Herniated disc

[Myhope360]

Can anyone tell me if a small herniated disc with slight cord impingement cause upper middle abdominal pressure?
The herniated disc is at T6 and T7.  Thank you

[roeann]

I understand the couch potato problem - I used to do martial arts an hour or two a day, hike, fish, and garden. Now martial arts workouts are definitely out, and the rest are limited depending on how I feel that day.  The result is my weight blossomed.. so now I'm trying to get it back down.

I hope they figure out what's going on with you soon.  Whenever I deal with the docs I always remind myself that medicine is part art and part science.  Sometimes it takes a better artist to paint the full picture.

[Myhope360]

Hi,thank for the reply.

Your description seems much more serious than mine, I'm glad your treatment has provided some relieve for you and allowed you to get more sleep.  My experiences with doctors have also been frustrating, I wish they would take us more seriously.

I am currently being evaluated for possible multiple sclerosis.  Back in february I was rushed to the ER with severe upper middle abdominal pain that radiated to either side of my back, I thought I was having a heart attack.  After a series of test, CT scan, Xrays, sonogram nad ECG, no doctors has been able to give me an explanation.  Later on I had a series of MRI because of tingling in my rigth leg.  L, C, T  spine and brain MRI.  The brain MRI showed lesions and the T spine showed the small herniated disc with slight cord impingement.  My neurologist doesn't think the pressure I have been having on a daily basis is from MS or the herniated disc, a gastroenterologist had no answer either.  I wonder if there is anyone out there who ever went to the ER thinking they were going to die and never knew the cause of those symptons.  I've always been a very healthy person running 3 to 4 miles 5 days a week, never been overweight, now I have become a couch potatoe because of all the pain.  I don't have any pain when I'm laying down.

I wish you the best and I hope you will never need surgery      

[roeann]

Hi, in short my personal experience leads me to say "yes it can".  

I have 4 bulging discs (3 in my neck and a large bulging disc at the T6-T7) along with cervical stenosis with spurs and facet disease.  The T6-T7 causes me pain in my right front and back rib area and sometimes it extends into the right upper quad of my abdomen. I also have neuropathy in my right hand (last two fingers and outer side of my hand) and some numbness in my feet.  

A quick history -- I sought out care because the discomfort from the pain and muscle spasms was interfering with my ability to sleep.  I think my regular doc thought I was overstating my discomfort so dragged her feet a bit.  After a month or so of only sleeping 2-3 hours a day I was getting a bit short tempered so demanded she do something and she (I think out of frustration with my complaints) sent me to a neurologist.  He immediately ordered an MRI of my upper back and neck and found the problem(s).  At the time I was told the back/rib/abdominal pain was not unexpected given the severity of the T-6-T7 bulging.

Treatment -  I was sent to the local surgeon to be evaluated. The surgeon told me he was concerned with the likelihood of complications due to the location and severity of the T6-T7 problem. So, we decided to hold off on surgery unless/until  things get worse.  If they do I think I will go to a larger city to be evaluated again by a surgeon who hopefully have more experience with this problem.  The neurologist put me on some fairly heavy pain meds and sent me for PT.  I didn't like the way the pain meds effected me so we experimented a bit and now I take lyrica 150 mg bid for the neuropathy and at night I take muscle relaxants for the muscle spasms.  This drug combo doesn't eliminate the discomfort but it makes it manageable and I can even sleep for 6 or 7 hours.  However, I must warn you that I've been told that my pain tolerance is pretty high.