what would you say is wrong with my neck? my doctor's never given me a diagnosis...

these are my current symptoms, that have been around for around 2 and a half years:

-- lower back neck/head pain for 2 and a half years, always achey (achy) (though still painful enough sometimes to make me not do things), sometimes pins and needles on my neck. it also often flares up and gets much worse - at least once a day
-- pain worse by bending over, by stretching my neck up or down for more than 15 seconds or so
-- muscle spasms in neck
-- my neck is very stiff, and i can pop it around 7 times in either direction when i take my meds then go sit in a hot warm shower to relax my neck muscles
-- left arm lacks reflexes of right, doesn't move during standard reflex tests. also goes numb / gets sleepy
-- all of this started after a traumatic head injury that left me with brain damage - i can no longer speak half as well, and i have a rote memory now somewhere in the 0.8th percentile

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2 and a half years ago, I'm 19 now, i was in a moped accident in france where I flew off and hit the lower part of the back of my head against a tree. i wore a helmet, though it was slightly too big. I was out for around 2 minutes apparently, but have lost around 30 minutes of time, memory wise. I woke up in a hospital with rocks sticking out of the flesh on my arms and in absurd pain. stayed there for a few hours for tests to come back, and once i found out that i was kind of screwed, and after i got a skin graph, i told them to give me pain meds for the rest of my 6 weeks there and that i was leaving.

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I take hydrocodone 7.5, 40 a month, and soma 350, 90 a month. it still isn't enough (is my doctor not helping much? he's a neurologist, not a pain management guy, but idk how to explain to him that i need more because the hydrocodone isn't working half as well as before...

i've tried a dozen other medications and i either have horrible reactions (gabapentin made my pain 10x worse cyclobenzaprine made me too sleepy, topamax made me hallucinate patterns, etc... etc..)
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so basically, a few questions:

1) what do you think is up with my neck? does anyone have similar things happening to them symptom wise?
2) how do you guys deal with neck pain that is made worse by walking up and down hills, thusly agitating my neck?
3) do you think i should talk to my neurologist about a pain management program?
4) if this has been going on for 2 and a half years and nothing has really helped, do you think i'll be in pain forever?

[S. Kaul, MD]

Hi there!

1. It would be difficult to answer the question without a detailed clinical evaluation. Possibilities that may need to be considered include postural issues, muscle sprain/ spasm, neurological issues, spinal causes such as degeneration, referred pain from other regions etc.
2. Primary look for the cause and treat it, if possible. If a complete treatment is not suitable/ possible/ contraindicated; symptomatic management for pain alone may be suitable.
3. Probably yes.
4. It’s difficult to comment on this one. This would depend on how far have you been evaluated and the primary condition that is diagnosed; which may or may not be treatable. It would be best to discuss this with your neurologist.
Hope this is helpful.

Take care!