Confused with Neck and Shoulder Pain - Fibromyalgia Message Board

JClooking · 11-18-2008, 06:45 PM

I seem to jump from board to board but that's mostly because I'm getting frustrated with the medical community. It started with a creepy crawly feeling in my spine...doc. suspected MS but the MRI didn't reveal any spots but two disc bulges. I had 3 epidurals and PT but no relief. Now I have pain in my neck, shoulder and scapula. New doctor says muscle spasm and gave me a muscle / nerve block injection....nothing other than 4 hours of no pain from the anesthesia. Something I realized was that my neck pain, creepy crawly feeling becomes much more intense the day or two before my period starts. While I was looking around, found something that said that FM can become worse during your period. Since the other issues don't make sense as far as intensifying with menstruation this seems to but I never considered FM. Is it possible to have it with only the neck and shoulder pain I described or are there other things that would rule this out. I do suffer from depression and anxiety and have had carpal tunnel and tennis elbow. Could these be related or am I just looking for a syndrome instead of individual issues. I'm getting very depressed and frustrated with all the doctor appointments and no relief.

Any insight would be appreciated.

DeBeachSiren · 11-18-2008, 10:06 PM

Hi Jet,

First and most important Fibro is a disease and no longer is a syndrome. Some of the issues can be unrelated. Most of my pain is in the left shoulder, neck and between my shoulders. I always say I feel like there's a baseball under my shoulder blade. I used to have headaches 24-7 from the nerve entrapment that it would cause. I have 2 electrodes in my head connected to a battery in my back, it pulses and short-curcuits the nerves. This is where the good share of my pain is. I never knew that the monthly cycle could cause fibro problems, I'm passed all that anyway thank goodness. Haha!

Have you ever kept a pain journal? I found this to help a bunch in the begining, you may see patterns. Write down a list of your concerns and take them to your Dr. appt.'s. You might want to check out a pain management doctor. I've had nerve blocks and ablations to deal with related issues.

Read what you can about different things that fibro can cause. Do you take anything for your depression? Do you take anything for muscle spasm?

It's frustrating I know deciding on what to do. I used to make doc appt.s for one thing and by the time I got to the appt. the pain would be somewhere else sometimes. Don't give up. We on here will try to be as helpful as we can.

DeBeachSiren

rosebuddy · 11-19-2008, 04:58 AM

Have you been diagnosed with chronic myofascial pain. I had pain in my neck and shoulders and it was from trigger points (not tender points) that i had injected and released. i am symptom free now. I was treated by a magnificent pain mgmt doc. I hope you feel better soon.

JClooking · 11-19-2008, 01:07 PM

Sorry, I wasn't trying to be offensive with calling FM syndrome, just meant that I hoped I wasn't looking for a "disease" when in actuality I just have a multitude of singular issues. I know it's a sensitive subject because it took so long for it to gain recognition as a legitimate disease.

I had trigger point injections in my neck and due to have more today (at least I think that's what it is where they inject anesthesia and a steroid into the tissues) and last time I had relief for four hours but as soon as the anesthesia wore off, my pain returned so I'm not optimistic about today other than the 4 hours of relief I got with the shot.

I would like to know if there is anyone who has noticed an increase in their symptoms prior to their period. I just thing it's a strange symptom (or exacerbation of a symptom) and am running out of reasonable explanations to why I get no relief and if I'll ever be pain-free (pain meds have mildly effectiveness.)

Thanks!

Pammyann · 11-20-2008, 02:43 PM

Yes, my pain is worse right before my period and most of my pain is in the neck, shoulder and back areas.