Neuritis - Anxiety Message Board

lammys · 03-13-2004, 10:58 AM

When I was 16 years old I came down with shingles (which absolutely blew away my Dr)....
A year later I began getting severe ripping pains in my chest when I woke up(Dr said it was musco-skeletal)...
To date I still have episodes of morning chest pain from time to time (Dr still believes it is musco-skeletal)...
The pain in my chest back and shoulder is continuing to get worse...it definetly feels deep in the nerve. The back of my left arm is a little numb with some weakness.
My question is can neuritis be brought on by stress and anxiety?
Yesterday I finally saw a chiropractor who diagnosed me with cervical neuritis. I am only 22 years old and have been under an INCREDIBLE amount of stress lately....this is really freaking me out...please help, I need some reassurance that this will get better!!!!!

hry33 · 03-13-2004, 03:00 PM

your doc perhaps should send you to a specialist for the problem, have meds been tried?
is the chiro helping ?

lammys · 03-13-2004, 03:41 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by hry33

your doc perhaps should send you to a specialist for the problem, have meds been tried?
is the chiro helping ?

Thank you for the response! Unfortunately I have Kaiser for Health Insurance and despite all the complaining I do they insist this problem will take care of itself. All Kaiser has prescribed for me is Ibuprofin 800 for inflammation and Serax for anxiety. I am so fed up with the feelings I am having I've even gone as far as to see kaiser dr's 3 times in one week. (Each Dr had a different diagnosis...chest wall muscle, pneumonia, and lastly anxiety.) Each Dr has basically said the same thing in a sense....each reminding me that I've had every blood test possible run with no abnormalities, and that I am healthy 22 year old woman! Talk about the run around!!! I have only seen the chiropractor once, but she did steer me in the right direction...she told me to buy a down pillow, stop sleeping on my sides, stop holding the phone with my shoulder, and use ice instead of heat! =)

lammys · 03-16-2004, 11:10 AM

Approximately two months ago I woke up with a pinching/cramping up the back of the left side of my neck. Days later I went to see Urgent Care 3 times in one week due to chest pain and dull back pain directly behind where the chest pain was. The Drs took blood on two different occasions looking for answers. Everything came out normal...they tested muscle wasting to lupus to rheumatoid. The Drs basically blamed my symptoms on anxiety, stress and a pulled chest wall muscle. It's now been two months and the pain has gone from bad to worse. In fact I have a lump on the back of my neck as well as where the dull pain is. When I first wake up in the morning and roll around I feel a pain deep inside. Last Friday I started having weakness and numbness in my left arm and shoulder. I immediatly sought help from a local Chiropractor. She told me I had cervical brachial neuritis. She did say that this could have been brought on by an old injury along with stressors!

After relaxing all weekend my pains and numbness did not go away. In fact I was having panic attack after panic attack!!! Yesterday the left back side of my neck got more inflammed and painful. The inflammed nerve on the left side of my back also felt very tight. I even began to get a headache up the left side of my head with some ear pain. Last night I went to see my chiropractor. Within two minutes of being there she suggested I go to my regular Dr and request a cortisone shot into the nerve because it was too inflammed to work with. As you can imagine this only made me even more upset and panicked. By the time I was at the Dr's office I was in full on tears...lets just say my panic attack was only getting worse. By the time the DR saw me I had already calmed down. The Dr ordered several xrays of my neck and back. I asked for the injection but she would not give it to me. After the Xrays were developed she said my back looked fine and there were no lesions. The Dr has now ordered an MRI, and once again despite my request she wouldn't order it STAT. She prescribed me Naproxen and Flexeril. When I got home I took Flexeril (muscle relaxor). For some reason I felt twitching in the left side of my back along with lots of muscle gurgling! Considering the DR didn't see any back problems or lesions, this is a good thing right? Now all we have to do is an MRI to rull out anything else. Thanks for the help guys...any additional informmation or suggestions would be GREATLY appreciated!

Ann123 · 03-18-2004, 09:08 AM

If the rest of your tests come back normal what you probably should do is see is a neurologist. Especially with the history of Shingles. He can prescribe medications specifically for nerve pain.