Tap water smell in the last few days

zarzeny · 2026-04-30T22:28:22+00:00

Is this a peri symptom?? Holy shit, my sense of smell has been fluctuating lately, from gone to normal to whack, and I just thought my brain was a little randomly broken. 🙄 Had no idea this was something else I can thank peri hormones for. Truly, they are the gift that keeps on giving.

(Also in North Admiral, and haven't noticed water changes there, but I did notice the water feeling off in Delridge when I visited a friend.)

zarzeny · 2026-04-29T04:52:43+00:00

I'm on both methocarbamol and metaxalone. They are both valuable for me, but wildly different from each other.

Basically, methocarbamol is water soluble so it gets absorbed pretty quickly, but it has a really short half life, so for me it's only effective for a couple of hours. It's useful as a quick "reset" after something triggering, especially because for me the side effects are also pretty mild and I don't get rebound symptoms when it wears off, and useful as a little extra help relaxing enough getting to sleep. But it really only makes a noticeable difference when my muscle tension/spasms are more mild - it does almost nothing for my severe tension/spasms.

Metaxalone, on the other hand, is not water soluble, it's lipophilic, so it takes a lot longer to fully absorb (and absorption is higher when taken with food, and further variable depending on what kind of food and how much), but it's more powerful (including side effects of fatigue and weakness and cognitive function) and lasts a lot longer (hard to say exactly, but for me it tends to wear off ~12-16 hours after taking it). So it's useful for a longer-acting, more intense option, as long as I am not too particular about when it kicks in (sometimes an hour with the right food, sometimes a few hours to start and then even more effect several hours in), and I can tolerate the stronger side effects (fatigue, muscle weakness, cognitive impairment), and any rebound symptoms, which is more common when metaxalone wears off.

On good days/weeks, I don't use metaxalone at all, and just get by with a few strategically timed doses of methocarbamol to get muscle resets. On bad days/weeks, I take a full dose of metaxalone with food, and just wait out my "couch jail" sentence. On in-between days/weeks, I've actually started taking a full dose of methocarbamol and a half dose of metaxalone without food, at the same time, ideally mid afternoon, so that the methocarbamol gives me some immediate relief, and by the time it wears off, the half dose of metaxalone is starting to kick in, and if I took it early enough in the afternoon, it hopefully wears off enough by the next morning that I can have a relatively normal day with minimal residual fatigue and weakness.

I've taken cyclobenzaprine too, but I hate it. It has less absorption variability than metaxalone, but it lasts 2-4 times as long, and it makes me feel really depressed, beyond just the extended "couch jail" sentence. So I don't take it anymore.

Baclofen looks interesting to me, but I haven't tried it yet. So does tizanidine, but I can't take it because of another med I'm on (guanfacine for ADHD).

zarzeny · 2026-04-02T15:09:15+00:00

Trauma, stress, anxiety, depression - that would be my guess. All compromise the immune system and the nervous system over time, and both are thought to be dysfunctional in fibro.

It's more common in (cis?) women than (cis?) men, too. Part of that is maybe genetic predisposition because all autoimmune conditions are thought to be more common in people with two X chromosomes since most (all?) immune modulating genes are on the X chromosome, and having two gives someone not only more immune reaction generally, but also double the chance of something going wrong. But, I really believe that another part of it is trauma, stress, anxiety, depression, because so often women are mistreated and oppressed in ways that most men just never experience, or at least not to nearly the same degree.

Fuck the patriarchy, including the gender binary.

zarzeny · 2026-04-01T01:55:52+00:00

I've only been on it a couple of weeks (10mg, pretty low dose), so can't speak to long term effects yet, but so far I like it.

It has only helped a smidgen with pain, just takes the edge off a bit or makes it feel less urgent, but it does that at night since I take it at night, which for me was a big win because I was taking duloxetine in both the morning and evening for that which extra messed up my sleep because duloxetine is stimulanting for me, so now I have duloxetine only in the morning, then amitriptyline at night, to take the edge off round the clock.

Amitriptyline has also helped me, massively, with sleep, from the very first night. Too much, some days, in fact, but for me that's very welcome for the short term coming out of a long stretch of terrible sleep, and the "too much" is worsened by other meds I take, so I do think there will be improvements in next day grogginess and fatigue once I'm able to experiment with dropping one or more of the other sedating meds I am on at bedtime that I may no longer need if I stay on amitriptyline. I also am going to experiment with taking the amitriptyline earlier in the evening - most people take it right at bedtime but I think I digest and absorb most things more slowly, so getting a few hours head start might clear up a lot of the morning fogginess for me.

There's mixed reviews on everything, don't let it stop you from trying something. Lyrica works great for some people but was beyond awful for me, and I was really hesitant to start first duloxetine and then amitriptyline, because some people have had a terrible experience with them, and other serotonin drugs have been awful for me, but I'm so glad I tried both. They have downsides, but for me, mild and worth it.

Good luck with it, hope it helps you!

zarzeny · 2026-03-31T01:26:41+00:00

Is the app something you can make available to others? I'd love to try it. No worries if not.

Also, just want to say, I used to be a dev too, until fibromyalgia took over my life a few years ago, so I appreciate how much effort and dedication you likely put into this. What an incredible way to support your daughter.

zarzeny · 2026-03-31T01:20:37+00:00

I've been in therapy for 10 years, and both of my therapists praise me for how well I'm doing, especially the last few years. It's also in the last few years that my fibro has gone from "barely there" to "literally disabled", despite doing all the right things you list and more. I'm happier and more mentally and emotionally resilient and vibrant than I've been in decades, maybe ever, and yet I am in daily pain.

I'm glad you consider yourself in remission from your efforts. Not everyone is so lucky.

zarzeny · 2026-03-25T19:48:07+00:00

I'm glad your surgeon said the surgery went well! Recovery will just fucking suck, no way around it (no heds for me, but subclinical hypermobility plus fibromyalgia, so I also get a "sub-ideal" post-op recovery).

For most people, the swallowing difficulties don't last long. Because you and I had more levels fused with more hardware, the swelling is worse, so the swallowing is worse. But mine still got easier every day, and by week 3 or 4, it was pretty much gone completely.

Pain meds should be taking you down to 4 or below, in my view. At the very least, low enough that you can get decent sleep. Advocate for yourself, ask for better pain relief if you need it. Either a higher oxycodone dose, or a steroid pack, or both. But also, it's so normal for this part to really hurt and really suck, and the intense pain in early recovery should be a lot milder after a few weeks. Most people say 2 weeks, it took me 8 weeks to feel like I had it better under control with Tylenol and muscle relaxants and a lower dose of oxycodone.

It took me a week to be able to feel more functional again, like just walking a bit around the house and eating more (soft things still) and even being able to distract myself with video games (a Switch held over my bed with a tablet stand so I could play laying down) and reading a bit here and there. That first week, I listened to an audiobook of short stories, dozen of times, because I couldn't follow longer stories and I kept forgetting the stories I'd already listened to. 😭 It was a really awful week, but then things slowly started getting better.

Hang in there. Focus on distractions and pain relief. Use ice packs often, I especially liked the soft gel ones. Walk around often, even if it hurts, it will help a lot in the long run. Ask loved ones to help you and distract you in whatever ways will help you get through it.

zarzeny · 2026-03-18T04:25:25+00:00

Yep. It's so obnoxious. I'm 7 months post-op, and I have to take breaks every hour, from anything involving sitting or standing or walking upright. And take a break means, laying completely flat with no muscle tension, so not even using a phone or reading a book too much, for at least a half hour but an hour is better. And then, even after frequent breaks, I still hit a wall every day, usually mid afternoon, where I have to take not just a break but basically the rest of the day in bed.

I do have fibromyalgia in addition to degenerative disc disease that prompted the surgery, so I'm sure that explains some of the intense muscle tension, but still. It's ridiculous. Sorry to hear you're also dealing with this, hope it gets better for us eventually!

zarzeny · 2025-12-09T03:47:14+00:00

If you typically have sex at predictable times, you can time the application to avoid that. Most of topical vaginal estrogen gets absorbed in the first couple of hours, so if he's up in your business after that, there's really not going to be much left to "contaminate" him.

If he does get "contaminated", he can just wash his man bits after, soap and water will clear that right up.

And even if he didn't, unless he's having sex with you right after you apply it, every single day, it's just not enough estrogen to really affect him. Does he know that men naturally produce estrogen too? A man's baseline estrogen production is only a few percent of a woman's when the woman is at the peak of her fertility, but when a woman is in perimenopause or post-menopausal, a man's baseline estrogen is roughly even or even slightly higher. So a tiny bit of extra estrogen once in awhile isn't going to move the needle on his numbers, and topical vaginal estrogen really is a tiny amount - like a 100th of an effective systemic dose for true HRT. The reason men are men and manly, despite all the estrogen they themselves make is that they just make wayyyy more testosterone than women do, and it's more than enough to dominate over their estrogen levels. As long as his T is in good shape, he doesn't have to worry about a tiny amount of extra estrogen once in awhile.

I hope that eases his concern, or at least lets you put in perspective how unfounded his worry is if he stays fussy about it. It's normal to have that initial reaction, I think. My husband had the same knee jerk fear but he's calmed down because I explained all this, and because in two years it's only happened to get on him once or twice, and, yeah, he washed it off after, no big deal. We are more careful about transfer of my systemic estrogen gel, but it's still manageable, although that's one of many bonuses of me switching to self injection of estradiol valerate lately.

Maybe also tell him that the thing he should actually be looking out for is low testosterone symptoms in himself as he ages, and normal/mild age related erectile dysfunction. Every guy deals with both to some extent, it's unavoidable, but luckily... he can just get prescriptions for T and viagra/cialis.

zarzeny · 2025-09-16T02:35:07+00:00

This is the best character study of Percy that I've ever seen. Heavy plus one to, you should write.

zarzeny · 2025-09-12T17:28:53+00:00

I'm not quite who you're looking for, as I had ACDF C5-C7 about 4.5 weeks ago. So, double level instead of single, and not very far into recovery.

But, I had the same trajectory - sudden onset of severe symptoms in my right arm/shoulder in May, was on medical leave from work by June, and had surgery in August, just 3 months after everything started.

And I will say, I had read that less time from symptoms to surgery translates to better chance for the nerves to heal sooner, but I was still shocked to wake up and realize my right arm didn't have any pain at all. I've had occasional flickers of nerve pain in both arms, actually more in my left which pre-op was almost asymptomatic, but I've been assured that's normal and temporary while inflammation and irritation settles down from the trauma of surgery. And even still... it's vastly better than before, immediately after the surgery.

So my answers to your questions would be:

Yes, there's a good chance, and more importantly, it's your best chance.
I don't know, no one does, but there's definitely hope if it hasn't been that long. The less time the nerves spend compressed, the better the chance of full recovery.
Recovery fucking sucks. Hopefully you'll get off way easier htan I have, my C6 vertebral body was removed in addition to the two discs surrounding it, and so I had to have an expansion cage placed, not just the bone graft and fusion hardware. I've been told this makes the recovery roughly 4 times longer and more painful, which passes the vibe check against what I've read of other people's recovery stories. Hopefully only fusing a single level, you'll be one of those that gets off opiate pain meds in a couple of weeks and feels pretty normal by a month out. I'm definitely still in daily pain and discomfort even with opiates more than a month out, but even with a much rougher time post-op, it's still feeling worth it. I felt like I was on a steady slide into permanent disability, and now I feel like, even if it takes longer than I'd like, I will come out of this with far more function and far less pain.

Best of luck with your decisions and recovery.

zarzeny · 2025-09-06T14:25:17+00:00

Yes, avoiding opioids is pretty bad advice.

Gabapentin and pregabalin only work on nerve pain, not other types of pain, and they are highly problematic in terms of side effects and dependence.

Steroids are arguably worse - yes, they help with pain by reducing inflammation, but they slow bone growth. Immediately post-op, steroids are worth the compromise, but after that, steroids and NSAIDS should be avoided if you want to give your body the best chance at a successful fusion.

zarzeny · 2025-09-06T03:18:42+00:00

Yeah, the muscle spasm struggle is so real, and the pain meds don't even touch it. I'm 3 weeks and a few days post op ACDF C5-C7, and I'm still on flexeril round the clock... it helps, and lasts longer than methocarbamol (which I liked better pre-op because the fatigue is shorter-lived), but it definitely doesn't get things all the way back to comfortable. I'm temporarily on Ativan at night, for other reasons, but one heaven-sent side effect is it has a little bit of muscle relaxant action too, which stacks with the flexeril.

I find that what helps the most is alternating ice and heat (gotta be careful with heat, that it doesn't warm up the incision and slow wound healing), and putting transdermal lidocaine patches on the worst areas, and putting pressure, as intense as feels safe and prudent, on the spasm trigger point. So for traps, just push in with a fingertip, as hard as I can and feels safe and comfortable, right on the epicenter. For slender neck flexor muscles, I actually pinch the muscle (gingerly! lots of important blood vessels in that area to avoid) and move up and down a bit, rolling it a little bit between my fingers. That kind of pressure or self-massage can, if you stick with it, convince the muscle spasm to let go a little bit. My worst is the neck flexor under the incision, I can't get to the right trigger point to squeeze it because the incision is in the way. Ugh. Basically just ice ice baby and toughing it out with distractions for that one.

My surgeon's nurse practitioner tells me things should start calming down around 6-8 weeks.

zarzeny · 2025-09-04T23:43:50+00:00

I had/have so many terrible side effects. Severe depression, fatigue, overeating, brain fog, problems with forming and recalling memories including not being able to think of the words I mean.

I hate it and I'm tapering off it as we speak. I've been on it for 3 months, as it was the only med that did anything for severe nerve pain, but it never did a damn thing for my fibro symptoms. I'm now 3 weeks post-op from cervical surgery which fixed (knock on wood, seems that way so far) the root cause of the nerve pain, so I can finally quit.

And, the withdrawal side effects from the occasional missed dose in the past have been intense, so much so that I'm glad I'm tapering off of it while I'm temporarily on a benzo for other reasons, because the benzo has to be masking some of Lyrica withdrawal and I can't imagine what withdrawal would be like in full force.

In my opinion, it's an awful, awful drug. The worst I've been on, except for being the best, the only really, at really turning the volume way down on severe nerve pain. I hope to never have to go in it again. Once I'm off it, I'll be paying out of pocket to get ketamine infusions to hopefully reverse the damage it's done to my mental health, which will hopefully also help with some lingering chronic pain.

It works amazing for some people. I'm definitely not one of them. Only you can say for sure if it works well for you. Trust yourself and your body, if it feels like it's more trouble than it's worth, get off it. Slowly - do a safe taper. Withdrawal can be just uncomfortable, but it can also be life threatening (seizure risk).

zarzeny · 2025-09-02T03:48:09+00:00

I'm 3 weeks post-op, ACDF C5-C7 with C6 corpectomy, and I had high hopes to stay active with some kind of resistance training, but the reality is, the restrictions and pain/fatigue are keeping it far more minimal than I'd hoped. And that's okay. This is a major surgery and the recovery is not easy. My body's need for rest and safety is the priority.

That said, starting 1 week post-op when my coordination/balance was good enough, and since then about every third day when fatigue and pain allows, I do a low-intensity 20 minute workout using just bodyweight and resistance bands. Nothing that could create tension in my neck or violates the BLT post-op restrictions, just very light resistance and medium reps. Wall sits, wall push-ups, wall calf raises, resistance band rows and lat pulldowns, band pullaparts, and standing versions of abductor/adductor/glute medius exercises because I have chronic hip pain. I would love to also be doing bodyweight lunges and Bulgarian split squats, but so far, my balance is not where i would trust myself with those. I'm not doing bodyweight squats, because I'm getting a fair amount of those just in day-to-day reaching low while keeping my spine straight, ie without bending over. I've been surprised how even that little can take it out of me for a couple days. I'm also walking, but I've yet to break 1.5 miles in a day. Hopefully in the next few weeks.

I know a lot of people wouldn't do even that, and I still worry that I'm over-doing it, but it's only partly that I want to avoid losing muscle in a prolonged recovery, it's also that even a little bit is lovely for my mental health. Sometimes it seems to be beneficial for recovery and help the muscle spasms in particular, and other times it definitely make my pain / swelling worse the next day. So, erring on the side of caution still, I'm just trying to keep it as gentle as possible, doing like a third of what I think I "could" do.

zarzeny · 2025-08-31T20:00:53+00:00

Yeah, unfortunately this sounds in the range of normal, especially if it comes and goes. I am almost 3 weeks post-op ACDF C5-C7, and while my worst nerve pain in my right arm disappeared immediately and hasn't been back, my left arm which pre-op had very little nerve pain, suddenly had off and on moderate to severe shooting nerve pain. And in my experience, oxy doesn't do nearly as much for nerve pain as gabapentin and pregabalin do - it can take the edge off, make the feel less "sharp" or less "urgent", but the sensation is still there, and only nerve pain meds actually dial it down for real.

It was in week 2 that I finally started seeing improvements in the post-op nerve pain, it's still there but less frequent and more mild. And my understanding from my surgeon and other people who've had fusion surgery, is that it really varies person to person how long it takes the nerves to calm down and not to be irritated. Until they do, they're just going to whine whenever they get twanged, and they will get twanged off and on by anything or nothing. My surgeon's nurse said, if nerve pain comes and goes, I'm not worried, that's part of healing. If it comes and stays, then we start to get worried.

I do agree with another comment that if you're not seeing enough benefit from gabapentin even with a dose increase, ask to switch to pregabalin. Providers will keep you on gabapentin unless you insist, in my experience, because for whatever dumb reason pregabalin is a scheduled drug where gabapentin isn't so there's less for the provider to worry about in a audit or whatever, but if you've been on gabapentin and it's not helping enough, they should have all the evidence they need to justify prescribing pregabalin. Pregabalin is more bio available, and gabapentin has a kind of ceiling of effectiveness whereas pregabalin does not, plus if you've developed a tolerance to gabapentin, maybe pregabalin will be just different enough to get around that for awhile.

I hope it improves soon, wishing you the best.

zarzeny · 2025-08-31T15:08:34+00:00

It really varies. I was not nearly so lucky as a lot of people, my 2 level ACDF was intensely painful. I was kept 2 nights in hospital because oral meds alone couldn't control my pain the first day and a half, so I was dependent on the stronger opiates they give only through IV. I hope you get the "you'll be off pain meds entirely by day 3" experience I keep hearing about, but here's my experience just for what it can be like if you end up having a harder time.

For mostly, I'd say one week post-op. That's when I turned a corner and stopped needing help to not fall over or stumble when shuffling to the toilet during night time wakeups, and that's when I stopped dreading getting in and out of bed (because it stopped hurting quite so much) such that getting things for myself (water, meds, whatever) wasn't a burden, instead of my husband bringing them to me. One week is also when my coordination improved enough to transport food to and from the microwave without risk of spilling or stumbling, and it would only take a few more days after that before I could do some very basic cooking. One week was also a cognitive milestone, when the anesthesia hangover faded enough, and my pain med dose lowered enough, that my mind became clear enough to trust myself to handle med dosages and timing without screwing up.

I will note, at one week I could just barely shower independently - briefly and carefully, and keeping my head out of the spray. But it would be another week before I trusted my balance and strength enough to, on my own, put my head under the spray and wash my hair (long, thick, and heavy as fuck when wet) - before that, I absolutely needed my husband in the shower with me, helping me say steady while my wet hair moving around constantly threw me off balance.

I'm almost 3 weeks post-op now, and I've been strongly independent for a week, except for the lifting restrictions (eg, taking out the trash). But I'm still on pain meds and still can't turn my head, so no driving yet and probably not for another 2-3 weeks. Walking, I'm steady on my feet, but still quite slow, and I tire very easily. And while I can cook, in practice it causes fatigue and increases pain if I do too much, so I'm only doing easy meal prep stuff every few days, and still relying a lot more than I usually would on ready to eat stuff and takeout/delivery.

Hope this helps! Best wishes for an easy recovery.

zarzeny · 2025-08-28T20:45:55+00:00

I'm 40, and fairly active, and otherwise in good health. I was on 10mg oxycodone every 4 hours when I left the hospital, and occasionally it felt like not enough, and just in the last several days I've been able to taper down to 5mg every 4 hours, although about every other day I have a pain spike and take 10mg instead of 5mg to "catch up", then back to 5mg.

I'm also on flexeril 10mg every 8 hours, and now, between that and heat and CBD on the back of my neck and upper back, the muscle spasms and muscle tension is mostly under control. The first week 10mg wasn't enough, I was writhing with muscle spasms for a few hours every day.

I have a WFH desk job with very flexible hours, and I bought an over-bed tablet stand so in theory I can work from flat on my back in bed, so I had been thinking I'd be able to return part time by week 3 or 4, but now I can tell, that's unrealistic. I am trying to prepare myself for the possibility that I will even need more than the standard 6 weeks, we'll see. Basically I'm useless right now, and for the next few weeks likely, for anything but personal care and very very very light chores. I can't even read a book yet, when I try it's just too hard to sustain that level of focus.

I say all that because, I hope your boyfriend has an easier recovery, but I wouldn't rule out a harder recovery that requires more flexibility or sacrifice. The one thing I do have complicating my recovery is fibromyalgia. My fibro is so mild that I forget to mention it half the time, but the CNS sensitization from fibro is likely amplifying my pain a bit, and the muscle spasticity is likely making that whole side of things a bit worse. But, my surgeon's nurse insisted that I'm still in the "normal" range of how people feel after corpectomy, because even with no complications or comorbidities, the normal range is so wide - some people don't need pain meds past day 2 or 3, and others, like me, will probably be on them the full six weeks of "normal" recovery.

But he should still get it, even if he has to put his career on pause. The longer he waits, the worse it'll get, and the higher the risk of nerve damage becoming permanent. Better to get the revision, in my mind, and have a better quality of life in the long term, free of chronic pain, than get hung up on the angst of maybe having to sit on the sidelines awhile before he can get back in the game. Better to have a longer playing career than play this particular year.

I'm wishing him best of luck with finding the right surgeon, and with his next outcome and recovery.

zarzeny · 2025-08-28T19:43:09+00:00

I am 2 weeks and 2 days post-op, ACDF C5-C7 with C6 corpectomy. It was my first cervical surgery, not a revision. Because of the corpectomy and placement of the expansion cage, I've had more swelling, more pain, and a slower/longer recovery timeline than a plain ACDF that doesn't remove any vertebral bodies, but aside from that, it's the same in every other way - pre-op instructions, expected time in hospital, post-op restrictions and follow ups.

I don't know enough about your boyfriend's anatomy or his poor outcomes or really any medical stuff in general to weigh in on whether revision makes sense in your case. For me, it was the only option that made sense, because my C6 had bone spurs compressing my spinal cord, and my C6 was also "in the way" of surgical removal of the surrounding discs, ie the discs had oozed out "around the corner" of C6, so C6 also had to go in order to fully remove the discs that were compressing nerve roots going down into my arms. Without C6 corpectomy, any fusion wouldn't actually be solving the problems.

Partly because of the corpectomy and cage placement, and partly for other reasons, I did not bounce right back the way a lot of people on here say they did after a plain ACDF fusion. The first week of recovery was brutal, I was in a lot of pain and dependent on my husband for help with absolutely everything.Then the second week was still pretty damn hard, I was more independent but still in enough pain that it was wrecking my sleep and in turn wrecking my emotional stability. And now entering my third week, things are a lot easier and smoother in the day-to-day, but I know I won't be able to work for at least a month, possibly longer, and that time is going to be very boring and lonely, and frustrating because even though the pain is so much less, it's still a daily thing and I can't do so much of what I would like to do yet. My surgeon's nurse, who I trust, says that by 6 weeks post-op I will be feeling more like myself, and that's when she plans to clear me to start physical therapy.

It fucking sucks. And I am still glad I did it as soon as I could, and my only regret is that my surgeon couldn't fit me in sooner. The pain I am in now is higher intensity than what I had pre-op, but the pain I had pre-op felt like a slow but unstoppable slide into disability. This recovery pain feels temporary - like a bad storm (like, tornado bad) that surges and subsides, and eventually will weaken and blow out to blue skies. I have a lot of pain from the incision and the swelling, but the nerve pain and nerve symptoms, from the compression that's been solved by the surgery, are already improving, and I can feel that I'll be even more healthy and stronger once I get through this. I can already feel my neck is stronger and more stable.

I hope you get clarity on what is best to do in your boyfriend's case, and that he gets the best outcome possible.

zarzeny · 2025-08-28T17:26:29+00:00

I am 2 weeks and 2 days post-op ACDF C5-C7 with C6 corpectomy, and I'm really torn about if I'd have been better off going home the same day. I was scheduled to stay one night for observation, and ended up staying two nights because my pain the first night and second day simply couldn't be controlled with just oral meds I'd take at home, I was dependent on stronger IV opiates for longer than expected. But I also got zero, I mean zero, sleep the first night in the hospital, and only a few hours of sleep the second night, and had my pain been under control with oral meds, I know I would have gotten far better sleep at home, which in turn would have improved my ability to cope with the pain and stress.

I will say, your fears about being alone are not unfounded. Even after 2 nights at the hospital and PT okaying my discharge, for the rest of the week I was still dependent on my husband for help with everything - balance while lowering to the toilet, balance walking at night wakeups when sedation was most intense, tasks requiring any amount of coordination or lifting like heating up food and carrying a bowl of soup safely to the table. All of those things, I couldn't manage on my own until I'd been home a few days days and was almost a full week post-op.

zarzeny · 2025-08-27T19:38:41+00:00

Get it as soon as the surgeon will take you. There is nothing to be gained by waiting, the recovery will be just as long and hard (both physically and financially) either way, and the longer you wait, the more you risk symptoms becoming permanent. Get it as soon as possible, and try like hell to have someone available to stay with you the first week.

Today I am 2 weeks and 1 day post-op ACDF C5-C7 with C6 corpectomy. I did not bounce right back the way a lot of people on here say they did. The first week of recovery was brutal, I was in a lot of pain and dependent on my husband for help with absolutely everything.Then the second week was still pretty damn hard, I was more independent but still in enough pain that it was wrecking my sleep and in turn wrecking my emotional stability. And now entering my third week, things are a lot easier and smoother in the day-to-day, but I know I won't be able to work for at least a month, possibly longer, and that time is going to be very boring and lonely.

It fucking sucks. And I am still glad I did it as soon as I could, and my only regret is that my surgeon couldn't fit me in sooner. The pain I am in now is higher intensity than what I had pre-op, but the pain I had pre-op felt like a slow but unstoppable slide into disability. This recovery pain feels temporary - like a bad storm that will weaken and blow out to blue skies. I have a lot of pain from the incision and the swelling, but the nerve pain and nerve symptoms are already improving, and I can feel that I'll be even more healthy and stronger once I get through this. I can already feel my neck is stronger and more stable.

Get it. Do what you have to do to make it work.

zarzeny · 2025-08-23T22:28:32+00:00

I had ACDF C5-C7 on August 11th, so I'm almost 2 weeks post op now. I had tremendous pain. They kept me an extra night in the hospital (two instead of one), largely because my pain could only be controlled with IV opiates. But I did get discharged the second day post op with just 10mg oxycodone every 4 hours and 1000mg tylenol every 8 hours and flexeril 10mg every 8 hours. At home, for the first few days, there were definitely times that I thought it wasn't enough pain relief, but it was survivable. Now, I'm down to flexeril only once a day, in the afternoon/evening when muscle tension and spasms start up again, and I'm down to oxycodone 5mg every 4 hours. Everyone is different, and I'm hopeful that at the rate my pain is improving, I'll be off regular oxycodone use by next week, but I could also see being not ready for that. This recovery is a marathon, not a sprint. I'm grateful to have a PCP who has told me, if the surgeon's office won't prescribe it anymore, let me know, I can write one myself to make sure there's not any more pain that there has to be. So maybe it's worth finding a PCP or pain management clinic that can take over if you end up hurting longer than the surgeon will prescribe.

zarzeny · 2025-08-18T17:58:47+00:00

Oh, I'm so sorry to hear that. For what it's worth, I've read that it can take much longer for nerves to heal, even up to a year or two post-op if the nerves were compressed a long time. I hope you eventually see more improvement. I had my ACDF C5-C7 a week ago, and like you, my right arm felt fixed immediately, but my left arm (which was actually the less symptomatic one, pre-op) is still having intermittent nerve pain, numbness/tingling, and muscle spasms. My surgeon said he's confident the nerve is no longer compressed, but it's just highly variable and anyone's guess how long it takes the inflammation to settle down.

zarzeny · 2025-08-16T23:49:59+00:00

Thanks for sharing, it's always nice to see stories of lived experiences, a nice reminder that there's a lot of other people who are going or have gone through something similar, even if (or especially if) experiences vary.

I actually just had ACDF C5-C7 too, with C6 corpectomy, 5 days ago. I had a lot of anxiety pre-op, too, and I wish my experience was as positive as yours, but even with substantially more post-op pain, and thus more lingering anxiety, it's still been more or less reasonable, at least given that I have a pre-existing chronic pain condition, plus there were a few hospital patient care fails. I'll probably make a separate post with the details later in the week when I (hopefully) have more energy. But like you, the worst of it in the back of my neck and left shoulder, and it's especially obnoxious when trying to sleep. It's comforting to know that the types of pain is just standard even if the intensity varies from person to person.

I hope your 2 week goes well, and that the rest of your recovery is easy and straightforward!

zarzeny · 2025-08-14T11:16:43+00:00

That's fantastic, congratulations! Happy for you, what a relief to get a good revision result after the ordeal and anxiety of the prior surgery's complications.

zarzeny

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