Excruciating chronic left side neck pain plus lumbar issues

Posted by AlfredB @ab6540183, Dec 23, 2022

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

Shared files

summary of mri xray (summary-of-mri-xray.pdf)

Interested in more discussions like this? Go to the Spine Health Support Group.

@ab6540183

@jenniferhunter

Hi Jennifer

How are you?

I am not getting better.

Can you please help me with this if you can?

I have noticed that it has been at least 3 weeks or more that when I go to sleep and place the right side of my head on the pillow, I get these intense deep pains in my left side of the neck which is excruciating. Then my right side is also getting extremely painful. This happens despite me taking pain medication.

The extreme pain is at the base of the neck, numbness, burning, pins and needles.

From my neck the pain travels to the legs and feet. They feel extremely tight, painful and numb. The toes hurt too. I also get shoulder pain in both sides, arms, fingers multiple pins and needles around the body. It feels as if I am getting stung by bees.

If you look at my latest MRI report on the previous message I also have lumbar issues.

Can multiple nerve compression in the neck cause cramps in the various muscles of the neck and head? MY neck is so stiff that I struggle to turn my head.
It feels like having cramps.

Tomorrow I have an appointment with the pain management doctor who made me wait nearly a month despite my unmanageable pain. I feel that my doctors do not seem concerned about how hard it is to live life.

Maybe it is time to choose another doctor? I feel that if something is not done soon I may lose the ability to move around.

Thank you

Best regards

Alfred

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I am so sorry to hear of your terrible neck pain. I have neck issues as well, and I have been helped immensely by the upper cervical technique called Atlas Orthogonal. This is not a high velocity adjustment. When C1 and C2 are misaligned, it can cause pain throughout the neck and the entire body, impacting both your nervous system and immune system. You could perhaps check these doctors out on globalao.com to see if there is someone near you. I have been receiving this technique for 20 years, and I don't know what I would do without it. I do hope you will be able to find something that will ease your pain.

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Hi Alfred, I'm so sorry to hear of your debilitating neck problems. I have had neck issues of my own and I have found a particular technique to be of great help. You may wish to check out this website: atlasorthogonal.com.au You will see they have several doctors in various parts of Australia. This is upper cervical care that affects the entire neck and spine, as well as the nervous system and immune system. I receive this care myself, and it has helped me tremendously.

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@willjean19

Hello Alfred -

I am sorry you are suffering in so much pain. I struggled with these issues myself for two years. I have degenerative disc disease & foraminal stenosis with nerve impingement C5/C6 & C7 bilaterally. After multiple conservative treatments including extensive physical therapy, I sought the opinion of a highly rated Neurosurgeon and had a 3 level fusion (C4-C7) ACCF 2 months ago. My symptoms were almost identical to yours. I’m also a healthy fit individual in my early/mid sixties. I had sought the opinion of 8 other medical professionals and Specialists prior to meeting with him. I was very distraught and mentally as well as physically exhausted.

The Surgeon found my discs were like dust - they were so degenerated. The bone spurs were like shards of glass against my nerves. He said it was unbelievable that I continued to be active and try and move past the pain. The surgery was successful and I’m in physical therapy now. It is a slow recovery in some ways, but the burning excruciating pain is gone. Post op pain consists of muscles and shoulder spasms adjusting to the new biomechanics of the neck. Recovery is not linear and it definitely takes time.

I wish you the best; it is a painful journey. I also had the injections and like you felt worse. I was told that due to the narrowing and compression caused by the stenosis, the cortisone had no way to distribute to the areas necessary for pain relief.

Wishing you find relief soon for a pain free life again.

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It has been 3 days that my left side of the neck at base is excruciating so badly that the stabbing pain is felt in the neck, the left foot ( I don't know why), then in both ears intermittently, then the top of my skull, in my left biceps, forearm, fingers, in the left eye, the jaw, in the throat, in the left chest. Also feel throbbing on the right hand side of the neck. On top of this I have bilateral tinnitus. I am going crazy.

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@ab6540183

It has been 3 days that my left side of the neck at base is excruciating so badly that the stabbing pain is felt in the neck, the left foot ( I don't know why), then in both ears intermittently, then the top of my skull, in my left biceps, forearm, fingers, in the left eye, the jaw, in the throat, in the left chest. Also feel throbbing on the right hand side of the neck. On top of this I have bilateral tinnitus. I am going crazy.

Jump to this post

Sounds like radicular pain from a nerve in your neck. You need an MRI.

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@ab6540183

It has been 3 days that my left side of the neck at base is excruciating so badly that the stabbing pain is felt in the neck, the left foot ( I don't know why), then in both ears intermittently, then the top of my skull, in my left biceps, forearm, fingers, in the left eye, the jaw, in the throat, in the left chest. Also feel throbbing on the right hand side of the neck. On top of this I have bilateral tinnitus. I am going crazy.

Jump to this post

Alfred, have you considered trying acupuncture? It has helped me tremendously. I have thoracic spasms that were so bad it pulled a rib out of alignment. Worth a try.

REPLY

Hi Everyone,

how are you?

I have been quiet for a while, but I have been getting worse since I last posted.

I made a huge mistake going to the Deukspine Institute in Melbourne Florida back in August 2023.

Neurosurgeon Ara Deukmedjian promised me that I would be pain free on the way back to Australia but this was far from the truth. I have been suffering atrocious pain since his surgery. This surgeon is a butcher and a fraud. He took my $71k for being worse than before.

He performed his so called DLDR C5-C6, C6-C7 minimally invasive laser surgery to decompress the C6, C7 nerves, bilateral rhizotomies C5-C6, C6-C7, C7-T1 and Right Approach L4-L5, L5-S1, Bi-Lateral Approach SI Joints; Coccydynia Injection.

When I woke up I had excruciating pain plus I had developed a dropped head.

I came back to Australia and the pain has kept increasing every week which has become debilitating.
Not even Tramadol 50md and Oxycodone 10mg plus Gabapentin 300mg managed the pain at night. I kept waking up with unbearable pain several times. My life has become unbearable in the last 6 weeks.

I am suffering from massive anxiety from the pain, high blood pressure, feeling clammy at times and getting very brief eletric shocks from the bottom right side of my neck, going into my leg and foot when I look down.

I have been to hospital ED 3 times in the last 4 weeks. They only provided brief pain management that didn't work properly and I am back to square 1. The hospitals here will not hospitalize me here,

I had 2 appointments with 2 diffferent surgeons: one orthpaedic surgeon and a neurosurgeon.
They both agreed that fusion would not resolve my ongoing pain problems.

So I am left with pain management which doesn't work. %100. I feel that life is nearly over.

They told me that I have extreme nerve compression in my neck in both side but mainly in the left,

This is a recent excerpt from the neurosurgeon:

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Thank you for referring Alfred for another neurosurgical opinion.
Medical Problems
- Chronic neck and back pain
- Chronic pain syndrome
- Advanced multilevel spondylosis
- Degenerative thoracolumbar scoliosis
- Left paravertebral upper thoracic stable lesion (? nerve sheath tumour)
- History of motor vehicle accidents in 2006 and 2019
- History of multiple pain interventions:
- Left C7/T1, T1/2 and T2/3 facet joint injections on 05/01/2023
- Left C6 – T1 medial branch blocks on 17/02/2023
- Left C6 nerve root injection on 15/03/2023
- C5/6 and C6/7 laser disc repair and cervical and lumbar rhizotomy on 29/08/2023 and 30/08/2023
History
I had a Zoom video conference with this 66-year-old patient today. Alfred suffered complex chronic pain affecting his neck, back and limbs for many years. He was involved in transport accidents and required multiple interventional pain procedures without sustained relief. He consulted several spinal specialists and eventually underwent procedures in the United States, aggravating his problems. Alfred indicated that
his head became unstable after treatment. His assertion from the United States recommended treatment of the paravertebral spasms. Alfred consulted a neurologist and an orthopaedic spinal specialist, who explained the unlikely positive response to surgery.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------

I am currently getting bilateral severe pains on both sides of my neck, very stiff neck, pain in my traps, shoulders, scapulae, arms, hands, hands, fingers, back, groin, partially numb legs, partially numb feet when lying down with painful pins and needles. Hot and cold packs do not relieve the inflamations. I have been taking Robaxin 750mg but not helping much. When the pain is intense my skin around my earlobes feels as if it is on fire.

I don't know if this is caused by thecompression of nerves, spasms or both,

I am getting pain in my jaws, cheeckbones, ears, left/right eye, headaches, a feeling of ants on top of may scalp on the left.

Standing is the best position even though I am struggling too. I try to do some short slow walks and slow stationery bike rides.

I stopped driving the car since I came back on Sep 6.

I don't know how I am going to cope, life has become hell on earth.

I have attached both my most recent cervical, lumbar MRIs. I have checked for infection 3 times but the doctors found no infection. I have had the nerve sheath benign tumour for many years and have been told that this is not causing pain.

Please feel free to comment.

Thank you

Best regards

Alfred

Shared files

cervical-lumbar MRI 12 Sep 2023 (cervical-lumbar-MRI-12-Sep-2023.pdf)

REPLY

Oh Alfred! , so sorry you are still in pain and suffering ! and will pray for you on this Blessed Sunday morning. Tried to sway you to go to Mayo or Johns Hopkin for a valid opinion. The only real deal as I had said before. But all that is hindsight now. Ut is a battle and we are here fighting by your side .For me
I just received 2 more tra nsforaminal injections in my lumber. I get them every 90days for past 2 yrs now. For many previous years had other types of epidurals which didnt help. Also going for a shot in my neck next week. it's been a year since my last shot there. Along with 600mg gabapentin 3x daily, 50mg tramadol, 200mg Celebrex and tylenol and ice packs alternating with hot packs and topical ointments daily. Sometime even need a sleeping pill or occasional oxy for what they call breakthrough pain. I find the gabapentin helps me most if all for the burning nerve pain. Had to stop the noritryptyline as it gave me tachycardia and threw my thyroid off.
That is my life and pain mgmt regiment currently. I have battled the lower back pain since my laminectomy in 1998. The neck pain started in 2015. Trying to out if any further surgeries. I will not get a Spinal Cord Stimulator for pain as I read so many problems occurring with those. So life goes on and I truly feel for you in your struggles with pain as I have battled with it and many of us here know how hard it is and send you our support and caring thoughts. I prayed you would find relief and when you stopped posting thought you had. So again I pray you find a regiment of meds and therapy that brings you some relief even so you can at least sleep. Wont text any more as I really limit it as it hurts my neck
Hugs and prayers

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I am sorry too. You may wish to get a medical expert opinion on what was done to you and get legal advice as to whether this Dr has likely engaged in malpractice and if a complaint to Fla state medical regulator https://www.floridahealth.gov/licensing-and-regulation/enforcement/index.html#:~:text=Complaints%20against%20licensed%20practitioners%20or,%2D877%2DHALT%2DULA is warranted.
I never understood why this Dr. purported to "own" medical knowledge of this laser procedure which nobody else could know and why it was indicated in your case.
Keep going back to ED until they get you appropriate care.

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https://deuk-spine-institute.pissedconsumer.com/review.html
Found this link above. They say many reviews are fake and bad one get scrubbed by his marketing mgr. ......

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Alfred hope you have found some relief the last 2 weeks as you have not been posting. Hooing your post surgical pain is receding and you are making healing progress. Wishing you peace and pain relief, especially in the upcoming holiday season, God Bless you and your family and help you with your struggles

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