[Spinal Fusion / Lumbar] PTSD - Any post-op sufferers?

[Frances144]

Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) - horrible, miserable, debilitating.

Anyone suffer from it post-operatively after being discharged from hospital?

Care to share?

[Hooch]

Hi, I think u alluded to u had a terrible experience in hospital.

Just like to say u have my best wishes and respect.

If u need to talk.. talk.

Chris.

[trkdoc714]

Fortunately I didn't have any issues with surgery but have had other events in life threaten my physical, mental or emotional well being. As Chris said, talk about it. Do not let anyone denegrate you for any fears or anxieties resulting from your experience(s). Try not to supress. It worsens the problem altogether. Take an assessment of your life now and rationalize your current state as being a product of your experiences and trials in life. Focus on the fact you made it.

Good luck to you. Feel free to ask for help. That's why we're here.

Bob

[Cindylou]

Very well said Bob. Welcome Francis, and I hope you will feel comfortable enough to invite us into your debilitating journey after hospitalization. We want to help. Cindylou

[Frances144]

Thank you. Appreciated.

I suppose I am just emerging from years of back pain and 2 lots of spinal surgery, as well as pain meds addiction (off everything now) and general feeling it was a whole lot to deal with.

My last time in hospital was awful. I went in for a PLIF and came out a different person.

I am trying so hard to forget my time in hospital. It was beyond anything I could imagine of horror. All the nursing skills I ever learned 20 years ago had vanished and that made me very sad. I was not alone in thinking this - there were 3 old nurses on my ward all sadly agreeing.

My operation was cancelled 15 minutes before I was due in. The staff left me crying with anxiety and just walked away. I eventually went into theatre with no pre-med working as there wasn't time.

The ward bullying was unspeakable. Women ganging up on one person because they were bored and trying to score points off each other. It was vile and I was on the receiving end because the staff nurse asked if anyone was watching the telly that had been blaring since 9am. I said I didn't think so and she turned it off and left the room. With that the whole room turned on me and tore me to shreds. I was gutted.

Mentally I have come back a different person, exhausted from the whole ordeal. Never ever again. I was under constant stress all the time from the noise, the indifference of the staff and the lights on full blast from 6am until midnight with no rest ever.

How has this left me? Totally shocked. I have phobias about things I never cared about. I can't bear to be touched by anyone, even my kids and that makes me sad. I have become a recluse, a hermit going out once a week, if that. I don't want to see people. I don't want to talk to anyone. This is not me. I was never like that.

So...... that is what happened to me and I can't get my head around any of it.

[Justin]

Hi Frances,

Thank you for sharing your story with the SPS. I'm sorry that you have been traumatized from your experience in the hospital.

I might be reading your post above incorrectly, but are you sharing your experience in the hospital before your surgery and also your experience working as a nurse?

My last time in hospital was awful. I went in for a PLIF and came out a different person.

Mentally I have come back a different person, exhausted from the whole ordeal. Never ever again. I was under constant stress all the time from the noise, the indifference of the staff and the lights on full blast from 6am until midnight with no rest ever.

How has this left me? Totally shocked. I have phobias about things I never cared about. I can't bear to be touched by anyone, even my kids and that makes me sad. I have become a recluse, a hermit going out once a week, if that. I don't want to see people. I don't want to talk to anyone. This is not me. I was never like that.

So...... that is what happened to me and I can't get my head around any of it.

Have you looked into psychiatric counseling to help with what you experienced and for how that experience has changed your life?

Patients that experience post-traumatic stress disorder simply do not get better without some sort of intervention. Often times, the process of healing is a life-long journey. This is not to say that a person is "weak" and cannot overcome the trauma they have endured. However, this speaks volumes to the power of the human mind in relation to traumatic experiences.

Unfortunately, many Spine Patients suffer from psychiatric disorders. I see it often in the Clinic and frequently on the Forums. I personally believe Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) should be utilized by Spine Patients in addition to the physical therapy that they routinely undergo post-op. Of course, some Spine Patients have underlying psychiatric conditions that are further amplified after a traumatic event leading to chronic pain / spine surgery or the spine surgery in of itself. There are many publications on this topic and I've posted one for you below:

Spine. 15 November 2002 - Volume 27 - Issue 22 - pp 2564-2573

Supplement: Interventional Management of Chronic Benign Spinal Pain Syndromes
Behavioral and Cognitive–Behavioral Treatment for Chronic Pain: Outcome, Predictors of Outcome, and Treatment Process

McCracken, Lance M. PhD*; Turk, Dennis C. PhD†
© 2002 Lippincott Williams & Wilkins, Inc.

Study Design. A literature review was conducted.

Objective. To examine the outcome of behavioral (BT) and cognitive–behavioral treatment (CBT), collectively referred to as BT-CBT, for chronic pain, to identify the predictors of treatment outcome, and to investigate the change processes associated with these treatments.

Summary of Background Data. Numerous controlled clinical trials of BT-CBT for chronic pain, alone or more commonly in multidisciplinary treatment contexts, suggest that these treatments are effective. However, further study is needed to examine which outcome variables change, when, for whom, and how.

Methods. Published literature was gathered from Medline, PsychLit, and searches of relevant journals.

Results. Overall, BT-CBT for chronic pain reduces patients’ pain, distress, and pain behavior, and improves their daily functioning. Differences across studies in sample characteristics, treatment features, and assessment methods seem to produce varied treatment results. Also, some patients benefit more than others. Highly distressed patients who see their pain as an uncontrollable and highly negative life event derive less benefit than other patients. Decreased negative emotional responses to pain, decreased perceptions of disability, and increased orientation toward self-management during the course of treatment predict favorable treatment outcome.

Conclusions. Current BT-CBT helps many patients with chronic pain. Continuing clinical research should improve the matching of treatments with patient characteristics and refine the focus of treatments on behavior changes most associated with positive outcome. Further study of fear, attention, readiness to adopt self-management strategies, acceptance of pain, and new combinations of interdisciplinary treatments may lead to improved interventions.

I wish you the very best.

[Frances144]

Sorry, I didn't make myself clear.

I trained as a nurse 30 years ago. I qualifed, worked for a while in a hospital and then gave up, trained as a secretary in the health industry but never went back to nursing.

So I sort of knew how a hospital and a ward should run and what was expected for my nursing care.

30 years later, I have a laminectomy and then 2 years on, I have my PLIF with cages, grafts and Wallis ligaments etc. I was in hospital for 10 days this last time. This was when I got so stressed out from it all.

I knew what was supposed to happen and found the whole experience incredibly stressful and un-healing.

I will read your reply more carefully and think about what you have said. Up here, therapy is not offered, just pills so I have to decide my own course of action and future on my own.

[ajj1001]

I will read your reply more carefully and think about what you have said. Up here, therapy is not offered, just pills so I have to decide my own course of action and future on my own.

the wait for therapy on the nhs is pretty long but worth it, I found it very helpful after developing reactive depression from my spine condition. ask your GP if you want a referral.

[Frances144]

I am in the Northern Islands of Scotland. There is no therapy. There may be counselling but at least a 3 month wait!

I tried Sertraline but it gave me a migraine for a week solid so I came off it. My body seems to have reached a stage in my life where I react to all drugs in some way so then I have to weigh up which I would rather have, ie the initial problem or the side-effect it comes with. eg Amitryptaline gave me bradycardia and ectopics and that scared me!

I never used to have this and could swallow pills happily in my youth.

I think once winter is over, and I get stronger in my body, hopefully my mind will follow. I am a strong person deep down and I have to find a way to get my head around what happened rather than sit on it and dwell.

My mantra has always been "this will never happen to me again" and the only way to make that so is to take back control. Sadly, in hospital, they take away all control and then abuse it once they have got it imho.

[ajj1001]

the terms therapy and counselling are used interchangeably (the majority use CBT techniques)! if you get referred now and don't feel like you need it in three months then you can always cancel. its important to realise that psychological problems have as much impact (if not more) than physical ones and that all require treatment. I tried SSRI's for a period of time but got much more out of CBT counselling.

if you need anyone to offload to then please PM me. x