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Unexplained Sensations and muscle twitching

Brain & Nervous System | Last Active: Sep 21 11:01am | Replies (48)

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@drigg97

Hello Jenifer,

Sorry for the late reply. Thank you for sharing your story, it is very interesting and possibly a helpful clue. I’m sending over a cervical neck report, please see what you think about it. I am absolutely open to getting another opinion, Dr. Fogelson sounds great!

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Replies to "Hello Jenifer, Sorry for the late reply. Thank you for sharing your story, it is very..."

@drigg97 I think a spine neurosurgery consult would be a good idea. You do have several levels of involvement and more than I had on my MRI reports. You probably have to wait awhile to see a good surgeon, so you may want to start that process.

Here are the signs of spine issues:
Straightening of normal neck curvature which can also be from muscle spasms related to spine. The curvature can get reversed as this progresses and your report indicates the beginning of reversal. Spondylolisthesis is some shifting and sliding of the vertebrae past each other. If that is too great, it would disqualify a patient for disc replacement. You do have enough spine involvement to cause pain.

C1/C2 some arthritis and trace fluid buildup

It sounds like the issues are worse on the left side with several levels of stenosis narrowing in the foramen where the nerve roots exit the spine.

Loss of disc height at C5/C6 , moderate central canal narrowing at C5/C6
C6-7 damaged disc with bone spurs causing mild central canal narrowing

The good news is that there is not damage indicated in spinal cord for the signal intensity. What happens with damage from spinal cord compression is the nerve cells die within the spinal cord and dissolve, so are absent which shows up as a whitish area inside the spinal cord. Early myelopathy (damage) doesn't always show on MRI, and mine did not. It is better to catch this early before permanent damage happens. It may also take awhile to wait for a first appointment, and depending on how fast this is progressing, you could be worse by then. When I first applied to be seen at Mayo, I was told it may take 3 months to get in. Because Dr. Fogelson had a cancellation, he offered me an appointment 6 weeks after I applied. I didn't get a lot of notice, less than a week, but I found a hotel and got reservations right away. If you apply to Mayo, you might want to figure out what travel arrangements and lodging you want so you will be ready to jump on it if you get called to fill a spot.

If you would like to apply to Mayo Clinic at any campus, you may use this link to get started. http://mayocl.in/1mtmR63
You really would like Dr. Fogelson as he is friendly and down to earth. He is pretty busy too and takes a lot of big spinal deformity cases, so I hope you can get an appointment with him.

Are you keeping a journal and tracking your pain symptoms so you can tell how fast they are changing?