mnm2577
03-19-2009, 08:37 PM
I am getting an mri tomorrow of the cervical spine. I have tingly throbbing achy feelings in both my arms. My back feels like it is in constent muscle spasms my upper back feels hot when i lean against something but not hot to the touch. I take pain meds that help my back but they are prescribed due to my lower back problems. The pain meds do help with some of the pain in my upper back but still get the tingly achy feelings in my arms and hands especially at night or after working with my hands (writing, holding a phone, etc.) and bending. I would like to know if i should take the MRI without pain meds or just take them as prescribed. I don't know if it will show what is actually going on with my upper back better if not on pain meds or does it really make a difference. I done research on my symptoms with my upper back and what i can find out is that i might have either thoracic outlet syndrome or herniation of the cervical area or neither. I just want the test to be as acurate as possible. Will a cervical MRI show thoracic outlet syndrome? Is an MRI good at finding pinched or damaged nerves or is their a differant test specifaclly for this?
Thank you for any suggestions
Thank you for any suggestions
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rosespetal
03-20-2009, 08:25 AM
It depends what pain meds you are on, if it is something like vicoden, that is mixed with tylenol, it won't do much but fix your pain, its the anti inflammatories that are mixed in with pain meds, like asprin, ibuprophin, prednisilone, etc, that can cause your inflammation to go down and thus not be AS present on your MRI, not that those drugs work that wonderful when it comes to the spine but- you catch my drift.
I do not know about the syndrome you're taking about, but when reading your post I was thinking about your cervical morso than throacic area with the arms and hands, and also carpal tunnel crossed my mind quickly as well as it's when you're working etc.
Best of luck with your MRI today. Hope you feel well and take your pain meds, no need for extensive pain when we don't haveto be in it.
I do not know about the syndrome you're taking about, but when reading your post I was thinking about your cervical morso than throacic area with the arms and hands, and also carpal tunnel crossed my mind quickly as well as it's when you're working etc.
Best of luck with your MRI today. Hope you feel well and take your pain meds, no need for extensive pain when we don't haveto be in it.
BackHelper
03-20-2009, 11:27 AM
If the tingly's are down the arms, it's not carpal tunnel (Or at least not ONLY carpal tunnel:) Carpal tunnel effects the thumb and possibly the 1st finger of the hand. It's painful, not so much tingly.
MRIs are GREAT tests. They can help rule out soft tissue injury of just about any kind. This includes injuries to discs, nerves, tendons, muscles, etc. The symptoms you've given indicate something that is compressing the nerves as they exit your cervical spine or possibly in the shoulder region.
Odds are either something like a disc injury or a pinched nerve is the cause (very common for those symptoms). I'd be interested in hearing the results.
MRIs are GREAT tests. They can help rule out soft tissue injury of just about any kind. This includes injuries to discs, nerves, tendons, muscles, etc. The symptoms you've given indicate something that is compressing the nerves as they exit your cervical spine or possibly in the shoulder region.
Odds are either something like a disc injury or a pinched nerve is the cause (very common for those symptoms). I'd be interested in hearing the results.
mnm2577
03-21-2009, 12:41 AM
well i went for the mri today. My fiance was in the room with me. When i was done with the test my fiance told me, while i was doing the test the tech brought two people in the room (that the tech. was in) and was pointing to the screen and talking to them. My fiance couldn't hear what they were saying but he just thought it was odd. While i was in the dressing room my fiance asked the tech did they find anything he said he couldn't say anything. Then my fiance asked "will the results be in by tuesday? The tech said, he was putting a rush on it and will be in on monday (i got done with the test at almost 5pm) My fiance replied, so i guess we found the problem and without thinking about it the tech. said yes and then quickly shutup. But, they did give me my mri pictures on a disk. I don't know if i could post them here to let anyone comment on them. But, to me they kind of looked wierd the spinal cord itself looked like it was mixed with the spinal fluid. Nothing ran evenly down like a spinal cord should but was mixed with splotches of white and gray. somtimes the white was in the middle and sometimes the gray was i the middle. I have been looking all over the web to find an mri picture that looks like mine but i can't. Hopefully i can get the results in by moday because wanting to know is stressfull enough. And just knowing that the tech brought to other people in to look at the images on the screen is stressfull. i've had mri's before and i don't recall them doing this.
I will let you know what it is when i do. Does anyone know how to look at these? To me i don't see any herniations or nerve damage but i also don't know how to read them. So, if anyone can help please do. I forgot to mention the tech even redid the test becuase he thought i moved. He said the test didn't come out right and clear. But, the test did.
I will let you know what it is when i do. Does anyone know how to look at these? To me i don't see any herniations or nerve damage but i also don't know how to read them. So, if anyone can help please do. I forgot to mention the tech even redid the test becuase he thought i moved. He said the test didn't come out right and clear. But, the test did.
Nicole74
03-21-2009, 08:49 AM
I couldn't see any disc herniations when I got home and looked at my own disc.lol Come to find out I had 3 disc herniations and my C5-C6 was pressing against my spinal cord. I also had bone spurs that were noted on the MRI scan.
Take a deep breath and relax. You will find out sooner then later. If it was an emergency, they would of notified you right away. I had results very quickly after my MRI.
Take a deep breath and relax. You will find out sooner then later. If it was an emergency, they would of notified you right away. I had results very quickly after my MRI.
mnm2577
03-21-2009, 11:12 AM
I have been doing some research and looking at mri pictures on the web to try to find one that looked like mine. I finally found one that reeally looked like mine. I really realy hope it is not this. But, it really looks close and would explain why the tech brought other people in to look at. It is called Arnold-Chiari malformation. This is very rare and it says the only treatment is surgery.
Can i add some of mri pics to get any opinion? I don't know if i am allowed to do this or not so i just thought i would ask
Nicole-The radioligist was not there to read them.
Can i add some of mri pics to get any opinion? I don't know if i am allowed to do this or not so i just thought i would ask
Nicole-The radioligist was not there to read them.
BackHelper
03-23-2009, 11:55 AM
Mnm - please remember, you are untrained in looking at MRI's :) For all we know, it could be completely normal. There's alot of other things going on with pepole having Arnold-Chiari. I'd wait for the radiologist. It sounds like you might be getting all worked up for nothing. They look at thousands of these and take years of school to discern problems in them. I promise they are VERY difficult to read accurately without proper training :) Take a few deep breaths like Nicole said and relax - you'll know soon exactly what it is and can move on from there. All you are doing now is stressing yourself out needlessly!
mnm2577
03-23-2009, 07:17 PM
Well, Bad news!! I was right. Doctor called me this morning and wanted me to go to Shands university of fl hospital in Gainsville FL (if you don't know where that is it is about an hour west of Jacksonville i live in south FL) because i need to have surgery. The MRI results are Chiari and severe Syrinx. My syrinx extends from c-1 to t-1 and doesn't stop their. The mri results suggested a mri of the brain with and without contrast, mri of the cervical with contrast, and a mri of the thoracic with and without contrast to see how far down it goes because on my cervical mri it didn't stop at t-1 they could see it in the top of the thoracic. The mri showed the first couple vetabras (sp?) of the thoracic and the syrinx was continuing still. I didn't want to be right. I don't have the money. I don't know what to do. My doctor said if i wasn't going to Shands today i neede to see him as soon as possible. I got an appointment tomorrow.
BackHelper
03-24-2009, 11:30 AM
That sucks!!! Problem with waiting on these is that they enlarge and can get worse. A Surgeon will basically drain it to help prevent it from damaging the spinal cord. These can happen due to tumors in the spine or trauma, so you'll definitely wanna check the rest of the spine out. I don't know if you have insurance or not, but if not - there's a LARGE difference in price between different MRI places so you might wanna shop around.
mnm2577
03-25-2009, 02:07 AM
Backhelper-Yes i know theirs a lot of differance in prices on mri's. Believe me i shopped around because when i first had to do a lumbar mri i herd some of the prices for that. But actually i really didn't need that one done and needed the cervical mri instead but i thought the doctor knew his stuff and didn't argue and had it done. Then the doctor gave me a referral for the thoracic and cervical mri. I pretty much found the cheepest place about an hour and a half away. I was told by other people i was lucky to find it so cheep. some prices i heard were so outragous some were over $1,000 but was able to find it for $450 for each one. So, including the lumbar mri and the cervical i did (not done at the same time) i allready spent $900, not including the two doctor visits. First doctor visit was $200 and the second was $150. No, I do not have any kind of medical ins. I was laid off of work one reason was due to economy and the other was due to missing so many days of work due to my pain. Either i left work early or called in sick due to my pains and migranes. They even told me i was a fast learner, showed up early, stayed late when i had to or when i could, and they would of loved to keep me but need someone they could depend on to be their everyday and when they needed them. They really wanted to keep me and layoff some of the less experience ones but they knew i had problems so they had to let me go because of them downgrading due to the economy. That was last Oct. i didn't get cobra due the expense of it (approx. $300 a month). Also i wasn't able to collect unemployment due to me not being on the job long enough (just one month shy of being eligable). So, no i don't have any kind of health ins. And have very little funds. Mt fiance got laid off in Dec. but is collecting unemployment but we bairly can afford our bills on that alone. i bairly have enough money for food and other needed expenses like gas so my fiance can go look for jobs and sometimes go without eating due to lack of money. And like i said the doctors and the mri place was an hour and a half away and we have a big truck that is a gas guzzler. So, needless to say we had to borrow money. Spoke with doctor today and he wants me to go to the clevand clinic west of Miami or Shands university of FL. If anyone has any insight on this procedure or what i can do, please comment. The doctor said i shouldn't wait no longer than 30 days to go to one of the hospitals because mine is so severe they will need to put a shunt in the syrinx that is in my spinal cord and it will take several opperations because it is so severe. He also said they usually try to fix what is causing the syrinx not actually on the syrinx but since mine is so severe they will have to. He also said they usually use this as a last resort. But, because i have very little spinal fluid flow and the syrinx is causing very little flow of the spinal fluid to the brain it is most likely that i will have surgery and they will put a shunt in my spine. Doctor wants to get a second opinion before surgery to #1 see how severe it is, #2 to see where the syrinx actually stops, and #3 to see whats in my brain. So they are not going to do surgery right away they want to know what and how severe of a case they are dealing with. One of my questions are will anyone except me because i have no ins. and have limited funds and can't pay for all these test. I don't know what to do???? But i don't want to die from this because that is what the doctor told me if i don't get it attended to soon. The syrinx starts at the c-1 spine and it is causing thinning of the spinal cord. This is exactly what the report for my mri says. There is cerebellar tonsil ectopia. There is an extensive syringomyelia extending from c-1 to the upper margin of the thoracic cord. The dilated central canal is causing thinning of the spinal cord substance throughout the cervical regoin. I really need someone to tell me is their anything i can such as hot or cold baths to help with the tightness, pain, and muscle spasms. or anything to help with my symptoms beside meds. Please someone help. I am an emotion wreck.
Ucare
03-25-2009, 02:29 AM
a third of my wages all my working life went to the NHS here in the UK.
when I needed an mri I had to pay for it and had to travel through 3 counties to get to the nearist private hospital that did them.
I had to pay someone to drive me there. I had to pay someone to look after the kids till I got back.
the lot cost my approx. £2grand. but that was 1997.
even then I never met any specialist.
& it took me 3 months and a further payment of £500. to recieve a copy of the results.
& as I'd kept on bothering them for the results they wrote a very snotty letter claiming there was "this" & this " and s light scoliosis but basically nothing wrong any where else on my entire body.
which is not for them to say because I only paid for a 6 inch mri
I couldn't afford anything more.
I wasn't put right through or into any tunnel affair. it was done just like an X-ray.
years later a dr from Stoke Mandivile hospital stated I'd got traped nerves that was back in 02; I'm STILL WAITING to see a dr about it.
I feel very ripped off that so much of my wages went to the NHS & when I needed them they treat you like dirt, or you don't exist.
when I needed an mri I had to pay for it and had to travel through 3 counties to get to the nearist private hospital that did them.
I had to pay someone to drive me there. I had to pay someone to look after the kids till I got back.
the lot cost my approx. £2grand. but that was 1997.
even then I never met any specialist.
& it took me 3 months and a further payment of £500. to recieve a copy of the results.
& as I'd kept on bothering them for the results they wrote a very snotty letter claiming there was "this" & this " and s light scoliosis but basically nothing wrong any where else on my entire body.
which is not for them to say because I only paid for a 6 inch mri
I couldn't afford anything more.
I wasn't put right through or into any tunnel affair. it was done just like an X-ray.
years later a dr from Stoke Mandivile hospital stated I'd got traped nerves that was back in 02; I'm STILL WAITING to see a dr about it.
I feel very ripped off that so much of my wages went to the NHS & when I needed them they treat you like dirt, or you don't exist.
BackHelper
03-25-2009, 12:17 PM
There are charitable organizations and hospitals who will accept cases like this. Besides that, I would be guessing, but ice should help if it's a swelling thing. Ibuprophen would also be good if inflamation is involved (make sure it doesn't clash with any of your other meds though).
mnm2577
03-26-2009, 12:29 PM
Yes, inflamtion is involved. Doctor gave me something for that. I will try a ice pack. I will also do some research on who will do clinical trials on it. Thank you backhelper.
Ucare-I am sorry to hear you have gone through so much. I know what you mean about doctors. I have been going to doctors to try to find out what i have for years. I can't count the money that i spent. The doctors basically made me feel that the pain was in my head. I even went to a counselor. like i have said since i was diagnosed i don't know how right i was, it is in my head literally. I'm glad you finally found out what you have and can get treament.
Ucare-I am sorry to hear you have gone through so much. I know what you mean about doctors. I have been going to doctors to try to find out what i have for years. I can't count the money that i spent. The doctors basically made me feel that the pain was in my head. I even went to a counselor. like i have said since i was diagnosed i don't know how right i was, it is in my head literally. I'm glad you finally found out what you have and can get treament.