Sorry for another post about my surgery but I’d be very grateful for some advice.
Had L3/4 fusion & bone graft 3 months ago (5 hour procedure which the surgeon said was complex). I was reasonably fit beforehand (for a 47 year old!) but have been stupidly tired since the op. I eat healthily, hardly drink any alcohol, and am following advice: doing the Pilates exercises given by the physiotherapist, and fast, hilly walks for at least an hour every day. I returned to work 6 weeks before Christmas. I’ve been doing a few spinning sessions at home and done a couple of short (1hr) bike rides but I always feel wasted afterwards- physically tired but also mentally tired, like I’ve been drugged.
My back is improving all the time and the symptoms in my quads have gone, it’s just this tiredness. As it has been there constantly since the op, I’ve put it down to that but I’m now thinking it must be something else and it’s starting to get me down. Feels like I’ll never get back on my bike 😥
GP sent me for blood tests before Xmas but not heard anything so presumably all is normal.
Wondering what other people’s experiences have been?
Thanks for reading.

3 months to recover from a 5hr operation such as yours is not a lot.

Get back in touch with the GP and ask about the blood test results just to make sure they haven’t forgot you/lost the results or even the sample.

I have had a similar procedure to yours, and the effects of the anesthetic can stay with you for a year or so. I was out for 6-7 hours and my body was ‘different ‘ for well over a year.

Deffo chase the bloods up, but stick with it. My dad had the smae thing that you did and it took im a damn sight longer than three months to recover.

Stick with it.

As Kuco says. The GP should get in touch even to say all’s OK, did with me recently.

Mrs flap_jack had not dissimilar surgery 15 years ago, and it took her over a year to get over it. This year she rode two centuries, back to back. Keep the faith !

I’ve no idea about your specific operation but from folks I know who have had major surgery at this age it has taken them longer than 3 months. I’m glad it’s going it the right direction though, that’s brilliant 🙂

Can’t help but just sending best wishes and hope you’re back on the bike properly very soon.

I know someone who had the same op done and it took about a year for them to recover.

Last year I almost had a microdiscectomy done and factored 6 months to not have to worry about it.

Backs heal very slowly……….

Hi Vicky

A 5 hour spinal operation is a pretty big deal. Major surgery like this does take a surprising amount of time to recover from and as mentioned above 6 – 12 months is not unrealistic. Exercise is certainly good including the reactivation of postural muscles (pilates etc) which will have been manipulated / damaged during surgery.

I would certainly contact the GP to confirm that you are not anaemic as fatigue is a classical symptom and blood loss can be a problem during spinal surgery. Iron / folate supplementation may be helpful even if your haemaglobin concentration is normal as you will have used up a considerable amount of your iron reserves producing new red cells after your surgery.

Other additional measures include ensuring adequate nutrition (calories and protein,) and adequate rest as it would be very possible to ‘over train / over-reach’ when coming back to exercise. This will leave you feeling very fatigued often necessitating a period of enforced rest. There is a lot of information available about over-reaching.

Finally, it’s not the effect of the anaesthetic that causes the fatigue but the cellular response to the physiological stress of surgery. Anaesthetic drugs are very short acting these days, you will breathe most of the drug out within the first hour or so after surgery, although the painkillers make you feel groggy for longer. There will be lots of cellular changes / remodelling going on including the central nervous system but things will improve overtime.

Hope that helps, good luck with the recovery. Jeff (consultant anaesthetist)

I still don’t feel completely up to scratch 14 months after an operation with a brace implant for burst fracturing T4,5 & 6, but things are improving. It just takes time. Major spinal injury/operation is serious, just be patient.

Anyway, look on the bright side. I’m 63…

vickypea, 3 months is no time at all, you sound like you are rcovering really well. It would be good to check things through with your GP to ensure your not aneamic or fatiqued.
10 years ago yesterday I had the same op bit at C4,5,6,7. 3 months in a brace and then a very long recovery, all is fine now. felt very fatigued in the first 3 months, but then I was restricted in my recovery due to the brace.
I hope your recovery continues, and that you feel better real soon!

Sounds like brutal surgery to go through and I imagine your body will take some time to fully recover.

There is a lot of good advice above including not over training but I’d also suggest some meditation to help give the body the best chance of healing. The theory being that by calming the mind, even just for 10 mins a day, will help with getting better sleep and generally putting your body into a better position to heal itself faster.

I got switched onto it after being diagnosed with fatigue following a viral infection compounded by over training, it massively helped me reduce the mental tiredness and get back to cycling again. (I was a complete non-believer before)

Check out something like Headspace I think they are still doing a free trial. Worth trying if you are eager to get back to full fitness.

Wishing you all the best.

Thank you so much for all your replies.
I feel a lot better psychologically just from your collective advice that I’m actually still recovering, and feeling tired at this stage is not unexpected. No one really gave me any expectations regarding recovery, so I was comparing myself with someone I know who had the same procedure a few years ago and he tells me that my recovery seems “slow” because he was apparently doing long road rides again by this stage post-op.
I’ll continue with walking and Pilates, and not push the bike riding too much just yet.
(I’ll contact GP early next week for my blood results. There have only been a few normal working days since the sample was taken for the test results to be sent and checked by the surgery.)

No one really gave me any expectations regarding recovery, so I was comparing myself with someone I know who had the same procedure a few years ago and he tells me that my recovery seems “slow” because he was apparently doing long road rides again by this stage post-op.

Recovery times can vary massively. Doing long road rides 3 months out from a spinal fusion is probably not very common.

It’s more likely that the vast majority of people will be in the same place you are.

When researching Microdiscectomy recovery times, I read everything from 6 weeks to a year. Pretty ridiculous as it all depends on what sort of activity is being done, the individual healing rate and the rehab a person does.

Someone who never does any exercise may be ‘recovered in 6 weeks’ and be able to go back to their desk job. Someone who trains Mixed martial arts and lifts heavy weights may take a year to be able to train at full capacity.

To give you an example of how slowly the back/discs heal. Studies have shown that after 10 years, people who opted for surgery and those who didn’t end up in a similar place. In other words, after 10 years the discs heal anyway in the majority of cases.

Good point kudos100 about definitions of “recovery”. Perhaps if I was inactive, I might already consider myself to be recovered.