Are there common areas for nerve pain?

[Corriel]

Happy Tuesday everyone!

For the last month and a half I have had what I assume is nerve pain but I am not sure. It started as a burning pain between both shoulder blades and lasted about a month. I chalked it up to sitting too long at work and started giving myself more regular breaks to see if that would help but it didn't.

After a month it moved to being beneath the left shoulder blade, close to my left side. The burning is now intermittant with a tingling/buzzing feeling. Whether I am seated or standing I have it but I don't notice it much when I am lying on my back.

I tried heat and ice, epsom salt baths and finally tried a nerve pain relief cream that seemed to help a bit but it's getting close to 2 months now and I really don't know if it is MS related or if a pinched nerve could cause these sensations.

No rash has appeared so I think I can safely rule out shingles and I have had my gallbladder removed so I don't think it is referred pain either.

It seems like an odd area to be an MS symptom but I thought I would check with the group to see if it was something anyone else had experienced.

Thanks so much,

Corrie

[Artanis12]

Well, I know *I* chalked up my nerve pain to various other causes - neck issues, entrapped nerve due to weight gain - but the neuro seemed to think they were significant in my diagnosis.

I've had a patch on my upper left back between the shoulder blade and spine for years.  It would burn and tingle on and off for months at a time.  I still have it.

For even longer I've had parethesias on the skin of my left thigh - numbness, burning, tingling, and finally, horrible lightning strike pains.  It's better now, but there seems to be permanent damage.

I guess that's a long-winded way of saying I blew them off as either injury or nerve entrapment, but they seriously could be from MS. It's hard to tell, but if I'd ever pursued it beyond the GP, I might have known about my MS years earlier.  And naturally, docs will go for the simplest answer...so....

Karen

[idntknow]

Unfortunately there really isn't a common area for nerve pain.
  However on my last major flair I had, started with the feeling like someone punched me between my shoulder blades. That's when they finally DXed me with MS.

[HVAC]

It is important for a doctor even a GP to rule it as nerve pain. They can give you something like Gabenpentin, Lyrica, or Trileptal if the pain is bothering you. In MS you have nerve pain and muscle spasms. I have shoulder pain but it is spasms. I take Zanaflex for muscle pain.

Alex

[essdipity]

Have you tried aspirin or similar? The common pain relievers don't help if it's pain from nerves, so that's one test.

If the pain feels deep and more or less muscular, it's unlikely to be nerve pain. It still could be muscle spasms, though you would feel the spasming, I'd think.

You don't say, but if it's basically on the surface then yes, very probably a painful paresthesia caused by MS, especially if it varies between burning and tingling. I've had that issue for a lot of years, mostly in my right leg and foot.  The vast majority of it is burning, but sometimes it's almost numb. Apparently we have separate nerve fibers for every kind of sensation but they're very closely bundled, so a lesion could cause different sensations, from what I've read.

I've never understood why this problem comes on me every evening without fail, but is gone the next morning. In recent weeks, though, it comes and goes during the day, as well :-( I do take gabapentin and don't want to have to take more.

ess

[bbassel]

The spot on the right side of my back, just below the shoulder blade has been giving me pain for about five years now.

When I first met my neurologist/MS specialist, she ran a pin over my back. She. Then told me that the unbearable pain I was experiencing, was due to lesions on my spine.

A MRI of spine was ordered and sure enough she was correct! It took her all of ten mins to tell me what has been causing me horrible pain all these years.

Lately I have been having pain on the left side a little lower than the right side. I amm almost positive it is due to a new lesion.

The only drug that has brought me some relief is amitryptaline. Problem is it makes me tired so I can only take it at bedtime.

Hope you feel better,
Barb

[karryon55]

Hi Corrie,

I have a burning feeling between my shoulder blades as well but I have always attributed this to when I had stress fractures in my thoracic spine 14 years ago. It never had the burning pain originally rather more like a sharp pain but as the years have gone by I now only have a burning type pain.

I also have burning pain on my left leg and once trialled Lyrica for these pains but I was out for the count on 25mg so I gave up on it. I may try again one day. :D

I hope it settles soon.

Hugs,

Karry.

[Corriel]

Thanks everyone!

Karen, I am intrigued that you have a similar symptom. I had some skin sensitivity and aching around my collabones a couple of months ago before this happened so I keep thinking it might be related and that maybe my newly protruding C-6 disc is responsible somehow....

idntknow, that punched feeling must have been intense, symptoms are so variable aren't they?

Alex, I've been avoiding my GP and neuro because I kept hoping it would go away. I've been able to plow through so far but if the end isn't in sight soon, I may need some medicinal intervention. :)

ess, I have been avoiding anti-inflammatories because I am seeing a hematologist/oncologist in a few weeks about a potential platelet issue. I did try acetaminophen with no change in the burning/tingling/buzzing. The skin feels sensitive to the touch and I am not noticing any spasms.

I checked my symptom log and apparently this started almost 3 months ago. While it has changed from burning to buzzing and now it seems like tingling it has been persistent pretty much all day every day.

Barb, for a year my neuro has thought that my increasing symptoms were c-spine related but I have had 2 MRI's (one last July and on in Feb this year) that show nothing but a small disc protrusion on Feb's scans. When I had new symptoms in February again my neuro was convinced that if there was no lesion showing then it wasn't MS related...Sigh.

Karry, those stress fractures mut have been tremendously painful! Good to know about Lyrica, if that is ever an option for me.

Thanks again, I think I will call and see if I can get an appointment to see my neuro. If this goes away before I can get in, I can still mention it and see whatever happened with my arm/hand nerve conduction study from Feb that was still unavailable 3 weeks ago.

Corrie