There are several more things that they could do to find the cause of the numbness and tingling, & loss of strength. I can never remember the name of the test but to find out if it is causing nerve damage they use electricity to measure the pulses at several different areas. A regular X-ray showed me better why I needed surgery than a n MRI.
The first surgeon my pain specialist sent to refereed me to one MRI place and they did not take the slices close enough together, he said I didn't need surgery--this after I had refused to consider surgery until I spent 2 years losing weight, PT, and every non-surgical option I could try to ovoid having the recommended spinal fusion. The second one sent me to a different MRI place and the Dr's were calling me that day to schedule the surgery. The first MRI completely missed all the points where my nerves were impacted. And the X-ray showed that my spine was severely out of place.
I understand about the meds, I had a great pain specialist who believes very much in using stronger long term meds you do not need to take constantly and after my surgery I had no problem going off of them. Acupuncture really helped me a lot, there is a place here where you pay what you can afford and it was great.
So do get copies of your films or make sure the Dr's can access them online and see for them selfs if it is a good MRI or not. 
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Nammu
…Beyond a wholesome discipline, be gentle with yourself. You are a child of the universe no less than the trees and the stars; you have a right to be here. …...
Desiderata Max Ehrmann
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