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CERVICAL STENOSIS/LARGE DISC PROLAPSE AT C3-4/DISC BULDGE AT C4-5/SPINAL CORD AND NERVE ROOT IMPINGEMENT /SCOLIOSIS/CHIARI TYPE 1
Hi
My symptoms are; [ in no order ]
Headaches and Pain in the head especially at the back, behind my ears, and on top on my scalp
Tingling on my scalp
'burning' sensation in my arms
Pins n Needles in my left hand / fore arm
Daily electric shock pains
Vertigo - Worse in the morning or when i am laying down
constant fullness in my ears and some times my hearing goes very low then i get this ringing noise for a while untill my hearing comes back to normal
Nausea
Weakness in my legs - always they feel heavy
major fatigue - so tierd all the time, i seem to wake up twice in the nights because im so uncomfortable with neck stiffness
Neck spasms maybe twice a week, where i cant move my neck it hurts so much
Back ache
Pain in my ankle and toes [ like a sharp pain that lingers for a while]
My knees seem to buckle at any time, not all the time
Have been having physio for 1 month, total of 4 sessions, am on tramadol as required.
My worry is that there's no let up on my symptoms, i can not remember the last time i felt comfortable, so would i be considered for surgery?? i am 29 years old and can't even walk up the stairs without feeling like my legs are wobbly, I am looking at changing my job because i have so much sick leave and can't do many of the tasks now [ i work with challenging behaviour in learning disability setting ] this has taken over my life in the sense that even finding the energy to go to the shops is a task in it's self. and im struggling to get any doctor to validate my worries.
Any advice would be so helpfull
x
My symptoms are; [ in no order ]
Headaches and Pain in the head especially at the back, behind my ears, and on top on my scalp
Tingling on my scalp
'burning' sensation in my arms
Pins n Needles in my left hand / fore arm
Daily electric shock pains
Vertigo - Worse in the morning or when i am laying down
constant fullness in my ears and some times my hearing goes very low then i get this ringing noise for a while untill my hearing comes back to normal
Nausea
Weakness in my legs - always they feel heavy
major fatigue - so tierd all the time, i seem to wake up twice in the nights because im so uncomfortable with neck stiffness
Neck spasms maybe twice a week, where i cant move my neck it hurts so much
Back ache
Pain in my ankle and toes [ like a sharp pain that lingers for a while]
My knees seem to buckle at any time, not all the time
Have been having physio for 1 month, total of 4 sessions, am on tramadol as required.
My worry is that there's no let up on my symptoms, i can not remember the last time i felt comfortable, so would i be considered for surgery?? i am 29 years old and can't even walk up the stairs without feeling like my legs are wobbly, I am looking at changing my job because i have so much sick leave and can't do many of the tasks now [ i work with challenging behaviour in learning disability setting ] this has taken over my life in the sense that even finding the energy to go to the shops is a task in it's self. and im struggling to get any doctor to validate my worries.
Any advice would be so helpfull
x
CERVICAL STENOSIS/LARGE DISC PROLAPSE AT C3-4/DISC BULGE AT C4-5/SPINAL CORD AND NERVE ROOT IMPINGEMENT /SCOLIOSIS/CHIARI TYPE
Now,... Are the above YOUR diagnosis? If this is what was found with MRI / Cat Scans, You NEED surgery! Having read your symptoms and did not see anything saying what had started all this. You most defiantly will get worse and the pain you are in for will be 10Xs anything you have experienced to date! This I know from life experience. Normally I would suggest avoiding the Discactomy / Fusion at all costs but with all the burning /tingling in your arms/hands will just get worse as the damage to the nerve roots gets worse from swelling forcing more pressure on the nerves. The Head headaches are do to the "Stenosis" which is pressure from the spinal column closing in around the spinal cord, This is a tricky surgery and I highly recommend doing your homework and finding the best "Hot Shot Surgeon" Who can and will REMOVE THE STENOSIS + do the fusion all at the same time, and I would have the entire C-spine fused the 1st time in or YOU WILL BE BACK FOR MORE SURGERY! I had C-5 / 6 & 7 fused in 1999, Now all the discs above and below the fusion have gone to hell! I have met people who's surgeons refuse to do any fusions unless the patient agrees to to have all 7 levels fused the 1st. time, Because they have Nothing but trouble with the remaining discs following a partial C-Spine fusion, You need stronger drugs the just Tramadol!!
Now,... Are the above YOUR diagnosis? If this is what was found with MRI / Cat Scans, You NEED surgery! Having read your symptoms and did not see anything saying what had started all this. You most defiantly will get worse and the pain you are in for will be 10Xs anything you have experienced to date! This I know from life experience. Normally I would suggest avoiding the Discactomy / Fusion at all costs but with all the burning /tingling in your arms/hands will just get worse as the damage to the nerve roots gets worse from swelling forcing more pressure on the nerves. The Head headaches are do to the "Stenosis" which is pressure from the spinal column closing in around the spinal cord, This is a tricky surgery and I highly recommend doing your homework and finding the best "Hot Shot Surgeon" Who can and will REMOVE THE STENOSIS + do the fusion all at the same time, and I would have the entire C-spine fused the 1st time in or YOU WILL BE BACK FOR MORE SURGERY! I had C-5 / 6 & 7 fused in 1999, Now all the discs above and below the fusion have gone to hell! I have met people who's surgeons refuse to do any fusions unless the patient agrees to to have all 7 levels fused the 1st. time, Because they have Nothing but trouble with the remaining discs following a partial C-Spine fusion, You need stronger drugs the just Tramadol!!
Im so sorry, I know your paim, I know some people who had the surgery done and had good results, Then there are others like me who still ,after 12 yrs wake up SCREAMING 3-4-5 times a night, I had a fusion c-7 / C-5, I wish I had never done it But I had no choice.
After my life was changed in a instant (broken neck /back nerve PAIN !)and I was suffering from pain I never knew a human could have let alone endure,The surgery to repair my neck only caused a stenosis and even more pain. Every surgeon I seen told me that my spine was to brittle to receive any new hardware and the Degenerative disc / Bone decease I had for 10 yrs leading up to the work accident is incurable and would eventually spread through my entire spine. I slumped into a deep dark depression, I was only 35 with a absolutely GORGEOUS wife and 3 beautiful children who all loved me very much, People would say, "Look at what a beautiful family you have, you should be grateful your wife is standing by you through this" But this was a source of my depression, I would look at my family and know that I will no longer be able to support them in a way they deserved. My wife was strapped with the added burden of caring for me when it was always up to me to spoil her as best I could, . We had such a fantastic sex life before I got hurt and even when we were able to do it, She was always in fear of hurting me.I knew my wife could have had her pick of Kings, but,, because we were so much in love she would never leave me and This was not fair to her, This is not why she pinned her life to my star. I tried to Over dose my self and Just got sick, I bought a gun with the intent of "Doing right the next time" I cant't tell you how many times I sat crying with the barrel of that 9mm pressed to my temple.Then one day my wife came to me and said that we were going to get through this together, She said that Dr.s have been wrong before and she was NOT willing to except the grim diagnosis for my future.
We found a Dr. willing to give me Pain meds, Not just the min that others thought I could get by on But This Dr gave me a HUGE bottle of 100mg time release morphine and Oxy codone I-R from fast relief when my pain spiked. He told me to go home and take as much morphine 3 Xs daily as it took to make me be able to move around, then come back in 3 weeks and tell him how much I was taking ! So I did just that. He was shocked at the high dose I was able to take but wrote the prescriptions every month. I went from crawling on my hands and knees with my wife standing over me holing a bath towel slung under my torso just to go to the bath rm, to walking on my own with crutches. As I was able to tolerate my P-T exorcists and stretching I was able to to loose the crutches and walk with a cane. I used the cane for about a year and I asked Dr, to reduce the morphine from the 24 hr time release to the 12 hr, a 50% reduction in the amount I was taking, I was walking every day and exorcising 3 Xs a day. I still had pain, and still woke up screaming 3-4 times a night but I knew it would pass with help from the pain meds. Today, I am down by another 50% and walking short distances with out any assistance and have not used my cane for almost a yr. I ride my bike EVERY day and work on my house for an hr or 2 every day. and I have sex with my wife as often as I can! My Dr. told me that "there is no shame in taking addictive drugs if they improve your quality of life. The drugs are the lesser of the 2 evils when compared to living with pain because pain destroys your very soul!" I have since had to change to a new Dr. who was shocked at even the lower doses Im taking today, She said that she has cancer patients who are not on this high of a dose. My answer to her was this, What I live with day in and day out is the same or worse then Bone cancer only I do NOT have the luxury of Dying in a year. Find a Dr. willing to treat your pain, Yes ,these drugs are addictive, Yes, they can have some long term effects, But the damage living with pain does to you mind ,body and soul, not to mention those who love you, is by far worse then any effects from the morphine!! DO NOT Take "NO" for an answer, Pain once gotten under control is easier TO control, and you can always reduce your dosage as you improve your situation,
Good Luck and Feel free to contact me with ANY questions
AGGGONY
After my life was changed in a instant (broken neck /back nerve PAIN !)and I was suffering from pain I never knew a human could have let alone endure,The surgery to repair my neck only caused a stenosis and even more pain. Every surgeon I seen told me that my spine was to brittle to receive any new hardware and the Degenerative disc / Bone decease I had for 10 yrs leading up to the work accident is incurable and would eventually spread through my entire spine. I slumped into a deep dark depression, I was only 35 with a absolutely GORGEOUS wife and 3 beautiful children who all loved me very much, People would say, "Look at what a beautiful family you have, you should be grateful your wife is standing by you through this" But this was a source of my depression, I would look at my family and know that I will no longer be able to support them in a way they deserved. My wife was strapped with the added burden of caring for me when it was always up to me to spoil her as best I could, . We had such a fantastic sex life before I got hurt and even when we were able to do it, She was always in fear of hurting me.I knew my wife could have had her pick of Kings, but,, because we were so much in love she would never leave me and This was not fair to her, This is not why she pinned her life to my star. I tried to Over dose my self and Just got sick, I bought a gun with the intent of "Doing right the next time" I cant't tell you how many times I sat crying with the barrel of that 9mm pressed to my temple.Then one day my wife came to me and said that we were going to get through this together, She said that Dr.s have been wrong before and she was NOT willing to except the grim diagnosis for my future.
We found a Dr. willing to give me Pain meds, Not just the min that others thought I could get by on But This Dr gave me a HUGE bottle of 100mg time release morphine and Oxy codone I-R from fast relief when my pain spiked. He told me to go home and take as much morphine 3 Xs daily as it took to make me be able to move around, then come back in 3 weeks and tell him how much I was taking ! So I did just that. He was shocked at the high dose I was able to take but wrote the prescriptions every month. I went from crawling on my hands and knees with my wife standing over me holing a bath towel slung under my torso just to go to the bath rm, to walking on my own with crutches. As I was able to tolerate my P-T exorcists and stretching I was able to to loose the crutches and walk with a cane. I used the cane for about a year and I asked Dr, to reduce the morphine from the 24 hr time release to the 12 hr, a 50% reduction in the amount I was taking, I was walking every day and exorcising 3 Xs a day. I still had pain, and still woke up screaming 3-4 times a night but I knew it would pass with help from the pain meds. Today, I am down by another 50% and walking short distances with out any assistance and have not used my cane for almost a yr. I ride my bike EVERY day and work on my house for an hr or 2 every day. and I have sex with my wife as often as I can! My Dr. told me that "there is no shame in taking addictive drugs if they improve your quality of life. The drugs are the lesser of the 2 evils when compared to living with pain because pain destroys your very soul!" I have since had to change to a new Dr. who was shocked at even the lower doses Im taking today, She said that she has cancer patients who are not on this high of a dose. My answer to her was this, What I live with day in and day out is the same or worse then Bone cancer only I do NOT have the luxury of Dying in a year. Find a Dr. willing to treat your pain, Yes ,these drugs are addictive, Yes, they can have some long term effects, But the damage living with pain does to you mind ,body and soul, not to mention those who love you, is by far worse then any effects from the morphine!! DO NOT Take "NO" for an answer, Pain once gotten under control is easier TO control, and you can always reduce your dosage as you improve your situation,
Good Luck and Feel free to contact me with ANY questions
AGGGONY
I guess the pressures on lately cause I've been super tierd and tommorow I also have to give my company a answer,, I can't continue working part time in my job.... So it's all stress at the mo ANY illness that affects your life us gonna drive u mad some times. I honestly feel like I need to get this impingement away from my spinal cord, then I'll be alot more reassured. It's ever since I've known about that I've freaked our about it all.
HI Sweety...well get a opinion from a chiari specialist and an orthopedist to see which condition may be the root cause of ur issues.
Unless u have a Dr that specializes with chiari it will be diff to get validation....BTDT....
This is a big decision, and it has it's risks.....but, getting the right drs to inform u of what or how a surgery and which surgery, can benefit u is what u need to do.
"selma"
Unless u have a Dr that specializes with chiari it will be diff to get validation....BTDT....
This is a big decision, and it has it's risks.....but, getting the right drs to inform u of what or how a surgery and which surgery, can benefit u is what u need to do.
"selma"
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