Quix - MS CIDP trauma relation

Quix -

I'm the patient that is having problems with my limbs and burning pain around my incision.  Today I had my left arm go completely heavy/numb on me.  I couldn't really move my fingers without trying extremely hard and with a great deal of pain.  My hand actually began to swell and turn blue on me.  This is the second time in a few months that the symptoms got that bad on the Left arm.  But something someone at work asked me made me think about a car accident and another question.

I also posted this on the neurology website:

I didn't give this much thought until reading a few things about car accidents and back injuries.  I stopped mentioning it to the ob/gyns because they just wrote me off.  My symptoms are all recent (since the delivery/c-section 7 months ago), though I was at one time severely injured.

Four years ago, Jan '03, I had a terrible car accident.  My entire back went into shock and the muscles locked.  I was paralyzed for a few days and nearly paralyzed for a few months.  I couldn't move my legs more than 1 inch and my arms were at times too heavy to hold at my side, let alone lift.  I also had a lot of neck problems, until March of '05 I couldn't hold my head on my shoulders, though it never hurt.  My chiropractic physician was the first to adjust me and give me exercises that worked to get my head back on my shoulders.  I also was, at the time of the accident, found to have lordosis, kypohosis, and scoliosis.  All minor, but apparently attributed to the crash and the muscle locks.  After a few months of physical therapy and chiropractics I was back to walking.  A few more months and I was running again.  In June of '04 I completed my first marathon and then the next summer began with triathlons, so I didn't give much thought to the car accident again.  I was a competitive athlete and doing fairly well on the race circuit, so I didn't think the accident could have been the cause of any kind of severe permanent damage.  I know I did a lot of damage to my back, and had to see a chiropractor every other week to help work with my posture, but I thought of it more as improving my performance and posture than fixing something that was still wrong from my car accident. Though the history of back problems from the accident made me terrified of getting an epidural for delivery.  I actually waited till the pain was just so unbearable that I couldn't go without it.

The neurologist believes that this doesn't really explain the current conditions, because a lot of the neuropathy is recent and was not continuous or even present three years ago.  He does, however, think that the posture and back problems caused by the accident are masking what is current to many professionals and maybe even aggrevating my condition.

I don't know if this has any relation. Could this be something worth considering?

[Quixotic1]

I've looked hard and read several review articles.  All say that there has not been found to be an association between trauma and CIDP.  The few places I found claiming one were individuals whose symptoms began shortly after a back injury.  In one case a judge found on behalf of the patient, but his reasoning wasn't very scientific.  He just thought it was as likely as not.  

So, there is no good info showing an association.

Have you mentioned CIDP to your neurologist?  

BTW - Glad to see you over here.  It's less chaotic than the General Neuro Forum?  And I think CIDP should be discussed here.  It's Autoimmune and it's a demyelinating condition.

Quix

[oncetri]

agreed, it is much easier.

I did not mention this to my neurologist as of yet, because I didn't thouroughly read (read it quickly but didn't let it sink in) until after the appointment.

I have an MRI for cervical spine on Monday, and a cystogram on Tuesday morning.  Once I find out when they will have my report from the MRI and the cystogram ready, I have to make a follow-up appointment with the neurologist.  I intend to talk to him about it when I have the appointment.  I did speak to my chriporactic physician and she wanted to research it a bit.  She does work with some kinesiologists (excuse the spelling, engineer, so spelling is not good) and some neurologists, so she was going to see what she could learn.

I have an appointment with a neurologist at Penn Hospital, affiliated wiht UPenn.  She's supposed to be a specialist in neuromuscular disorders.  My ob/gyn wants me to go to a teaching hospital and suggested to start in the neurology department.  I'm trying to get all my medical records and test results ready to take to her, but that appointment isn't for nearly 2 more months.

[oncetri]

I had my cervical spine MRI on Monday and got a phone call with the results, and my chiropractor went over the report with me.  It came back normal, except hypertrophy of the sinus cavity, or something of that nature.  Which was explained as accounting for the increase in sinus infections (something I don't actually suffer from).

My neurologist recommended that I seriously consider having surgery on my left wrist for the definitive diagnosis of carpul tunnel syndrom (syndrome), but I'm terrified of surgery.  He no longer addressed what to do or steps to take to find out why I have muscle weakness and spasms.  He did tell me through, that my EMG results for my neck and upper extremities showed damage in all muscles, again.  This means that every muscle tested (neck, arms, left leg and left buttocks) are damaged.

Is there something I should suggest that we look at, or another test to continue to try to find out what is wrong?  I'm beginning to think that this is just passing (as I'm feeling better) and I'll never get any answers as to why I have what I consider severe muscle damage (could run marathons to trouble walking around the block).