Over the past year, I have had wierd symptons that I initially thought were the result of an infection. Now, my PT (for lower back/leg pain) has suggested that I may have a Myelopathy in my Cervical spine.
Burning in forearms
Tingling in hands
Numbness on one side of face (tongue too).
Some pain in one arm
sharp pricks in back/chest
pain in legs (like tightening muscles in feet),
ringing in ears, dizzyness, full sensation (all together),
trouble focusing at long distances, patterns - one eye twitching?
One shoulder/neck gets severe pain (on occasion if I attempt to sleep with it over my head). When I was exercising during remissions, I had trouble pushing weight forward and up with it, but not dips? Hurt at shoulder/neck?
Sometimes, my legs feel week, but I can still do stuff. My PT said that one arm/hand was weaker than the other. Not terrible, but noticeable.
I had a couple of odd bolts at night (while lying on back), when my whole side twitched (is this that lightning bolt syndrome). This has only occured a few times and only when lying on my back.
Now, these symptons come and go. Mostly at once.
Some exercise makes them go away, but then they come back worse...
Sometimes NSAIDS help (Ibup, Naproxin). Sometimes not.
My neck also makes much more noise than it used to when I move it...Not always...
Thanks for any help here... My former Neurologist did an upper MRI, but didn't even suspect any spine injury? I kept asking.. I think he thought I was crazy. They sent me to a Rheumatoid guy, but nothing was found...The PT was the first one to say that I need to have my neck looked at ASAP...This is almost 9 months after my first complaints.
Pain is only about a 3-4 (sinus/migraine a 7-8), so I am living with it, but it is taking me away from life! Much depression!!!
Yes, some of these could definatly be signs of some sort of stenosis (one of them being myelopathy) going on in your neck, and being that its been 9 months since your last MRI from what I can gather, more could have happened since then. Its possible that the Physical therpay is making it worse. It helped me initially and then excersies made it worse, so she limited to massage, and then finally wouldn't do much of anything because of the tingling and such that I was having because she didn't want to make things worse. Get another MRI done and go see a NeuroSurgeon, he would have more insight to the serverity of your problems most likely as far as spine issues go. Some people like to go to orthopedic surgeons as well. If you don't know a good one, do some investigating and perhaps pay a visit to a couple surgeons to get their opinons, You primary doc or your neurologist might know of some. This doesn't mean that the surgeon is going to rush you off to surgery right away, he may try other conservative means first, but, it sounds like you are steadily getting worse, which can very quickly turn into getting even worse quite quickly. I would advise you to get a copy of your reports so that you can get to know exactly what is going on inside of you.
With the vision problems and ringing in the ears however, this could a few things.. it could have to do with what is going on with your spine, but it can also mean other things as well. So you may want to see your primary doctor and ask to have your Tyroid checked via labs such as a TSH, T3, T4, and maybe even a cortisol lab checked to see how your adrenal cortex is doing and perhaps an MRI of your head (rule out tumor) and an xray of your head (to rule out sinus infection). I'm no expert on this stuff, I'm not a doctor, but it may be worth suggesting or asking for, or just plain asking the doc if he thinks it would be good to check out just in case, or just to give you peace of mind. If doc says its not necessary, but you want it done, tell him that you would like it done anyway for your peace of mind. But as far as your neurologist - You have a right to know and to ask questions with any doc, and when in doubt, get a second opinon. Good Luck to you and God Bless, I hope you figure things out soon.
You may want to stop excersies with your physical therapist until you know what is going on so that you don't get worse. You may want to speak with your primary doc about all this stuff so that he can get you on the right track.
Also, once you see a surgeon and they look at your films and reports and if they still don't see anything obvious that could be causing your pain, you could suggest having a discogram done, sometimes those show more things than an MRI can. A discogram can at times pinpoint the source of your pain.
Also, some docs will try giving injections to help block the pain you are having before trying surgery.
Thanks for the quick reply. Today, my arms are fine, but my left leg aches badly. I have some pin pricks in my groin. My PCF is worthless, as was my neurologist.
I am very scared...Guess that I should start seeing a pyschiatrist too...Vision could be stress/anxiety causing twitching...I also had leg fasciculations. Maybe stress or my back issues or?
Last edited by daleaherman; 12-18-2006 at 02:33 PM.
Yes, it can be scary, but getting this help is also a good thing. Try to look at it as the beginning of getting yourself to feel good again. First things first, get yourself some new docs, but do it ASAP. I'm telling you this based off my own experience, becuase if you start to go downhill all of a sudden you will still be waiting a while before some treatments can occur in some instances, Make some calls today if you can, and tell them you need to be in ASAP and this can't wait due to your condition. Its possible you could just see one of the other docs within the same group at the offices you've already been going to, so you may not have to look far. You can even ask to speak with the doctors nurse to see if they can get you in sooner if you can get in within the next couple of days.
I'll also say, that my primary doc had me do my mri and then do physical therapy, and then I was to see him again in 2 weeks to get results. YOU already know that physical therapy may be making things worse, so if you get your tests done, ask to follow up as soon as possible. Most reports and labs can be read within a couple of days.
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