I have some imaging CD's

[rohrer01]

Thanks Sharon!
So far so good, today as well! I'm getting quite sore, but I took advantage of yesterday and went sledding with the grandson. We had a blast! Now to figure out the headaches... I'm more optomistic than I have been is such a long time. It's just amazing what one really good day can do for the psyche.

[JenniferG]

Only just caught up with this thread. That's such great news! Keep us up to date, I do hope this lasts. So nice to hear someone in constant pain, have a win!

[rohrer01]

Thank you, Jennifer!
I have these episodes off and on since forever. I'm really hoping that this one is finally coming to its end. They usually last anywhere from a week to a couple of months, except for the really bad ones. The last really bad one I had lasted about three or four years, wayyy too long. This one has been a little over two years, so far. But the pain involved seems to be much worse and the DDD and headaches to go along with it makes it harder. I appreciate the encouragement! At least now I feel like I can start addressing one thing at a time. :-)

[rohrer01]

Well, I fell on Thursday, right in the hospital lobby, too! My grandson accidentally knocked me over trying to see the fish in the fish tank. I got right up and thought I was okay. I am NOT okay. I need to get to the doc ASAP as the pain in my neck and shoulder are so severe that nothing is touching it! I've been awake all night. Thought about ER last night and I've decided to tough it out. I don't know how smart that was, since I'm still up and it's 5am here. It hurts SOOO bad! Whaaaa. :'(

I fall way too much. My balance just isn't as good as it used to be. I can't figure out why that is because as far as my scoliosis is concerned, I "look" balanced. I don't know if it has something to do with the headaches or the headaches are from my scoliosis, who knows? No one can seem to figure me out. All I know is that I need some pain relief. My percocets just aren't cutting the mustard! I'm too young for this!

I hope everyone else rested well.

Rohrer01

[Pooka1]

Sorry to hear that, Rohrer.

I don't understand why the percosets don't touch it unless it is nerve pain. Does it feel like nerve pain?

Over the counter don't touch my herniated disc pain.

By the way, as I recently learned, headache can be a symptom of a herniated disc. Sometimes there are no other symptoms. Besides the lumbar, the neck is the other place where discs herniate. Maybe you are dealing with that?

I have been awoken in the middle of the night with a strange headache several nights since my injury. That is the disc rupture.

Good luck.

[rohrer01]

Sorry to hear that, Rohrer.

I don't understand why the percosets don't touch it unless it is nerve pain. Does it feel like nerve pain?

Over the counter don't touch my herniated disc pain.

By the way, as I recently learned, headache can be a symptom of a herniated disc. Sometimes there are no other symptoms. Besides the lumbar, the neck is the other place where discs herniate. Maybe you are dealing with that?

I have been awoken in the middle of the night with a strange headache several nights since my injury. That is the disc rupture.

Good luck.

I think it's been over a year since I've had a cervical MRI. I had a mild bone spur and some slight narrowing at the left nerve root opening at C-4/C-5. So I don't really know if I've had any changes since then.

Yes, I have nerve pain and severe muscle spasms create "nerve like" pain. The muscle spasms were so bad last night that it looked like ribbons under my skin on my upper left trapezius. Percocet quits working when you are on it for a long time like I have been. Your body gets accustomed to it. It will do that with any narcotic. I have an appt today and am going to ask if I can switch to another med to see if it will work better for a time. I also want to ask about toradol. It's an injectable NSAID. I don't know if they can prescribe it or not. I can't take oral NSAIDS anymore because of my stomach. My mindset is if I can get some of the inflamation down by using an NSAID, then I won't need so many narcotics. I can give myself a shot, so that's not a problem. I just don't know if it can be prescribed. I've had it in the past and it didn't help with the pain, but I'm wondering if it isn't because the pain was too far out of control for it to work. I'll let you all know what he says.

Headaches are my life. They are working on a solution for that. I think they should be doing an MRI or CT scan or something before trying all of these meds for my headaches. I've had one MRI of my head for headache, but it was done without contrast and it was like 6 to 8 years ago. My headaches are different and they should be ruling things out, especially since I've developed nodules on my head. I have two of them now, and sometimes they hurt and they are getting bigger. I need to be a LOT more proactive at my appointments!

Thanks for the well wishes, Sharon. I hope I get some relief today, too!

What are they going to do for your ruptured discs? Are they lumbar or cervical or both? I hope you feel better, too!

[rohrer01]

He gave me two shots of Nubane and something for the nausea. Nubane is "supposed" to be a good pain killer. All it did for me was make me hallucinate and I was still in just as much pain. I'm still in pain, although he urged me to go back on fentanyl. I said not unless this lasts more than a week. Fentanyl is hard for me to go off of.

As far as the injectable NSAID, I thought I would bypass the tummy trouble by going straight to the blood stream. Apparently, all the NSAIDS do their most damage AFTER they get into the blood stream. So that was a no go. I could still get ulcers from them, no matter how I take them.

I just have to make it to tomorrow. Pain, pain go away...do NOT return even for a day...I'll update you all as to how it goes for me tomorrow. At least I know that if it gets to a 9 again, I can use my fentanyl patches, as much as I don't want to do it.

[Pooka1]

What are they going to do for your ruptured discs? Are they lumbar or cervical or both? I hope you feel better, too!

It is just a lumbar. It is resolving. I diagnosed it myself based on the identicalness to when I did have a diagnosed disc rupture in the early 1990s and the textbook symptoms.

It will take a few weeks to a few months to resolve just like last time

By the way, I found a web site saying disc rupture had a strong genetic component. Amazing. My discs are supposed to be pretty dessicated by now (I'm 52) and still I ruptured one with the associated sciatica.

It's again a sports injury... I was riding my horse when it happened.

[loves to skate]

Rohrer, I am so sorry for your neck pain. Have you been icing it? Ice helped me last year when I had severe neck pain. Also, my primary care Doc gave me a 10 day prescription of cortisone pills which helped a lot. I was having numbness up the back side of my head along with headaches. It was better than having a shot of cortisone.

Sorry for your pain also Poola. Been there and done that also.

Good luck to both of you in resolving your pain.

Sally

[rohrer01]

Thank you, Sally.

I have been alternating heat and ice for a couple of days. I had one doc tell me that you ice an injury for the first 48 hours and after that you apply heat. I've been alternating because heat is supposed to help muscle spasm and ice numbs the nerve endings.

Yesterday, I got two shots of Nubane, which did nothing except make me hallucinate. NO pain relief what-so-ever, but you wouldn't know that with how loopy I was. I don't like drugs that affect my brain like that! The doc did the best he could, that's all he had on hand.

Today, I had seven trigger point injections for the horrid muscle spasms. I also put a fentanyl patch on because it takes two days for the trigger points to work. I took a percocet until the fentanyl kicks in (it's rather slow because it's a patch). Don't worry folks, I've been here before and am not going to OD. My doc, yesterday, recommended that I go back on fentanyl for awhile. I told him NO because I'm hoping this will resolve shortly AND I don't want to go through withdrawal again. But a couple of days isn't going to cause me withdrawal. I just can't take the pain anymore! It's been four days of unbearably excruciating pain where I only get a dull in it from meds but no real relief and the lidocaine from today is wearing off.

My neck has never quit hurting, so my doc today ordered a set of cervical x-rays "just in case" it's broken. It's highly unlikely, since I didn't hit my head, but it's better to be safe than sorry. Likely I just flared up Arther(itis) in my C4/C5 area. It sure smarts, though!

Oh, and I've finally been diagnosed with something that can be treated with Botox. I have "muscle dystonia due to upper thoracic scoliosis". They will try injecting the upper trapezius (nothing so far has been able to calm that muscle down at all). I have to wait for this episode to settle down and then give my doc a call. I'm pretty sure that the insurance will pull through since I have a physiatrist (MD in Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation/Neurosciences) and a headache specialist (NP in Neurosciences) both recommending it. :-) I hope it works! If it does, then I won't have to get trigger point injections with the risk that steroids pose.

Jrnyc's experience with her drop in cortisol really scared me. I talked with my doc about her, and he is aware of the risks and is only using half doses of steroid with me because of those risks. He says right now I'm not at risk for that happening. I'll be one happy camper if the botox works. I'll be one step closer to my goal of "drug free". When I say that, I really mean "narcotic free".

Anyway, that's my update. Sorry if some of my stuff is redundant from my last update.

Sharon, I hope you know what you are doing. You might be "textbook" with a ruptured disc, but you must remember that all disc injuries aren't equal. Sometimes the disc itself can protrude (if it's just a bulge) or if it's actually ruptured, the cartilaginous material can sit on the nerve. The only way to make it better in the latter case would be to have that piece excised. It's only about a quarter inch incision where they go in and suck it out. You might consider having it checked out just to be safe.

I wish all of you the best! Sally, I know you're not feeling the greatest, either. I hope your PT is helping!

Rohrer01

[rohrer01]

Just a short clip that I found suggesting that my cervical dystonia is not that uncommon among people with scoliosis. I think especially my "high and tight" scoliosis is likely to make me more succeptible. At least I'm getting somewhere.

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/12654970

[rohrer01]

I'm just updating, for those of you interested. I saw another doctor in Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation the other day. He thinks Botox injections will help with the left shoulder and neck pain as well as reducing my migraines because of the cervical dystonia. I hope it works. I go in next week to get them and will keep updating my progress.

[mabeckoff]

I'm just updating, for those of you interested. I saw another doctor in Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation the other day. He thinks Botox injections will help with the left shoulder and neck pain as well as reducing my migraines because of the cervical dystonia. I hope it works. I go in next week to get them and will keep updating my progress.

Hope you get some relief soon

[rohrer01]

Hope you get some relief soon

Thanks, Melissa. I hope you get some relief, too.

[JenniferG]

Good luck rohrer01. Hope you get the relief you so deserve.