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Excruciating chronic left side neck pain plus lumbar issues
Hi Everyone,
I just joined and this is my first post.
I am a 66 year old male that lives in Melbourne Aus.
Thankfully I found this discussion forum in order to get answers in regards to my deteriorating condition.
For the last 20 years I have been an active sportsman doing long distance bicycle riding and body building, but in the last 9 years I have been hit 3 times (2013,2015,2019) by negligent drivers while riding. These accidents have caused me severe whiplash and a multitude of fractures.
Each time I recovered and went back doing my riding passion.
4 months ago I noticed a pretty strong left sided pain around C6 therefore I went to see physiotherapists and osteopaths. But 4 weeks later at the end of August, this pain got even worse when one night while lying down on my loungeroom carpet, I got up and felt multiple crackles in the spine. It didn't hurt at the time therefore I went to sleep and woke up half hour later in extreme pain going from the left side of my neck, left side of my thoracic spine. I felt as if I was twisted. I was unable to sleep or sit. Standing provided some relief but I couldn't sleep.
Things slightly improved over the next 3 weeks.
I had some MRIs done at the end of August 2022 which showed:
C2/C3:
[No protuberant osteophyte, disc bulging, spinal canal stenosis or
neural foramina stenosis.]
C3/C4:
Minimal broad base central and bilateral lateral disc bulging with
associated minimal right intervertebral foramina stenosis
C4/C5:
Broad-based central and right lateral disc bulging with associated
moderate right intervertebral foraminal stenosis
C5/C6:
Disc bulging resulting in moderate bilateral intervertebral foraminal
stenosis
C6/C7:
Right lateral/foraminal disc bulging resulting in moderate right
intervertebral foramina stenosis
C7/T1:
[No protuberant osteophyte, disc bulging, spinal canal stenosis or
neural foramina stenosis.]
Conclusion:
Multilevel disc bulging and multilevel intervertebral foraminal stenosis. To see the complete reports open the attached PDF.
I contacted TAC which in Australia stands for Transport Accident Commission. They are responsible for paying medical expenses for anyone who has been a victim of a transport accident. Every driver in Victoria pays a premium yearly when they renew their car registration.
I arranged an appointment here to see first and orthopaedic surgeon and then a neurosurgeon. The first specialist told me that I had C6 nerve root impingement and the second specialist reported facet joint syndrome in the neck.
The injury is defined as a mechanical injury.
I noticed a discrepancy between the 2 opinions which left me frustrated. None of the specialists can pin point the exact source of the pain. They both recommended pain management and I am currently on Endep 10, Catapress 100 and Targin 10/5 daily.
Also I was told that no operation for this condition was required and ultimately a fusion, if non invasive, minimally invasive therapies didn't work.
This maybe ok as a temporary solution, but it can't be a life long remedy, because these medicines have side effects and I can't even drive the car to the supermarket when I am drowsy.
In the mean time I had C6 nerve root cortisone injection at the hospital on 1 of DEC 2022, but it didn't work at all after 3 weeks.
I actually have more pain than ever before something like 30% more. I queried the hospital, but they told me that it was done correctly.
Just a few days ago I have had fresh, new MRIs of the cervical/thoracic spine and a bone scan of the whole spine.
Yesterday 23.12.2022, according to the pain management specialist and the neuro surgeon, they couldn't find a lot of difference compared to the previous MRIs taken in August. They were perplexed as to why I feel so much pain. They can't pinpoint the source of the pain.
This is not very re-assuring and I have to keep taking drugs for the next 6 weeks. If I don't take the medication I have extreme, 10 out 10 burning pain that starts around left of neck at C6 going through C7, T1, T2, T3. The pain is also spreading aggressively in the left of my trapezius muscle. I have referred pain in the left shoulder, left scapula, left bicep/triceps and in the little, medium, index finger and left thumb. Referred pain is also felt in the right but not as bad. I also get pain going into my left pec muscle but it is not related to the heart. My cardiologist told that I am fine there even though I can get high blood pressure when I am anxious and stressed out.
To make things worse I have also been getting left/right headaches, left ear ache, left sided head scalp numbness and dizziness from time to time in the last 2 months. Just 2 weeks ago I developed a ringing tone in my right ear which is hypersensitive to sounds. I am a total mess.
The mental depression has been really bad and I have been isolated at home because I am unable to enjoy life like I used to.
Recently when I sit and lie down I feel numbness in my legs and feet. When I stand the problems seems to disappear.
My main frustration is the lack of answers and solutions to fix these problems and two specialists can't agree on a course of action.
I have been doing a lot of research and learned that referred pain can be caused by pressure on neck functional nerves and by facet joints sensory nerves but I don't which one is the culprit. Not even the specialists know.
I am worried that if the compression is not removed in time from those nerves (assuming that it is nerve related) I may get a neuropathy and get paralysis.
My bladder/kidney/liver functions are currently fine.
I don't know if anyone in the Mayo community has come across this and knows something about it.
While searching I found this site which looks promising:
spineconnection org
They can fix a lot of spine related problems.
I haven't received the December MRIs/Bone Scan yet.
Thanks and regards
Alfred
summary of mri xray (summary-of-mri-xray.pdf)
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@jenatsky
@jenniferhunter
Hi guys how are you?
I am going through a very difficult moment and don't know what to do. I don't have anxiety just extreme uncontrollable pain.
I have an extreme constant pulling pain in the left of my neck. It is pulling from the left of neck all the way down the left side to the groin and left foot. I have bad pins and needles in the fingers of my left hand, my left shoulder hurts. My blood pressure is 172/106. I can't turn my neck all the way to the left.
The pain from the pulling can't be relieved, it is horrible, 24/7.
I have taken gabapentin, nortriptyline, targin but it won't let go.
I have tried hot and cold packs, deep breathing to no avail. I tried soft and hard collar too. My eyes are lacrimating.
I can't sleep at all. I feel it standing, sitting and lying position. It feels like someone is trying to rip my neck from the left side, it is extremely tight.
Is this muscle, tendon, ligament related?
I can't contact anyone because it is the weekend.
Do you have any advice to help with this?
Thanks
Alfred
Could you try going to a walk in emergency center? Not the hospital a clinic ? So sorry.
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1 ReactionIt very much sounds like some mid neck and lower neck nerves are compressed. Have u seen a neurologist. He or she will order an MRI. Don’t do any pulling downward with your arms. Warm pack 15 min followed by very cool pack 15 min. Totally avoid sugary foods and dairy (they trigger nerve pain and inflammation, white flour foods, chocolate and MSG (nerve irritants). Take Turmeric twice a day. Advil - wait four hours then take Tylenol. I had neck PT for similar problems and got better. But bc of gravity the pain came bk yr later so I had PT again.
Terri, Retired RN
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1 ReactionHi Terry,
Thanks for your reply.
I already saw a neurologist who told me that I have cervicalgia possibly.
He sent me to the public hospital here in Melbourne AUS to check whether I had cervical stenosis or not. They did a CT scan of my neck but I am not sure if this would show the whole picture. I was hoping for CT with contrast or even an MRI.
The spasms have started 3 weeks ago. I have had this spinal condition as of August 2022 but it has been progressively getting worse. I used to ride road bikes for 20 years. I used to ride long distances. In the last 10 years I was hit 3 times by negligent drivers despite riding in the bike lane: 2013, 2015, 2019. These accidents caused massive whiplash, fractures and other injuries.
I recovered each time but since last year the pain has started to make my life quite unbearable.
Next week my new pain management doctor will perform nerve blocks at:
Left CERVICAL C4/5, C5/6, C6/7 Medial Branch Block
I also have several pinched nerves at C4, C5, C6, C7, C8.
C6 and C7 are the worse.
These spasms start to occur when I lye down of the bed at night. For example I woke up at 5 am this morning and felt that the left hand side of the neck was getting tighter and tighter.
I normally sleep on my right side because I can't lye down on my left or my back because the pain is worse.
To make things worse I have:
C6/7 facet joint, left thoracic T2/3 and right T5/6 pain
Central lower back pain and possibly left-sided sacroiliac joint dysfunction
Right L2-L3, L3-L4 nerve inpingment.
I am a total mess.
Is there a neurosurgeon that could possibly fix all these issues?
My life is hell daily despite taking pain medication.
Best regards
Alfred
Your posture as a bike rider was probably with a rounded spine. If so, you may need to do serious work to change that. PT is good but there are additional resources. I have taught yoga for years and have explored many options for dealing with my own back pain. An excellent resource for correct posture alignment and improvement is Esther Gokhale’s book, “8 Steps to a Pain-Free Back.” She also does online evaluations.
For the last 10 days my neck pain is travelling in my thoracic spine and connecting with my leg where it joins the hip causing a massive pulling. This is the best way I can describe it. Feels like a massive spasm, hard tight pulling. The drugs aren't helping at all. I am in pain so bad 24/7. I am getting refereed pain in my left chest and some abdominal. Feels like heart attack but it isn't.
Tonight I am going crazy.
My whole left neck side is burning like hell.
I tried ice packs but they are not working.
I took my pain management medication, no relief.
Burning felt in groin and feet.
Doctors don't have answers for me.
Neck is sensitive to to light touch. Medium swelling around T1 and left jaw and cheek bone ache.
Alfred
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1 ReactionToday I got my left nerve blocks between C4 and C7.
Unfortunately they didn't help. Still feeling 10/10 pain with referral to groin and foot.
The real pain is between C7 and T1. There are two close to large lumps on either side which are extremely painfull and radiating pain down.
I can't turn my head properly to the left because it is very stiff and hurts. Probably there are inflamed nerves and muscles constricting the movement.
The only thing that helps at reducing the pain is lying on the floor on my tummy with left arm to the left side pointing towards the left foot. I know that the position is not the best, but it does reduce the pain, why I don't know or understand.
There will be more nerve blocks and eventually nerve root injections to test the the other impinged nerves that show on the MRI.
Yesterday I failed my EMG and the neurologist told me that the test confirmed that I have radiculopathies in my neck.
Best regards
Alfred
Hi Alfred, sorry to hear your pain is raging. When I had that scorching burning pain ,the only thing I could do was take meds, get injections and stay packed in ice All Day Long. It took almost 3 weeks for my last nerve root injection to work. Sometimes they work faster
Sounds like the new drs are doing better and taking the right steps. For me nerve root injections are what works best and hope you can get those soon. Until then ask your dr if you can take more Gabapentin. I take 900-1200 nightly and can sometime go back down to 600 when injections work. I have also recently switched off amitryptyline 25mg and started nortryptiline 50 mg. In just 2 nights I have noticed a slight reduction in numbness, tingling and pain. Hopefully this improvement will continue and I can avoid a SCS implant or surgery. Grateful you have new drs! Prayers for you.🙏🤗
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1 Reaction@jenatsky
@jenniferhunter
Thanks for your reply jm1.
Yesterday I received nerve blocks for the facet joints, not the cervical nerves.
The pain Dr wants to see if there are any problems from the facet joints first. There will be other facets joint nerve blocks in the near future. Then he is going to systematically target the cervical nerves that he believes are impinged according to the MRI and the symptoms.
The new pain DR told me not to take Gabapentin, Lyrica and start using Nortriptyline 10mg nocte only. This is not helping me therefore I am pairing this with 25mcg of Clonidine so that I can get some sleep.
This is an excerpt from his letter to my own GP:
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I have got the following recommendations
1. I think we should stop gabapentin and Lyrica.
2. I referred him to a neurologist for consideration of nerve conduction studies of his upper and lower limbs.
3. I think we should repeat the diagnostic medial branch blocks on the left side. We will go from C4 to C7. I have advised him to avoid cervical manipulation.
4. I asked him to keep walking.
5. I think he would benefit from active physiotherapy. I would like to see him in three months. Hopefully we will have done the injections by then.
6. I am concerned he may also have had some false negatives from the thoracic facet joint injections.
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I had an EMG this Thursday and the nerve blocks on Friday. The EMG proved that I have radiculopathies.
The extreme pain is still there.
I told him that the pain is mainly coming between C7/T1. There are 2 large lumps that you can feel on the left and right of this area. I feel an extreme stabbing between C7/T1 that I never had 2 months prior. I remember that the osteopath was pretty rough back in Feb. He caused me a lot of pain after that manipulation.
Question: Can the disc bulging/protrusion between C7/T1 be pushing onto my spinal cord cord causing referred pain where the left leg joins onto the left hip and the left foot?
I am frequently getting shoulders' pain, ring/little finger referred acute pain.
3 months ago I never had issues with tightness, numbness, pain in the groin area and the feet.
I do know that there is an impingement of right lumbar L2/L3, L3/L4 and that is why I feel these symptoms on the right foot but the left lumbar was always fine.
Also my pain management psychologist is encouraging me to do short slow bike rides (finish the ride just before symptoms kick in using the pacing technique) only on the bike track.
He believes that my mind is preventing me due to flee response, I.E. I am fearful of getting worse.
One one hand my pain DR suggest to walk a bit, on the other hand my psychologist encourages me to do short walks and bike rides using pacing.
I find walking harder because the weight of my head and torso puts a load on my lower back. When I ride I don't feel this load.
Best regards
Alfred