In recovery. Too many symptoms. Autoimmune disorder? HELP!

Wowzers Jennifer!! You've blown me away with your superior articulated wealth of information and knowledge here!!!

First let me say that I feel very badly about what you two have been through and are going through. My heart goes out to you both.

@caseygirlx0xmv I will be praying for the perfect doctor for you and the best treatment medicine and skill has to offer you.

I have had 3 major falls and a few not as bad. I was pushed down a full flight of hard stairs, fell down a full flight of wooden stairs, fell off a horse at a full gallup, was pushed down about 6 steps onto a frozen ice-covered ground, tripped and flew/skidded distance onto a concrete driveway, had a big rock thrown at the back of my head while trying to run away and flew to the ground. I also fell recently on my carpeted floor when my foot got caught in my bedskirt.

I 've had 3 lumbar surgeries, the 3rd was a fusion. A recent MRI shows pathology in my C and T spine. I have neck pain and jaw pain on one side. I was surprised to see that you have the same Jennifer!

I recently had a lumbar injection and on 11/11 am scheduled for a C-spine and occipital injection. I so hope they help my neck and right scalp (sounds a lot like peri-auricular neuralgia) for years which keeps me from getting the sleep I need!

I see my neurosurgeon on the 29th again for my "severe" spinal stenosis (lumbar area). I've got all the symptoms of equine cauda syndrome but thankfully there is a tiny bit of fluid around my spinal nerves so am not an emergent surgery right now.

I will be praying for you both for relief and healing.
Many blessings, Sunnyflower 🙏🌹🤗🙏🌹

ADDENDUM : I forgot the car accidents I was in. One was a Ford van that hit a 12 foot high wall of snow and ice. The van rolled completely over and landed on its wheels. I ended up with my spine shoved against the space where the front seat passenger puts their legs with my legs and arms sticking up. Another one was when my sister drove us into a giant truck wheel. I was in the front seat. I was broadsided while driving a bolkswagon bug (pregnant rollerskate)! LOL! I 'm glad I told you bc it made me realize for the first time, how many injuries I' ve had so now I can tell my doctors. Have a good night, Sunnyflower @caseygirlx0xmv

@caseygirlx0xmv

You have and are going through a lot. You have many good suggestions here.

If you are not happy with your general medical doctor. I would suggest changing doctors. You need a doctor who can coordinate your health care. I do agree you injury from smashing into a rock probably has something to do with what you are experiencing. Many symptoms related to such an injury may take months to years to raise their heads. I think you need scans.. ct or mri of your head and neck area. You need someone to do a thorough blood workup. .. check some of your vitamins.. for sure calcium and magnesium and your hormones (estrogen, thyroid and vitamin D).

I hit my face a couple of years ago.. hit it on the glass wall of the shower. My face hit at the upper right portion of my nose as it connects to the eye. I tend to have headsaches, but a couple of weeks after the injury my headache was constant. .. and nausea with them. About a month after the injury my eyesight blurred and all of a sudden sound was intensified about 10 fold. If I went to a quiet spot the sound would calm. Here I am over 2 years later and still have the sound problem, but not as often. The rest seems to have totally subsided. I was diagnosed as having a concussion. I injured my shoulder in a car accident and it did not hurt to start with.. a few months later and boy it hurt!! I am just saying sometimes symptoms can take there time showing up.

I also know there can be many different things going on at the same time. So having a very thorough evaluation is the only way to sort it all out. It will take one doctor to coordinate it.. to get you to the other doctors you need, test done, and to wade through any insurance you have. Of which it seems harder and harder to accomplish.

ZeeGee

@sunnyflower Thank you. I don't really dwell on the problems, just the best choices I can make to fix the problems. I have learned a lot from my own experiences, my expert physical therapists, as an advocate for my elderly parents, and the biology degree I got years ago. I read a lot of medical literature to learn about my own physical issues, and being a creative person, I recognize and remember patterns which in this case are collections of symptoms. I learned a lot of human anatomy in biology and art school, so I think in 3 dimensions which helps me understand the physical problems.

I had only one cervical spine injection and will not do them anymore. I had a bad reaction with a paraesthesia that caused burning stabbing pains in my hand for a couple months because the injected fluid had nowhere to go, and cold sensitivity for a year and a half. The doctor was an anesthesiologist and he told me that spine injections should not be done above the C6 level because they were too dangerous. Ask many questions before you let someone do that and this is an off label use of steroids because they were not FDA approved for spine injections. You can look up a lot about that. The nerves that service your lungs emerge from the spine at about the C3 level which is why injections there are risky. The occipital muscles on the back of the skull can be very painful if alignment is askew in the neck, and that can be treated by a physical therapist. The joints of the skull can be out of alignment, a PT who does cranial work can help. The occipital muscles have some attachments that pull on the dura (covering of brain and spinal cord) which causes headaches. My PT explained that to me. I know it sounds funny to say this, but literally there have been times when my skull was not sitting straight on top of my spine, but slightly misaligned due to muscle spasms, so I didn't have my head on straight.

I guess we have a bit in common. My ankle fracture last May was caused by falling off a horse at a full gallop that had spooked because of a loose dog.... not my horse, but a borrowed horse because my old bomb proof horse was not sound enough to go on the trail riding trip. No more green horses for me! I have been in physical therapy for the last 2 months learning to walk again and trying to do it right and challenging the muscles to return. After 3 months of no weight bearing, my entire leg is smaller and weaker, but I am making steady but slow progress. My cervical spine issues were from a whiplash years earlier, and as a kid, I also fell on my face and broke my front teeth which caused many dental problems over the years. I'm still dealing with that too. Injuries cause many problems that can go on for years. I am doing well. We do have an amazing power to heal if we do the right things. Physical therapy and myofascial release has done a lot for me. Your severe spinal stenosis doesn't sound so good. I hope you get that resolved and recover. I'll be rooting for you! I hope you share your experiences here.

These articles can explain a lot. There are ones about axis/atlas instability C1 & C2, TMJ, Thoracic outlet syndrome, spine, etc. The are technical and long and written for physical therapists. https://mskneurology.com/category/articles/

@migizii in response to Jennifer Hunter: although I don’t write often, I deeply appreciate your insights and this recent post with the website to explore I believe gave me an “aha” moment after reading one of the articles! I am going to share it with my PT. It is about clenching your body when trying to do exercise, etc.....thank you❤️

@migizii Thank you for your kind words. I'm glad the information helps. I have to remember to stop bracing too. I do that subconsciously in protection of an injury or something that happened awhile ago. I catch myself doing it at physical therapy and have to tell myself to let go and that I am recovering and things are getting better. It might help emotionally to embrace whatever causes the need to feel like you need to protect yourself. We do tend to store the stress of events and trauma in our bodies unknowingly. Sometimes patients who are doing myofascial release with a therapist will have emotional outbursts or sobbing as the muscle memory is released. Those words of wisdom are from my physical therapist.

I went to a maxillofacial dentist for my issues, which turned out to be TMJ. However, good images may help to determine issue. I go to a manual PT who can do adjustments. I also have a mouthpiece to keep jaw aligned at night. Sounds alot like fibromyalgia, which is a subjective diagnosis. Non-processed diet, less sugar, wheat, potato, tomato, dairy might be helpful to try. Proper stretches will help keep muscles and tendons loose and lubricated. Water exercise is great, too. I really do not think you caused this affliction. As far as supplements, I like magnesium caltrate and B-12. ice/heat, epsom salt baths, KT tape, cat/cow/child/cobra yoga is helpful before bed. (I have MCTD) https://health.clevelandclinic.org/stubborn-tmj-pain-try-trigger-point-massage-and-jaw-exercises/

Hello @caseygirlx0xmv

You posted a while back about a lot of jaw and facial pain with some swelling. Have you found any help with that?

Casey, I am glad you wrote. I, also, have too many symptoms to take to a Dr. But I finally started to look with the assumption that I had some systemic issue, and I found many possibilities. I had to go finally to several sources, including Mayo, AmbryGen.com (be sure to get the neuropathy section.. It's free), OMIM.org, and Sequencing.com. Finally, I learned I had GSN, or Gelsolin, the autosomally "Dominant" systemic type. Anyway, you may not have GSN, but it sure sounds like it. GSN attacks the net that holds any body cells together, and lets other ordinary genes attack those cells. But that creates trouble everywhere from your scalp to your toes. Perhaps cardiovascular is the most dangerous. Check the aVL section of your 12-lead ECG, and see if it matches your lVL section. If not, or you have a long QT segment diagnosis, these are quick clues. (says Mayo) Let us know.

keep trying different things - Pineapple slices in Pinapple juice - natural anti-inflammatory food - (not juice) start your day with a few slices