I am having the exact reaction extreme burning in the back of neck and 9 months post op 3 level
ACDF will little to no relief every day ! All mri and CT scams show some issues but nothing that would explain the extreme pain and burning. Is there such a thing as your body rejecting the titanium plate and screws? This is my last resort to seek answers but you seem to have the burning pain as I have and I never had this kind of pain until I had thre surgery but I feel the second surgeon opinion wanted to protect his fellow neurologist and won’t throw anyone under the bus as he said one thing the first visit and almost had a competent different reaction the second visit ! So strange how they change their answers! I am pleading for help with no end in sight!
In Aug 2015 I had SI joint surgery called ifuse. They put 3 titanium implants in. Within 2 weeks I noticed I was getting break outs all over and my ears were ringing on and off. By 4mo post op Ive had constant rashes popping up every where, and I started to have a stabbing pain in that SI joint again, I feel swollen and Im more tired now then I was right after surgery. At 5 1/2mo the ringing is my ears is all the time. I had brought up metal allergy to the Dr 4 times before surgery and all he said was skin contact is different to bone contact. I emailed the makers of my implants and in the DOC. they sent me it says....If a patient is suspected of having sensitivity to metal, the physician should consider having the patient tested for metal allergies with a test such as a MELISA test. My surgeon never did this. I am going to bring this up to my internist to see if I can have the test done. Im suppose to have surgery in the other SI joint but if this is the cause of my issues I think I will pass.
I had my surgery for ACDF C6/7 w/hardware on 06/18/15. I went back to work part time at the end of Sept. I still wasn't feeling 100% but was tired of being home. I worked about two weeks and felt really ill like I had the flu. Felt feverish, achy, exhausted, sleeping all the time. I had to take the week off work because I had no energy. I went back to work, once again worked two weeks and felt the same way. I was off work once again for another week. Each time barely feeling better and just pushing to go back to work. I made it until thanksgiving at which time not only was I sick with flu like symptoms I now had extreme pain in my shoulder blade, shoulder and arm. The entire month of Dec I was off. I saw the NS, had a CT, MRI and nerve test. With the holidays looming I couldn't get my results until Jan 8th. The CT confirmed I was fused, the nerve test showed slowing along my entire right arm, the MRI showed that my C5,C6,C7 all were compressed and that I had narrowing on my right side of all 3 but the C7/T1 had severe narrowing and that I needed to have a third neck surgery. I went home in shock. I saw my regular Dr the following week and told him what occurred and brought him the MRI results. I was still in so much pain so he said let's try some steroids to get the swelling under control so I could go back to work part time again. I made it two weeks only because of the steroids. In one day the pain was mostly gone. I also realized over those 2 weeks my throat, face, under my arms and in my thighs the swelling went down. My face had been broken out and it cleared up. But the day I finished my steroids all of that came back with a vengeance. I hadn't realized I had the swelling, I thought I had just gained weight from being so senditary after my surgery. I thought I wasn't eating right and that's why my face was broken out. But, this time when I felt the flu like symptoms and had to be off work again. The hopelessness was overwhelming. I got upset, I became so confused as to why this kept happening. I started to research and found out it was not anything I was doing wrong. That yes you can have metal allergies to the implants they place in you. Those implants can cause all sorts of havoc in your body. I finally made an appointment to see my NS again to discuss my third surgery on my neck. I see him on 03/02/16. At which time I will request while he is doing the fixing on my right side, I want the hardware removed. He has done both of my neck surgeries and I have developed a relationship with him. If he says no, I will find another surgeon to do as I request. I don't need the hardware I am fused.
I hope this helps you realize your not alone. I wish you luck in getting yourself fixed and feeling better quickly. I have read that if you do have metal allergies the longer the gear is in you the more opportunity it has to leach into your bones.
Best of luck,
Hi finnfinn, Have you had a skin allergy test performed? I would suggest getting the MELISA test done. Check out their website melisa.org. They will send you the test kit for free, you can select the metals to test for, and have your pcp draw the labs. That's how I discovered my titanium hypersensitivity that doctors still don't really feel is possible, but I assure you it is. Good Luck.