Hi, has anyone had a cervical disc replaced?I've been quite ill, Neuro found mylopathy. Right arm tremor, weakness ext. Unsteady gait and numerous other symptoms including very bad neck pain. MRI full spine and brain found severe narrowing C5/6 and C6/7. Sent to Neuro surgeon , now due to have cervical discs implanted. Its a new approach to retain movement rather than fusion. I have SLE which causes a lot of my symptoms and wouldn't have known about this is not for full spine MRI re my tremor (which started after being very ill Xmas 22 ), I would have continued on pain meds and could have really damaged myself or worse.
Very unsure of the whole thing and wondered if anyone has experienced any of the above?
History...I take Hydroxy 200mg every other day and nothing else apart from homeopathic remedies (from the hospital). I started with ANA negative SLE in 2004 and became positive 2015. Initially it effected my kidneysand skills most but thats now totally under control and now I suffer with joints, severe heat/sun intolerance ,severe fatigue and hemiplegia migraine.
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Yes I have severe cervical disc disease same area C5/6 and C6/7. My neurologist initially overlooked an old MRI but my rheumatologist found it when I started having migraine-like headaches, now described as cervicogenic. I’m to have a follow up MRI on Thursday - first since last one in late 2020.
My neurologist is concerned because I have had similar symptoms to those you describe but this has suddenly escalated in my left arm - the side affected by cervical disc disease. I’m really nervous about needing surgery but can’t carry on as I am now as my left arm is painful and has lost power. I have same wear and tear pain in lumber sacral with degenerative discs but no stenosis so far, just sciatica.
I’m on Mycophenolate for systemic sclerosis and Sjögren’s disease and also have EDS so higher risk factors than yourself from surgery I’d guess. I was hoping to get another central venous portacth for infusions installed because my veins are so useless. But a friend told me that her youngest stepson, aged about 50, has recently had this neck vertebrae replacement procedure using done sort of cage via his chest rather than back. So I’m not sure I’d be allowed to have another portacath for my infusions (Raynaud’s) until this is sorted out.
Best of luck I’m sure it will help as it has so far for my friend’s stepson - and, unlike me you aren’t immunesuppresssed which is good. x
Hi, thanks for your reply. My surgery is to replace the discs. They go in through a 1 to 1-1/2 inch insition in the side of the neck when its cervical not the chest and they can cage, fuse, disc ect via that entry. Pp 9nly takes average 50mins, healing is far quicker and only 2 days in hospital. Not like the old days of through the back and 6 to12 month recovery. Whilst im not on immune suppressants (by choice) I am auto immune so surgery is hard but the alternative is worse. I had my Lupus appointment yesterday and my Prof said I'm good to go, ( although im in a major panic!) . He'd had a very poorly patient 2 months ago with heart involvement who had sailed through this same opp. Its really worth discussing with a neuro surgeon to see your options and the possibility of being pain-free.
That’s so quick! Wow I’m really reassured. My portacth (also through neck) took that long to put in too so I can understand better how the procedure works now. I thought the cage through chest bit didn’t sound right but think it must have been thoracic rather than surgical she was describing. X
Thanks this is very reassuring. My friend’s son only has this as a hereditary problem and think it was thoracic spine probably. His late father had same problem but had fusion instead of replacement - apparently this difference in approach was due to his comparatively advanced age. So it’s all a bit second hand information I’m getting - but his dad was a good friend and both of them had similar myelopathy symptoms to those you describe and I also have too. It’s very confusing when someone with no other underlying conditions describes neuro symptoms that we autoimmune people can have as part of this. I also have presumed small fibre neuropathy and autonomic dysfunction (syncope) of Sjögren’s so can’t ever say what’s what really.
By greater risks I was referring to the Mycophenolate which I have been on for years.
Tbh I’m still vaguely hoping that my arm problem will be scleroderma or Sjögren’s related ie cubital tunnel, tennis elbow and carpal tunnel combo rather than cervical stenosis. But I think, now I’ve read your post and replies, I’ll stall on asking for another try at portacath (last one got infected😬) until I’ve had my MRI results as the first incision for the line would go into right side of my neck again. Neck surgery a higher priority as you rightly say.
Best of luck it all sounds very promising and I do like the “faster recovery” part! 🤞🏻😊
I have had my C4/5 5/6 fused after few years going numb pins n needles in hands head shoulder and arm pain on lots of meds on top of the ones I take for SLE - best thing I did after wasn't great couldn't do anything for 6 weeks but nearly a year down the line and so pleased I had it done - good luck 👌
Thankyou for your reply. So pleased yours worked out well for you.Its such an invasive surgery with so many things that can go wrong. I know I have to have it and the disc retains full neck movement so fingers crossed. Also, as its disc and not fusion for me it permits anti-inflamitory meds as pain relief post opp so only a couple of days options hopefully. I get panic just talking about! Thanks again
I take mycophenolate hydroxy and vitamin D for SLE had to come off the mycophenolate before and after surgery approx 2 weeks - had been on codeine and pregabalin for about a year prior to surgery just came off them about 4 month ago - still take codeine for other stuff now and again but basically off the meds given for the pain - wasn't nice after I had a bleed and they went in through the front so have a scar but they did a fantastic job and I can't notice it in the crease of my neck 🤣
Can I ask how bad the hand tremor was? Was it constant or just when pucking things up etc. I sometimes get a slight tremor in my left hand and it does feel weaker sometimes but tremor is normally when picking something up or holding something like a book or mobile phone. Ive also suffered awful neck pain and scans haven't picked anything up apart from wear and tear arthritis. I have Lupus nephritis ckd is 3b and told I could have Sjogrens as a secondary but thats not confirmed yet.
Started with me being ill Xmas 22. A&E, numerous tests,like a virus ect but they couldn't find anything, loads of bloods, ct scan of stomach ect , just hydrated me and that was inconclusive. Tremor came and went. Sometimes bad, had to sit on my hand . Sometimes it shows on reaching out for something, eating knife/fork,picking something up, holding things ie book. And I drop things. My Rheumy saw it at a visit and made me see our lupus Neurologist suspecting Parkinsons, Myasthenia ect. Had full brain, pituitary and full spine MRI, loads of neuro bloods and EMG nerve tests. All good except spine MRI and EMG. Spine various areas of arthritic bone, disc ect and 4 areas of narrowing cervical and lumber. Cervical being severe narrowing C6/7 and C5/6 narrowing and EMG showed bad nerve transmission hands, arm ect.Total shock to me, and both consultants. Could explain my years of migraine, times of blurred vision, event of swallowing issues ect ect I sometimes have. Just hope the opp helps as they can't predict outcome only that it prevents things progressing and pain goes. But in most cases it rectify what's happened.
I've had narrowing on my C5/C6 since 2012. I've been left with weak arms and need support driving, doing most things daily. I'm on Pregabalin for the nerve pain. My nerve specialist hasn't suggested surgery as I haven't got a myleopathy. I'm disabled and can't do most things due to the weakness, if I'd been given the chance of surgery I would have took it but now I'm getting older (62) and don't think the outcome would be as good.
Hi: I have had two cervical discs replaced by what are in effect carbon fibre boxes and I bless the day the neurosurgeon said yes, he thought he could help! My spine is in a mess as a result of a number of car crashes (*none* my fault!) and over the years I've had a variety of procedures, including facet joint denervations, which gave some relief, for a while, but the narrowing had become severe and paralysis was threatening. The op was 20 years ago now, and relatively new; it took 18 hours, and recovery a good few months, but the easing of symptoms was dramatic - they didn't vanish by any means, and new problems are appearing 20 years on as the spine continues to degenerate, but I'd go through it all again in a heartbeat.
One word of caution (although it is highly unlikely to happen to you): the stem cells they used to 'cement' the cages in place came from my hip, which was propped up on sandbags for the entire duration - but no one told me this, and when I developed hip problems out of nowhere, I was told that as I suffered from chronic pain (thanks to my neck and the lupus), there was no point trying to fix things like that as there'd always be something causing me pain. (Yes, I complained; yes, I got a new pain consultant . . . but honestly !)
As it happened, a podiatrist friend of my husband's saw me walking awkwardly and asked if one leg had always been shorter than the other. 'It's not!' I said - he sat me on the kitchen table, back against the wall, to prove it was (it was!), said, 'This will hurt you a lot more than it will me!' and sort of twisted-and-pulled my leg and hip back into position - it had been dislocated by the surgery and if anyone had listened to me for half a minute and bothered to look, it could have been sorted 18 months sooner. Kevin the Podiatrist made me shoe inserts and basically taught me to walk again. The man was a genius and I was *incredibly* lucky to meet him.
They probably do things in a different way now, but if you do end up with unexplained pain like that, make sure someone listens to you. Best of luck with the procedure, and I hope it works as well for you as it did for me.
Hi, Thanks for the reply. Sounds awful but 20 years isn't bad going, and the hip, well... terrible. Thankfully things have really progressed since yours. No stem cell, no transplant, no screws or bolts ect. Titanium ceramic, ball and trophy system measure 5x12mm secured by ridges cut into the actual implanted disc. Old disc removed and new disc slid in the space.No nickel, cobalt or chronium. No neck brace or physio needed.1 to 1.5 inch scar, 50min opp 48 hrs in hospital. Some people back at work 2 wks but 6 was to full strength. Fingers crossed!!
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