Well, I will keep this short and will not go into all the problems in my back - but had surgery 2 years ago and it's been heck ever since. I have been a mess ever since. Last month had MRI and radiologist mentioned he saw nerve clumping within the thecal sac suggestive of arachnoid scarring at L4-L5. (in addition to some herniations again). The picture on the MRI is textbook arachnoiditis. The nerves are one large mass inside the thecal sac. Went to a neurosurgeon who said, "yes, you have all the symptoms of arachnoiditis.. and maaybeee (sing songy) I can see it and say you have mild arachnoiditis (he was looking at the MRI and saw the clumping on the lit up MRI) but your sysmptoms could also be from other things". he then tells me I need fusion in the lumbar and neck(7mm herniation) areas. My pain dr is also hesitant to diagnose arachnoiditis.. it's like he doesn't want to talk about it. I am currently hoping my pain dr can convince my insurance company to approve Lyrica for me(they denied it). have been taking it for 4 days (free sample) and already notice the difference in the nerve pain! I even asked the nurse, who is helping with the Lyrica problem, about the arachnoiditis - although she acknowleged it is on my MRI report, she said she would have to speak with the dr about the diagnosis. Should I care what they diagnose me with if I can get the meds to help with the pain? They are even thinking of adding fibromyalgia to my diagnosis to get the Lyrica approved... why not the arachnoiditis? Is it possible I do not have arachnoiditis and the nerve clumping is from something else? Thanks for your help and thoughts on this in advance!!!