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Living with Neuropathy - Welcome to the group

Neuropathy | Last Active: Oct 27 5:51pm | Replies (6152)

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@jenniferhunter

Hi Becky, At least you have some information now. Are you going to explore the spine issues further? An MRI will show what an X-ray cannot. Did your neurologist suggest it? I would suggest mapping out your pain on a dermatome map (search online for one) and track it so you will know how it changes over time. I did this after an epidural injection in my neck and saw how my spine issues progressed over 6 months. Unfortunately, that worked against me with the surgeons who couldn't connect the symptoms to the imaging and the symptoms kept getting bigger, but it also weeded them out as job candidates, and that's how I came to Mayo. The nerve roots follow the dermatome maps as to where the pain will be from a particular level. Pain cause by compression of the spinal cord does not follow a dermatome map, and that is what confused a lot of surgeons in my case when I had pain in every dermatome on my body from cord compression at C5 C6. You can also have a mix of both if you have compression in multiple areas, and also in peripheral places like, carpal tunnel, etc. If you are considering a spine specialist at Mayo at some time in the future, just ask, and I will share the specifics on my surgeon. You might be up against doctors who just want to do injections to your spine. There are real serious risks to those and the effect is temporary usually. I had a bad reaction and stabbing pains that went on for weeks because the injected fluid increased pressure when it had no place to go and I refused to do that again. Some doctors put off surgery for awhile with injections. Remember that the choices are yours in who you see and what treatment you think is best for you, and the doctors are there to give you an informed choice of what they can do to help. Here is a link to medical literature I found about cervical stenosis causing leg pain from spinal cord compression. This is why I often jump in to help when I see other patients that may have this issue. I was misdiagnosed for 3 years before I came to Mayo and I brought this article with me to my doctors there. This is what my case was like, and it explains how this type of spine problem is often misunderstood. http://europepmc.org/articles/PMC3111492/reload=0

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Replies to "Hi Becky, At least you have some information now. Are you going to explore the spine..."

@jenniferhunter Thank you so much for the information. I, unfortunately, do not live close to a Mayo Clinic hospital. The closest would be in Cleveland, Ohio about three hours away. I am hopeful that my docs will figure this out. I will start mapping my pain and neuropathy for my next appointment. The neuropathy pain has been intense in my left hand this week. Not sleeping well due to the pain.

Thanks again!

Best regards,
Becki