Mild facet arthropathy. No significant spinal canal or neural foraminal stenosis.

Visualized sacrum and bony pelvis: Unremarkable.

Muscles: Right renal cyst.

IMPRESSION:

Multilevel degenerative changes of the lumbar spine superimposed on congenital shortening of the the pedicles, most pronounced at L3-L4 where there is at least moderate canal stenosis and moderate bilateral neural foraminal narrowing.