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Degenerative Diseases Community
This patient support community is for discussions relating to living with degenerative disease.
Neck Issues Main Cause of All My Problems?
by kcook58, May 07, 2008 03:12PM
I am a 49 yr old female and suffer constant pain everyday. Some days are worse than others. About 12 yrs ago after a year and a half at a job (medical billing office) I started having headaches, neck and shoulder pain, and loss of feeling in my fingers (difficulty grasping things) well as pain in my wrists. I was diagnosed with degenerative disc disease and mild carpal tunnel. I am currently not working and the last time I worked was aprox 4 years ago.
Through the years my symptoms have gotten worse as well as developed new problems which I will go into detail below. I have had several EMGs through the years which still show only mild CTS on the right and borderline on the left. The report never changes but yet my hand and wrist problems have gotten worse. It's been awhile since my last MRI (can't afford a new one) but I had xrays taken of my neck last year by a chiropractor. The report states:
Degenerative spondylosis at C5-6 and C6-7 levels
Osseous encroachment of the intervertebral foramina bilaterally at the C6-7
Mild straightening of the normal cervical lordosis
Degenerative spondylosis most prominent at the L5-S1 level
Degenerative changes to the sacroiliac joint
(I don't understand what any of this means)
I suffer from mild headaches daily. I used to suffer from migraines but not so much any more. I also suffer from daily neck pain, mostly mild but depends on the day. There have been times where my neck has hurt so bad that it feels like it can not hold up my head. I have difficulty sleeping at night because of my neck and have bought just about every pillow out there with no relief. I cannot turn my head all the way to the left without it pulling and hurting. I also sometimes have pain at the base of my head. When my neck hurts and I try to move it around I can hear and feel like a crunching in there.
My hands, fingers and wrist go numb a lot and and my fingers on my right hand sometimes cramp up and go stiff when holding a toothbrush. I have difficulty squeezing out a sponge when I clean, my arms, wrists and hands ache as well when cleaning. Cooking, chopping, cleaning, etc all aggravate it. I have difficulty grasping and hanging on to things and have suffer loss of strength..even a gallon of milk is difficult to hold now. There have been times when from the knuckles down to my fingers have turned beat red and felt like they were on fire. This has also happened to my hands, back of them as well as palms. I cannot put my hands under cold water, it causes an electrifying shock that goes all the way up my arms. If you press on my wrist my whole hand goes numb. Imagine a balloon being blown up, that's what it feels like. The bones/joints on the back of my hand ache. I have difficulty sleeping because of wrist and hand numbness and pain. Cannot wear wrist braces at night because they cause my hands to swell.
Both arms from the top all the way down constantly feel achy and weak. There have been times where they hurt so bad that I could barely make it through a shower. I sleep on my sides and have to constantly turn over because upper arms ache and and suffer a severely piercing burning sensation. There have been times where the underside of my forearms have felt numb, the only way I can describe that feeling is how your face feels after getting a Novocaine shot from the dentist.
Last year I developed a pain in my right forearm, the area right below the elbow, twisting and turning made it worse. That pain comes and goes. About six months later I developed severe pain in my elbow. I had a few visits with a chiropractor who performed electro stimulation on it. He diagnosed it as bursitis. I also saw a specialist who I did not care for. He only had my EMG reports and nothing from my neck. He said I had tendonitis and could do surgery on it. I told him about my neck problems and asked how does he know it's not coming from my neck. His response was..oh well we can operate on that too! He did offer to give me a cortizone shot but being the chicken that I am I refused. He then sent me home with an arm brace that didn't help at all. The elbow pain lasted for a few months and then started to ease off but I still have some pain there from time to time.
I suffer quite a bit from jaw pain, I catch myself tensing or clenching my jaw all of the time.
I also now suffer from RLS. My doctor prescribed requip but it only seemed to make it worse so I stopped taking it after the second day. This may sound weird but the same sensations that I get in my legs, I also get these in my arms.
All of these problems keep me awake at night so I have been taking two 800 ml Ibuprofen and one or two Somas at night just so I can sleep. Sometimes they work, sometimes they don't. These were not prescribed by my dr and are my husbands prescriptions.
I do not see a doctor regularly for my problems, main reason is I can't afford the office visit. The other reason is I don't have a regular doctor. The Family doc that I had for the last 15 yrs left the practice for a position somewhere else. He knew everything about me and was very easy to talk to. I miss him! Since then I have been through two other doctors at this practice and did not care for either one of them. The first one was as cold as a fish and the second one wasn't any better. The second one kept trying to rush me out the door. I didn't feel comfortable around them and it was hard to talk to them. This office will not let me switch doctors anymore and I hate the thought of trying to find someone new. So if anyone can recommend an excellent doctor in Modesto Ca, one that will listen and NOT rush you out the door please let me know!
Sorry! Back to my question......could it be my neck that is causing all of these problems?
Through the years my symptoms have gotten worse as well as developed new problems which I will go into detail below. I have had several EMGs through the years which still show only mild CTS on the right and borderline on the left. The report never changes but yet my hand and wrist problems have gotten worse. It's been awhile since my last MRI (can't afford a new one) but I had xrays taken of my neck last year by a chiropractor. The report states:
Degenerative spondylosis at C5-6 and C6-7 levels
Osseous encroachment of the intervertebral foramina bilaterally at the C6-7
Mild straightening of the normal cervical lordosis
Degenerative spondylosis most prominent at the L5-S1 level
Degenerative changes to the sacroiliac joint
(I don't understand what any of this means)
I suffer from mild headaches daily. I used to suffer from migraines but not so much any more. I also suffer from daily neck pain, mostly mild but depends on the day. There have been times where my neck has hurt so bad that it feels like it can not hold up my head. I have difficulty sleeping at night because of my neck and have bought just about every pillow out there with no relief. I cannot turn my head all the way to the left without it pulling and hurting. I also sometimes have pain at the base of my head. When my neck hurts and I try to move it around I can hear and feel like a crunching in there.
My hands, fingers and wrist go numb a lot and and my fingers on my right hand sometimes cramp up and go stiff when holding a toothbrush. I have difficulty squeezing out a sponge when I clean, my arms, wrists and hands ache as well when cleaning. Cooking, chopping, cleaning, etc all aggravate it. I have difficulty grasping and hanging on to things and have suffer loss of strength..even a gallon of milk is difficult to hold now. There have been times when from the knuckles down to my fingers have turned beat red and felt like they were on fire. This has also happened to my hands, back of them as well as palms. I cannot put my hands under cold water, it causes an electrifying shock that goes all the way up my arms. If you press on my wrist my whole hand goes numb. Imagine a balloon being blown up, that's what it feels like. The bones/joints on the back of my hand ache. I have difficulty sleeping because of wrist and hand numbness and pain. Cannot wear wrist braces at night because they cause my hands to swell.
Both arms from the top all the way down constantly feel achy and weak. There have been times where they hurt so bad that I could barely make it through a shower. I sleep on my sides and have to constantly turn over because upper arms ache and and suffer a severely piercing burning sensation. There have been times where the underside of my forearms have felt numb, the only way I can describe that feeling is how your face feels after getting a Novocaine shot from the dentist.
Last year I developed a pain in my right forearm, the area right below the elbow, twisting and turning made it worse. That pain comes and goes. About six months later I developed severe pain in my elbow. I had a few visits with a chiropractor who performed electro stimulation on it. He diagnosed it as bursitis. I also saw a specialist who I did not care for. He only had my EMG reports and nothing from my neck. He said I had tendonitis and could do surgery on it. I told him about my neck problems and asked how does he know it's not coming from my neck. His response was..oh well we can operate on that too! He did offer to give me a cortizone shot but being the chicken that I am I refused. He then sent me home with an arm brace that didn't help at all. The elbow pain lasted for a few months and then started to ease off but I still have some pain there from time to time.
I suffer quite a bit from jaw pain, I catch myself tensing or clenching my jaw all of the time.
I also now suffer from RLS. My doctor prescribed requip but it only seemed to make it worse so I stopped taking it after the second day. This may sound weird but the same sensations that I get in my legs, I also get these in my arms.
All of these problems keep me awake at night so I have been taking two 800 ml Ibuprofen and one or two Somas at night just so I can sleep. Sometimes they work, sometimes they don't. These were not prescribed by my dr and are my husbands prescriptions.
I do not see a doctor regularly for my problems, main reason is I can't afford the office visit. The other reason is I don't have a regular doctor. The Family doc that I had for the last 15 yrs left the practice for a position somewhere else. He knew everything about me and was very easy to talk to. I miss him! Since then I have been through two other doctors at this practice and did not care for either one of them. The first one was as cold as a fish and the second one wasn't any better. The second one kept trying to rush me out the door. I didn't feel comfortable around them and it was hard to talk to them. This office will not let me switch doctors anymore and I hate the thought of trying to find someone new. So if anyone can recommend an excellent doctor in Modesto Ca, one that will listen and NOT rush you out the door please let me know!
Sorry! Back to my question......could it be my neck that is causing all of these problems?
Post Comment
It's hard to give you some suggestion as more physical examnation needed.
What can I do about these headaches? I woke this morning with a bad one as well as neck pain and jaw pain. I've had it for four hours already and it it doesn't seem to want to go away. I am so tired of being like this. The other pains I can at least deal with but the constant headaches are making my life unbearable.
u have guessed it rt... your neck pain is the cause for all of your upper extremity problems. could you pls tell me how were these problems managed right from the beginning?( i mean were you recommended only medications or is there something else your doctors suggested). taking into consideration your chief complains and your x-ray investigation reports, what i think is that the nerves coming out from the intervertebral foramen are impinged. as a result of it, you are experiencing that burning sensation in your hands.the complains you have mentioned, give me a picture of severe cervical spondylosis. it would be of great help if you could somehow post your x-rays on this community(i really do not know if thats possible here). ofcourse, a detailed physical examination is required in your case and so you definitely need to go and see a doctor. i do understand that you are very much hurt and disturbed because of the approach towards you by the doctors, but you need to find someone early.(i would do it myself if i were in the States). if it is possible to find out your family doctor, do it or else if it is not possible for you to meet him in person, atleast try to talk to him regarding your case. since he know you well, he would be in a better position to handle the case.
if this is not possible, you will have to find out another orthopedician and ask him if he would recommend physiotherapy. i am a physio myself, but i wont comment anything on the treatment part right now. but remember, the sooner you visit a doc, the better it is for you, because from the detailed history that you have given here, i think that the condition must have worsened due to a delay in treatment.