PLEASE HELP and ANSWER aching and feeling bad

5 YRS ago I had a MRI done of the cervical spine and it reads as follows.....


MRI of the cervical spine and cord was performed using a sagittal T1 and fast spin echo T2 weighted images followed by axial gradient echo T2 weighted images from C1 to T1. There is straigthening of the cervical spine consistent with the muscular spasm. There is a decrease in the signal intensity of the intervertebral disc spaces from C2 to C7 on the T2 weighted images consistent with disc desiccation. There is no evidence of herniated disc. No evidence of peripheral spinal canal stenosis is seen. the cervical cord is of normal size and signal intensity. no evidence of intraspinal mass lesion is seen there is no evidence of tonsillar herniation. the bone marrow is of normal signal intensity..

impression: degenerative disc disease from c2 to c7 straightening of the cervical spine consistent with muscular spasm. there is no ecidence of herniated disc or intraspinal mass lesion.

Now the problem....

the spasm in my back have gotten worse from standing to sitting even walking... hip seems to give out from time to time... last year I had numbness on my left side of body.... stroke like had an mri done nothing was founded... this was done at the VA Hospital... after this I started getting severe headaches place me on topamax now Im on 100 mg a day thanks to a neurologist outside of the VA Hosp. For the past week I have had lower face numbness and he notice that my heart has an irregular beat.. but my ekg usually are not normal...

he re-ordered another MRI of the brain and also a new one of the spine since its been 5yrs lots of blood work since my sister has MS and possibly the disease that took away Bernie Macs life... and a SSEP (Somatosensory Evoke Potential Study)

Have my MRI done today..

please respond

[mypatric]

ok its been 8 months and no one answers questions around here.. and im still confused as ever... well. this is the lastest.. well i have been to physical theropy twice for my back and my dr says he is not sending me to pt for my neck because he dont want to aggrevate it any further. had an MRI done on my neck again and this is what it says

Cervical spine MRI consists of sagittal T1 and T2 and gradient echo axial images. Comparison is made with a submitted outside study dated January 9, 2004.

There is straightening of the normal cervical lordosis

the C2, C3, C3-C4 AND C4-C5 DISC space are within normal limits.

at the C6-C7 level, there is a new left parasagittal disc herniation which effaces the ventral aspect of the thecal sac.

The C7-t1 disc space is normal.

the narrow signal is normal, nno intrinsic spinal cord abnormality is identified.

IMPRESSION:

1. straightening of the normal cervical lordosis
2. C5-C6 disc bulge
3. c6-c7 parasagittal disc herniation effaces the vetral aspect of the thecal sac.

then I had a MRI OF MY BACK AND THAT READS AS FOLLOWS...

MRI OF LUMBAR SPINE WITHOUT CONTRAST

FINDINGS: The vertebral bodies maintain normal height alignment and signal intensity. the conus is normal in posistion, signal intensity and morphology. There is slight loss of T2 signal within the L4-L5 intervertebral disc, reflecting defeneration. the remainder of the disc spaces maintain naormal height.

L1-L2 through L3-L4 intervertebral discs maintain normal height, morphology and signal intensity without focal sisplacements. there is no central canal or foraminal stenosis at these levels. mild facet dgenerative chages are seen at L3-L4

At L4-L5 there is a broad based left paracentral and foraminal disc protrusion which slightly effaces the exiting left L4 root sleeve,. no high grade neural effacement is noted. there is no central canal stenosis. mild facet degenarative chage is noted. L5-s1 shows no disc displacement, canal stenosis or foraminal stenosis, facet joints appear grossly intact.

there is no prevertebral or paravertebral soft tissue swelling.

IMPRESSION

1. mild L4-L5 degenerative disc disease witha broad basedshallow left paracentral and foraminal disc protrusion minimally effacing the exiting left L4 root sleeve. No evidence for high grade neural compression or canal stenosis.
2.mild multilevel lumbar facet degenerative arthrosis

ok so can any body please explain I am suppose to start pain management tomorrow.. first time and I hate needles

[Dr. A. Srivastava]

Thank you for your question. Although without being able to examine you I can not offer you the specific advice on diagnosis and treatment that you need, but I would try to provide you some relevant information about your health concern.

Most likely your symptoms may be due to nerve irritation in the cervical (neck) spine because of degeneration where contact between the edges of the vertebrae can cause neck pain. In few people, this pain may be referred and perceived as occurring in the back of head, shoulders, arms or chest, rather than just the neck. Other symptoms may include vertigo, palpitation and nausea (dizziness) that you felt. However, symptoms like neck pain and stiffness can be intermittent. It will be best that you consult a neurologist who would like to prescribe Pain killers, steroid and muscle relaxants. Other treatments could be cervical orthosis such as a soft cervical collar/stiffer neck brace to restrict neck movement. In addition, cervical traction may also be suggested by the doctor, if condition is severe. Hope this helps.