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Severe bilateral shoulder nerve pain after Mono

Posted by Clarann @lizann94, May 9 4:05pm

I have Mono, and my worst symptom has been severe nerve pain in both shoulders/upper arms for two weeks that intensifies when lying down . I do know that I have a narrowing disc at C5/C6, but my neck feels fine. The only thing that has helped is hydrocodone so far—it lessens pain enough to get a few hours of sleep at night. Anyone experience something similar?

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dlydailyhope | @dlydailyhope | May 10 6:20am

@lizann94
I had a bad case of mononucleosis/EBV when I was a teenager and have had a weakened immune system. I also have cervical spine issues and had ACDF surgery on c5-c6 in 2022 and having surgery on c6-c7 in a week.

My thoughts are both mono and c5-c6may be contributing to your shoulder/arm pain. If you have swollen glands, this could put extra pressure on nerves in your neck/shoulder area causing radiating pain to your arms. When you lie down, the position in your neck changes and puts more pressure on your cervical spine/spinal cord/nerve roots that causes radiculating pain in shoulders/arms.

You may need an updated MRI of your cervical spine by an orthopedic spine specialist and see a neurologist for EMG/nerve conduction studies of upper limbs. If your spinal cord is being compressed/injured, you may need treatment sooner rather than later.

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Clarann | @lizann94 | May 10 9:53pm
In reply to @dlydailyhope "@lizann94 I had a bad case of mononucleosis/EBV when I was a teenager and have had..." + (show)
@dlydailyhope

@lizann94
I had a bad case of mononucleosis/EBV when I was a teenager and have had a weakened immune system. I also have cervical spine issues and had ACDF surgery on c5-c6 in 2022 and having surgery on c6-c7 in a week.

My thoughts are both mono and c5-c6may be contributing to your shoulder/arm pain. If you have swollen glands, this could put extra pressure on nerves in your neck/shoulder area causing radiating pain to your arms. When you lie down, the position in your neck changes and puts more pressure on your cervical spine/spinal cord/nerve roots that causes radiculating pain in shoulders/arms.

You may need an updated MRI of your cervical spine by an orthopedic spine specialist and see a neurologist for EMG/nerve conduction studies of upper limbs. If your spinal cord is being compressed/injured, you may need treatment sooner rather than later.

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Thank you so much for your response! I have an MRI scheduled next week. I am just hoping that maybe once the Mono virus and inflammation lessen that the pain will decrease greatly and that this isn’t a permanent side effect of poor cervical spine health. It has been a major wake up call to take better care of my spine and my body.

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