Parsonage turner syndrome *

Posted by adriennes @adriennes, Sep 9, 2017

I was diagnosed with parsonage turner last November after 2 months of agony, while I am able to function now, I'm still experiencing severe weakness, numbness, pain, this is unusual im told, but having it as a woman is unusual also. Does anyone have any experience with this?

Interested in more discussions like this? Go to the Brain & Nervous System Support Group.

@andylevine

For what it is worth, my parsonage Turner was apparently directly related to something called a thymoma, a very rare form of cancer. It is quite treatable when caught early. You may want to mention that they should image your thymus. The oncologist at Penn see these two conditions so rarely there is no medical information available and so there are no studies endorsing any form of correlation here. But thymoma is typically related to an autoimmune condition, and parsonage Turner is just such a condition. The chances may be small, but it was what was causing my condition. Once the tumor was removed the pain was gone.

Jump to this post

Merry Christmas

REPLY
@andylevine

For what it is worth, my parsonage Turner was apparently directly related to something called a thymoma, a very rare form of cancer. It is quite treatable when caught early. You may want to mention that they should image your thymus. The oncologist at Penn see these two conditions so rarely there is no medical information available and so there are no studies endorsing any form of correlation here. But thymoma is typically related to an autoimmune condition, and parsonage Turner is just such a condition. The chances may be small, but it was what was causing my condition. Once the tumor was removed the pain was gone.

Jump to this post

@dear painful. i am here to let you know that others such as myself do care for you and your suffering. it was not to long ago i lay on the couch or in the bed suffering with my swollen knee, foot, etc and nothing really stopped the pain. it took more than six months and then another area of the body took over. two years of psoriatic and rheumatoid arthritis took over taking turns with my body. we do understand your suffering and wish we could help in some way. i leave it up to the others who have experience with your health problems. have a good holidays.

REPLY
@andylevine

For what it is worth, my parsonage Turner was apparently directly related to something called a thymoma, a very rare form of cancer. It is quite treatable when caught early. You may want to mention that they should image your thymus. The oncologist at Penn see these two conditions so rarely there is no medical information available and so there are no studies endorsing any form of correlation here. But thymoma is typically related to an autoimmune condition, and parsonage Turner is just such a condition. The chances may be small, but it was what was causing my condition. Once the tumor was removed the pain was gone.

Jump to this post

i would like to add that you must be careful even with advil or tylenol. they do affect the kidneys, liver and etc. when the pain goes on for a long time the pain pills take their toll. peach over and out.

REPLY
@andylevine

For what it is worth, my parsonage Turner was apparently directly related to something called a thymoma, a very rare form of cancer. It is quite treatable when caught early. You may want to mention that they should image your thymus. The oncologist at Penn see these two conditions so rarely there is no medical information available and so there are no studies endorsing any form of correlation here. But thymoma is typically related to an autoimmune condition, and parsonage Turner is just such a condition. The chances may be small, but it was what was causing my condition. Once the tumor was removed the pain was gone.

Jump to this post

Thank you

REPLY
@adriennes

I have PTS, am female and have the rarer form where the medial, ulnar and radial nerves are mainly affected, along with all the others in my brachial plexis, its been 13 months, i am better but am looking for anyone else who also has prolonged pain, denervation, extreme weakness

Jump to this post

Greetings to you all!
I was just diagnosed with PTS this morning. Have been reading nearly everything I can find on the topic and came across this group. At least I have an answer for the pain. Was mis-diagnosed by my Primary Care doc and by an ER doc when the pain became so extreme, I gave in and went to a local ER to get some answers, or so I thought.

My Ortho doc who did my Rotator cuff surgery on the same shoulder 3 years ago, gave me his diagnosis this morning. He placed me on Gabapentin & a Methylpredisolone dose pack. Hopefully these will begin to ease the nerves. Wondering what others take to help them sleep at night?

Glad there's a group like this who understands. Thanks for the add!

REPLY
@texasmama

My 19 year old daughter was a promising volleyball player. She had been recruited to several colleges and committed to playing. However, in January of her senior year of HS she developed what we thought was a pulled muscle on top of her trapezoid by her neck. She had had a very busy few weeks as she had played in two tournaments rarely seeing the bench for a rest. The first tourney however she was quite sick with a fever and flu like symptoms so she sat out the first two days. A month later the knot on top was gone, but the soreness and stiffness remained and she would often be seen rubbing on top of her shoulder or near her neck. We saw our chiropractor initially then moved on to the physician who assured us rest would help. After a few months the pain now radiated into her shoulder. She saw an ortho doc to rule out any impingement or rotator cuff issues. She had MRI and it came back clear with some tendinitis near the shoulder. Rest and ice. She went off to play in college still having pain. Three a day hell weeks pushed her over the edge and she was having constant pain. A month later she came to visit and her scapula was winged WAY out on the same side and she was now feeling scapula pain. She has now been seen by three ortho surgeons, a neurologist who performed EMG who now say she has Parsonage Turner Syndrome.. they think. It’s been 20months now since the initial lump. She has quit volleyball and has ongoing pain radiating from her trap down into her scapula and shoulder. She has nerve damage on several nerves and weakened muscles. I wouldn’t allow them to put her on pain medication except for ibuprofen so that’s all she’s taking. BUT.. there are times she is in a lot of pain and can’t use the arm to reach for things. Rarely picks things up, has problems using that arm and hand to open things. We have tried PT for the last year. Cupping seemed to help the most. I’m just at a loss as to what to do. NONE of these doctors offer hope or even direction for us. Just... she doesn’t need shoulder surgery. We were told it would take two years for her to be well by the neurologist, but it’s almost that time and I don’t see that it’s improved much. It still wakes her sometimes. She can’t travel for hours in the car without her arm aching for weeks in the future. She said writing notes in class is sometimes a chore. Does ANYONE have ANY advice or hope or direction. I cry thinking about my 5’10” beast of a hitter to a girl who has a hard time raising her arm. She’s in college for nursing and I wonder sometimes if she will even be able to perform the tasks in her career future!! I will mention two things also that seemed random and non related but sometimes I wonder... when she was 17 she developed “trigger finger” and had to have tendon release surgery. They stated it wasn’t an uncommon thing for basketball and volleyball players to get since they “jamb” their fingers. Second thing is she had weird stuff happen in high school like sweating an enormous amount even just sitting in a normal temp room. She also passed out a few times (both was the first day of her period) and we were told it was her heavy blood
Loss and her body’s response to fight or flight. The sweating we were told was just a kid who sweat a lot. That’s all.. if anyone has any offering I would be so grateful to hear.

Jump to this post

Hello @texasmama, welcome to Connect. I'm sorry your daughter has to deal with this disease at such a young age. I know it's hard for you also and I thank you for being an advocate for her. There is another active discussion for Parsonage Turner Syndrome where you might get better visibility for your post and connect with other members who have discussed Parsonage Turner Syndrome. I'm tagging @ethanmcconkey to see if he is able to offer some other suggestions or possibly move your post this discussion for more visibility.

Groups > Brain & Nervous System > Parsonage turner syndrome *
https://connect.mayoclinic.org/discussion/parsonage-turner-syndrome/

I don’t have any experience or knowledge of Parsonage Turner Syndrome but thought I would point you to a couple of websites that may be able to help until another Connect member joins the discussion.

The National Organizations for Rare Disorders talks about it here: https://rarediseases.org/rare-diseases/parsonage-turner-syndrome/.
Mayo Clinic also offers some information here: http://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/brachial-plexus-injury/symptoms-causes/dxc-20127374

@texasmama has your daughter's doctors discussed any treatment plan or suggestions to help your daughter?

John

REPLY
@johnbishop

Hello @texasmama, welcome to Connect. I'm sorry your daughter has to deal with this disease at such a young age. I know it's hard for you also and I thank you for being an advocate for her. There is another active discussion for Parsonage Turner Syndrome where you might get better visibility for your post and connect with other members who have discussed Parsonage Turner Syndrome. I'm tagging @ethanmcconkey to see if he is able to offer some other suggestions or possibly move your post this discussion for more visibility.

Groups > Brain & Nervous System > Parsonage turner syndrome *
https://connect.mayoclinic.org/discussion/parsonage-turner-syndrome/

I don’t have any experience or knowledge of Parsonage Turner Syndrome but thought I would point you to a couple of websites that may be able to help until another Connect member joins the discussion.

The National Organizations for Rare Disorders talks about it here: https://rarediseases.org/rare-diseases/parsonage-turner-syndrome/.
Mayo Clinic also offers some information here: http://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/brachial-plexus-injury/symptoms-causes/dxc-20127374

@texasmama has your daughter's doctors discussed any treatment plan or suggestions to help your daughter?

John

Jump to this post

Thanks for the info John. And no. Not a single suggestion or treatment plan. One ortho surgeon suggested we see a specialist on scapulas if WE didn’t want to go along with PTS. It’s been a very confusing time. I would appreciate it if you would move the post to PTS.. seems like A LOT more info there

REPLY
@texasmama

My 19 year old daughter was a promising volleyball player. She had been recruited to several colleges and committed to playing. However, in January of her senior year of HS she developed what we thought was a pulled muscle on top of her trapezoid by her neck. She had had a very busy few weeks as she had played in two tournaments rarely seeing the bench for a rest. The first tourney however she was quite sick with a fever and flu like symptoms so she sat out the first two days. A month later the knot on top was gone, but the soreness and stiffness remained and she would often be seen rubbing on top of her shoulder or near her neck. We saw our chiropractor initially then moved on to the physician who assured us rest would help. After a few months the pain now radiated into her shoulder. She saw an ortho doc to rule out any impingement or rotator cuff issues. She had MRI and it came back clear with some tendinitis near the shoulder. Rest and ice. She went off to play in college still having pain. Three a day hell weeks pushed her over the edge and she was having constant pain. A month later she came to visit and her scapula was winged WAY out on the same side and she was now feeling scapula pain. She has now been seen by three ortho surgeons, a neurologist who performed EMG who now say she has Parsonage Turner Syndrome.. they think. It’s been 20months now since the initial lump. She has quit volleyball and has ongoing pain radiating from her trap down into her scapula and shoulder. She has nerve damage on several nerves and weakened muscles. I wouldn’t allow them to put her on pain medication except for ibuprofen so that’s all she’s taking. BUT.. there are times she is in a lot of pain and can’t use the arm to reach for things. Rarely picks things up, has problems using that arm and hand to open things. We have tried PT for the last year. Cupping seemed to help the most. I’m just at a loss as to what to do. NONE of these doctors offer hope or even direction for us. Just... she doesn’t need shoulder surgery. We were told it would take two years for her to be well by the neurologist, but it’s almost that time and I don’t see that it’s improved much. It still wakes her sometimes. She can’t travel for hours in the car without her arm aching for weeks in the future. She said writing notes in class is sometimes a chore. Does ANYONE have ANY advice or hope or direction. I cry thinking about my 5’10” beast of a hitter to a girl who has a hard time raising her arm. She’s in college for nursing and I wonder sometimes if she will even be able to perform the tasks in her career future!! I will mention two things also that seemed random and non related but sometimes I wonder... when she was 17 she developed “trigger finger” and had to have tendon release surgery. They stated it wasn’t an uncommon thing for basketball and volleyball players to get since they “jamb” their fingers. Second thing is she had weird stuff happen in high school like sweating an enormous amount even just sitting in a normal temp room. She also passed out a few times (both was the first day of her period) and we were told it was her heavy blood
Loss and her body’s response to fight or flight. The sweating we were told was just a kid who sweat a lot. That’s all.. if anyone has any offering I would be so grateful to hear.

Jump to this post

Hello @texasmama- I'm so sorry to hear that you and your family have been brought to a halt by this. My sisters all played volleyball in school and in college- it's their life and they live for it. I imagine its been extremely tough.

Have you thought about traveling to Mayo orthopedics and getting another opinion? I can imagine the cost and frustration with putting time into explaining her symptoms to yet another physician but I believe in Mayo Clinic and the cases that the physicians see are sometimes things they have seen before with other patients that have also made the journey as a last resort. As well as the access that Mayo physicians have to other specialties within the same facility. Keep doing research, read the medical journals, look for information within Mayo's YouTube, Facebook pages, read and reach out to the others here on connect at the link John gave you in the above post and research pages. You are bound to find someone to give you some answers.

From one mama to another- strength and peace. Please come back and give us an update. Future parents looking for information will thank you!

I will move the conversation to the already existing PTS conversation taking place.

REPLY
@adriennes

I have PTS, am female and have the rarer form where the medial, ulnar and radial nerves are mainly affected, along with all the others in my brachial plexis, its been 13 months, i am better but am looking for anyone else who also has prolonged pain, denervation, extreme weakness

Jump to this post

My 19 year old daughter was a promising volleyball player. She had been recruited to several colleges and committed to playing. However, in January of her senior year of HS she developed what we thought was a pulled muscle on top of her trapezoid by her neck. She had had a very busy few weeks as she had played in two tournaments rarely seeing the bench for a rest. The first tourney however she was quite sick with a fever and flu like symptoms so she sat out the first two days. A month later the knot on top was gone, but the soreness and stiffness remained and she would often be seen rubbing on top of her shoulder or near her neck. We saw our chiropractor initially then moved on to the physician who assured us rest would help. After a few months the pain now radiated into her shoulder. She saw an ortho doc to rule out any impingement or rotator cuff issues. She had MRI and it came back clear with some tendinitis near the shoulder. Rest and ice. She went off to play in college still having pain. Three a day hell weeks pushed her over the edge and she was having constant pain. A month later she came to visit and her scapula was winged WAY out on the same side and she was now feeling scapula pain. She has now been seen by three ortho surgeons, a neurologist who performed EMG who now say she has Parsonage Turner Syndrome.. they think. It’s been 20months now since the initial lump. She has quit volleyball and has ongoing pain radiating from her trap down into her scapula and shoulder. She has nerve damage on several nerves and weakened muscles. I wouldn’t allow them to put her on pain medication except for ibuprofen so that’s all she’s taking. BUT.. there are times she is in a lot of pain and can’t use the arm to reach for things. Rarely picks things up, has problems using that arm and hand to open things. We have tried PT for the last year. Cupping seemed to help the most. I’m just at a loss as to what to do. NONE of these doctors offer hope or even direction for us. Just... she doesn’t need shoulder surgery. We were told it would take two years for her to be well by the neurologist, but it’s almost that time and I don’t see that it’s improved much. It still wakes her sometimes. She can’t travel for hours in the car without her arm aching for weeks in the future. She said writing notes in class is sometimes a chore. Does ANYONE have ANY advice or hope or direction. I cry thinking about my 5’10” beast of a hitter to a girl who has a hard time raising her arm. She’s in college for nursing and I wonder sometimes if she will even be able to perform the tasks in her career future!! I will mention two things also that seemed random and non related but sometimes I wonder... when she was 17 she developed “trigger finger” and had to have tendon release surgery. They stated it wasn’t an uncommon thing for basketball and volleyball players to get since they “jamb” their fingers. Second thing is she had weird stuff happen in high school like sweating an enormous amount even just sitting in a normal temp room. She also passed out a few times (both was the first day of her period) and we were told it was her heavy blood
Loss and her body’s response to fight or flight. The sweating we were told was just a kid who sweat a lot. That’s all.. if anyone has any offering I would be so grateful to hear.

REPLY
@adriennes

I have PTS, am female and have the rarer form where the medial, ulnar and radial nerves are mainly affected, along with all the others in my brachial plexis, its been 13 months, i am better but am looking for anyone else who also has prolonged pain, denervation, extreme weakness

Jump to this post

I was diagnosed Parsonage Turner about 8 years ago. I mostly recovered but still have problems with fine motor skills in my hand.
2 days ago out of nowhere my same shoulder started hurting pretty badly. Movement made it worse. Pain radiates down my arm. The pain is a bit less now but still there. I was wondering if Parsonage Turner has returned. What I do notice and I am not sure if that is a symptom of it is that a spot on the back of my shoulder is very tender to the touch, it hurts when I lean against it. I remember I had that 8 years ago too, when I was diagnose with PT.
Can anyone tell me if that is a symptom?

Thanks!

REPLY
Please sign in or register to post a reply.