Mag311
06-21-2007, 04:31 PM
Hello Everyone! I hope everyone is having a good day and living almost pain free today. I know how everyone feels...at least I think I do. I am lucky that my pain does not keep me in bed all day but at tiems I feel like that is what I want to do.
Anyway, here is my history. I had a c6-c7 cervical fusion. I had pain in my neck, shoulders, and down my arms and eventually in my fingers. My fingers were getting stiff and numb. So..I had the surgery. however, i am still in pain. I know I have chronic pain and this is soemthing I will have to suffer with my whole like. However, now I am questioning if this could be arthritis. I am 27 years old and most people laugh it off saying arthritis is for older people. I do have stiff joints everywhere. My ankles are stiff and achy and my knees hurt everyday. With that I have headaches, tremors, and chronic pain all in my neck and shoulders. What do I do? Any suggestions? should I go back to my doc? I am jsut so frustrated. Been dealing with this since 20 and I feel like docs just look at me and want to say..."ahh suck it up". I feel like they just look at me in disgust and think i am a pill seeker. I am a seeker for no pain. Everyday there is pain...so if for one day on the weekend I could take some pills and get rid of pain that would be great. Just for one day a week.
Any advice would be great.
Anyway, here is my history. I had a c6-c7 cervical fusion. I had pain in my neck, shoulders, and down my arms and eventually in my fingers. My fingers were getting stiff and numb. So..I had the surgery. however, i am still in pain. I know I have chronic pain and this is soemthing I will have to suffer with my whole like. However, now I am questioning if this could be arthritis. I am 27 years old and most people laugh it off saying arthritis is for older people. I do have stiff joints everywhere. My ankles are stiff and achy and my knees hurt everyday. With that I have headaches, tremors, and chronic pain all in my neck and shoulders. What do I do? Any suggestions? should I go back to my doc? I am jsut so frustrated. Been dealing with this since 20 and I feel like docs just look at me and want to say..."ahh suck it up". I feel like they just look at me in disgust and think i am a pill seeker. I am a seeker for no pain. Everyday there is pain...so if for one day on the weekend I could take some pills and get rid of pain that would be great. Just for one day a week.
Any advice would be great.
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Fabrashamx
06-21-2007, 04:52 PM
Hi Mag!
This is why you have to go back to the doc, there are sooo many things it could be, and no way to tell without tests. I will say your symtoms sound VERY similar to my own, and what I have is DDD, After my neck fusion, I still have pain in my shoulder and arm and hands, mostly in my last 2 fingers, pinky and the one next to it, very numb and painful.
I now have lower back issues, and bulging discs below my fusion, which I have been told is common, the weight of the fusion, no matter if its hardware or bone graph, can cause the discs below it to bulge.
I know doctors try to poo poo your pain, but only you know how bad it hurts, and in this day and age you MUST step up and advocate for your self. Doctors are kind of stuck too, these tests are very very expensive, and if a doctor keeps ordering them for patients who turn out to be fine, the powers that be start wondering if he's padding the bill or getting kickbacks.
Put yourself in their position, they have seen loads of people in agony, and with a week of anti inflammatorys, rest, and PT, the person is doing fine. Ordering a $10,000 test before youve tried a lot of other things is in no ones best interest.
But in the meantime, you can be made comfortable, and if it doesnt get better, keep going back, thats how he knows, okay, now its time for the expensive tests, something is really wrong here. it sucks, but thats the way the system works.
Good luck to you and please keep posting and let us know what happens.
Your Friend, Fabby :wave:
This is why you have to go back to the doc, there are sooo many things it could be, and no way to tell without tests. I will say your symtoms sound VERY similar to my own, and what I have is DDD, After my neck fusion, I still have pain in my shoulder and arm and hands, mostly in my last 2 fingers, pinky and the one next to it, very numb and painful.
I now have lower back issues, and bulging discs below my fusion, which I have been told is common, the weight of the fusion, no matter if its hardware or bone graph, can cause the discs below it to bulge.
I know doctors try to poo poo your pain, but only you know how bad it hurts, and in this day and age you MUST step up and advocate for your self. Doctors are kind of stuck too, these tests are very very expensive, and if a doctor keeps ordering them for patients who turn out to be fine, the powers that be start wondering if he's padding the bill or getting kickbacks.
Put yourself in their position, they have seen loads of people in agony, and with a week of anti inflammatorys, rest, and PT, the person is doing fine. Ordering a $10,000 test before youve tried a lot of other things is in no ones best interest.
But in the meantime, you can be made comfortable, and if it doesnt get better, keep going back, thats how he knows, okay, now its time for the expensive tests, something is really wrong here. it sucks, but thats the way the system works.
Good luck to you and please keep posting and let us know what happens.
Your Friend, Fabby :wave:
Mag311
06-21-2007, 07:40 PM
Thank you for your response! I have been told before the surgery that the disc above and below are going to be problems in my future and my chances of having to have another surgery in the future are quite high b/c I had surgery at such an early age. So....I know it is going to happen..I just didn't know I would have problems so soon. It has only been 2 years and I hate to look like I am too much of a complainer. My husband is a doc..and sometimes he thinks that my body has just learned pain and now will always be in pain b/c that is what my brain thinks. that it is always in pain..so I am making myself hurt even if there isn't a problem. I don't believe him.....but I guess it could be true.
I will make an appointment with the doc and see what is up!
Thanks again!
I will make an appointment with the doc and see what is up!
Thanks again!