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cervical spondylosis

Posted , 14 users are following.

macca
macca

Hi all, it's 2.33 in the morning and my demon is keeping me awake yet again :shock: :shock: I was first diagnosed with cs when i was 26yrs old, local GP treated me for a frozen shoulder at the time but as it lasted 18months he decided to send me for X-ray which then lead to MRI = cs diagnoses. with the help of medication my demond slept for a few years with only an occasional flare up that would last for a couple of weeks. In my mid 30's it raised it's ugly head again :x a little worse than the first flare up, thought i was going insane with the pain and general overall affect this condition was having on my life. yet another MRI showed a worsening, affecting c4,5,6. spent a small fortune on acupuncture that did help with pain relief and helped me to relax. I went to see a master who taut acupuncture in the next village, sadly he has past now. 5yrs ago yet another flare up, more tablets, more scans, more physio, more ortho consultants. 6 months ago it started again, OMG just cut my right arm off and my head!!!in oct 09 another MRI showed c4,5,6,7 T1,2 affected, I work in OT in my local Hosyi and have lots of support from my bosses and colleagues which has been fab and for that i am most humbled. this time my demon has given me to much to bare :evil: the norm of pain constant head aches, numbness, pins & needles, twitching, sleepless nights, fatigued. OMG I could go on and on, but you all know the story.Awaiting to see another ortho consultant in DEC 09, God help he is more sympathetic than the others, lol... :roll: I feel it may be time to try some thing more invasive than tens, medication, acu, neck pillows, yoga, tears and screaming. I cant believe I only found this site today after my boss said \"enough lovely, go home and rest\". I have been reading ppl's stories and experiences all afternoon and to be honest, I have found... not a solution or physical relief but emotional relief, comradeship, all knowing how it feels empathy. for that I am soooooooooo great full. My husband has been disabled for many years through a skeletore malfunction, so is sooo in tune with my emotional state, I could cry for Wales on a bad day. :oops: :oops: lol. I look forward to making some friendships, comrades and empathises now I have found you. take good care all. xxMacca

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  • chris215a
    chris215a

    Posted

    hi macca can you expand a little more about what happened to you in the four days you were in?? it is possible i will be referred to a spinal unit if all else fails, and wouldnt mind some info. i dont suffer with pains in my jaw just under my ear, as if i have a sore throat, swollen glands and all???. there are so many symptoms with cs, some make sense and some dont, but , they keep coming dont they, lol. ,,,,, chris xx
  • macca
    macca

    Posted

    Hi Chris, sure I will, any thing that helps. There are two types of pain clinic. one is spinal pain clinic were you are seen by a specialist Physio who intern will / can refer you for pain relief, such as tens machine, acupuncture, demonstrates neck exercises and gives advise on posture. The second is called pain clinic, there you are seen by a pain consultant who plays around with medication until they find the right dosage and type of pain killers that work for you. I was kept in for four days due to the second MRI scan which showed changes from the one I had in Oct of this year and they wanted a full body scan. This showed a problem with my lower back, the consultant that I was under on admission felt it was above his ortho expertise and wanted the spinal surgeon to look at my scan results to see if i needed immediate surgery. At C7 the disc has blown in and has made a dent on my spinal cord, spinal surgeon came on the third day and reports that there was no need for immediate surgery but wanted the pain consultant to see me to get the pain under control. Pain consultant had already completed his round and left the ward so the pain nurse came to see me to arrange an outpatients app and discuss the changes my med's. They would have liked me to stay in until the pain consultant's next ward round but as that wouldn't be until the following Monday i declined as I could rest better at home, so I was discharged the following day. Hope this helps ?? pain in neck / arm under control (lovely) pain in lower back NOT and I still have constant head aches. How you doing ?? your right about the symptoms, I'm starting to feel like a hypochondriac lol. hard to believe so many symptoms from one condition. I work in OT and did a little research on MS a few years ago, I found out that consultants in the early days also thought the condition was in the patients imagination, sound familiar to when you / me and all the other sufferers were first diagnosed !! lol (not funny Really) On Wednesday I see the spinal surgeon again and I have my list of Q ready for him, so look out Mr Jones, lol. Take care and let me know how it goes for you. xxx
  • chris215a
    chris215a

    Posted

    hello again, i have been under the pain clinic many times, i have had allsorts of different meds too many too mention, acupuncture, injections,meds that blew me up or made me sleepy, i have had phsyio, traction, deep heat treatment. i was wondering if there was anything different that they offer??. not knowing the extent of damage to my spine now i suppose it is all guess work isnt it?. originally 13yrs ago i was offered an operation(a discography??), but a dr came from st james in leeds and went against my consultants suggestion. so i was told that all could be offered was pain relief, and that was all i have had all this time, so i am hoping for something new this time round. thanks for your reply it will be interesting to see what is happening,,,, chris xx
  • macca
    macca

    Posted

    Chris, reading your last statement I think you have tried every thing except the surgery. I to was told about bone graphing 20 years ago, but was in formed by my consultant that he would not consider at that time as i was to young (26yrs). Way back then they used to graph bone from your hip !!! I'm told now that they have a bone bank that they match you to?? I think you are way over due for an MRI, so they know what they are dealing with. How did you find the injections ?? this is some thing I've not tried, meds I'm taking now have eased neck /shoulder /arm pain but like you say I spend half my day sleeping and when i do get up it takes me most of the rest of the day to come round lol, I'm like the nodding Churchill dog.Hows your pain now?? and in all the years you have had CS have you had times when you have been free for any length of time ?? Not sure if pain clinic can offer any thing new as they only tell about one treatment at a time (that's been my experience) God I hate what this condition does to our body's and our minds. xx take care and keep me up dated, it helps to chat and exchange experiences. Off to see my consultant tomorrow, but I'm not expecting much..:twisted: chat soon my friend. macca xxx
  • chris215a
    chris215a

    Posted

    hi macca, my pain at the moment(the past few weeks) has been awful. my main problem is with my ribs it hurts to breathe, and as i have just caught a cough from my daughter, it is excruciating. have you ever had your neck give you a sore throat?? it even makes my glands swell. from my neck to my waist cause so much pain that i will be glad to get my mri and results but i dont think it will be before xmas. luckily my family has been brilliant, and my new fella is so considerate considering. so i will keep my fingers crossed and hope for the best, for us all,,,,, chris xx
  • macca
    macca

    Posted

    Hi Chris, Went to see my consultant yesterday for results of MRI.... Not good I'm afraid... full body scan showed the disease (his words) was so far spread along my spin that its in-operable !!! only thing for me now is to manage the pain through pain clinic, injection which he has put an urgent referral for.. guess I will keep doing all the other therapy's as well that give some relief..He was very honest and up front, for which I am great full for. It will get to the point were my legs wont work any more due to cord compression, at this point he will be able to perform a procedure that will give relief from pain but as I'm not there yet it would be impossible to know were to start and any kind of surgery on my spin would not work and cause more pain and problems for me. As soon as i start these injections and i get some relief I'm going back to my fab job as I know i have a few more years in me yet lol. Once the silly season is over and my head has got it's self around this terrible condition and the affect it has on ppl's lives i will start to lobbi DWP to get CS recognised as the debilitating disease so we can claim what is rightfully ours.

    For now i will concentrate on positive thinking, take my pills religiously, stay warm and do what ever I can to stay well. You push for that MRI scan . Will chat soon, take good care. xxxx Macca. xx good to know you have a fella taking care of you. xx

  • vicki28
    vicki28

    Posted

    hey.. i am going all out now.. i went out yesterday and bought a matress toppper memeory foam thing.. slept like a baby last night!!! when i got up in the morning my shoulders didn't hurt as much and my neck felt a lot looser and moveable. it is a lovely feling. i recommend it.
  • macca
    macca

    Posted

    Hay Vikki, yeah they are fab, bought whole new foam mattress & pillows in feb of this year as hubby was having pain in the mornings (he has broke his back in 2 places and registered walking disabled) he finds it helps loads. I have found it helpful too but still get up with stiffness in neck and shoulders that loosens up as the day goes on. It feels great to get into bed though doesn't it !! In the summer i did find it a little warm but can deal with that. Enjoy your mattress, lol how we find joy in the simplest of things, I've raved about mine to all my work mates and my daughter who still lives at home will stay in our bed if we go away lmao. xx macca xx:lol:
  • Guest
    Guest

    Posted

    I'm so glad I've found this site. I have a medical condition which has resulted in CS at two levels - C3/4 and C6/7. My neck has been flared up for a couple of months now and I'm beginning to think that maybe my CS has deteriorated slightly from the 'mild' that was identified as an aside on a head CT I had about 18 months ago.

    My symptoms are pain, spasms, sometimes tingling down my arm, sometimes headaches, although these seem to have calmed down in the last week or so. The pain gets really bad after I've washed my hair in the shower - raising arms and leaning back slightly. If I wash it over the side of the bath then I tend to get pain across the back of my shoulder blade. I was told never to wash my hair that way but sometimes needs must. My worst pain tends to be between my shoulder blades and the spasms are higher up in my neck. I told my rheumy the last time I saw him that I get flashing lights in my vision when I shave under my arms in the shower. More recently I've had a few occasions where my vision is a bit blurry like the muscles are fighting hard to work to keep my vision stable. When I'm at the gym I frequently fall over when I'm doing pilates type exercises. I'm not sure whether I'm putting two and two together and getting five or whether it might be that my CS has deteriorated a bit. I spend my life getting scans that show that things are not too bad so I feel a bit of a hypochondriac making a fuss.

  • chris215a
    chris215a

    Posted

    hello flying santa, welcome to our world, have you googled cs it covers all the problems you mention. i found out that stumbling is quite common and not to mention vision problems. i did think at the beginning that i was losing my mind but finding this site has been a god send. i have suffered for the past 18yrs, and it is only lately i have learned so much about things to do with cs. if you look back at the previous posts you should find a great deal of help and suggestions. i wish you luck and keep dropping by and keep us informed.,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,, chris xx
  • macca
    macca

    Posted

    Ah bless you flyingsanta and Hi chris. i was starting to wonder where every one had gone lol, its good to hibernate when you have this condition, especially in the wet and cold.... so sorry to hear you are having a bad time at mo Santa but as Chris has mentioned you will find lots of help and support on this site. I'm good at mo not feeling any pain but that's all down to the drugs I'm on, still waiting for my urgent appt with pain consultant.... Chris, I know you have taken gabapentine in the past and apart from it's addictive side effects, did you notice your hair falling out as mine come out in handfuls when I shower and brush loads when i brush it ?? my daughters a hairdresser and has commented she hadn't seen any thing like be fore... love Macca. x
  • Guest
    Guest

    Posted

    Thanks guys. I'm in the annoying stage at the moment of trying to carry on working but the pain's too bad to ignore and any additional medication that I take adds to the inability to concentrate but doesn't do an awful lot to reduce the pain. I know this is the reality of living with a chronic pain condition but it doesn't make it any easier to cope with!!
  • chris215a
    chris215a

    Posted

    hi macca, i can honestly say that i havent noticed any hair loss at all. did you read the paperwork that accompanies the meds??? i havent had them for a while , so i cant say whether or not it is on the contra indications. maybe you should ask your pharmacist he will know what is what. it is strange that so many have gone missing off here, everyone is obviously hurting as going on the internet can cause trouble. santa i hope things will easre up as you get a break over christmas,,,,, chris xx
  • macca
    macca

    Posted

    Hi guys, how you all doing ?? well i soo hope. :wink: as for me well it's been three weeks now since i was discharged from hospital and i have done nothing but rest as instructed to give the gabapentine time to work and get into my system.. yesterday i drove hubby to the supermarket and i managed to walk up one aisle down half another...... OMG the pain was worse than when i was admitted into hospi tal :twisted: it travelled from my mid back down to the lumbar area, travelling into my right leg. from my shoulders right up to the base of my skull. I some how managed to drive home. when I got in i just sat / stood and cried as i couldn't stop it. I doubled up on meds that took a good two hours to kick in. so gabapentine okish if your just sit around and do absolutely nothing but no good if you want a life.. :roll: off to pain clinic on thursday to see what else they can do for me..... seriously thinking of applying for DLA.. Have a fab, pain free chrimbo and new year. love macca. smile
  • vicki28
    vicki28

    Posted

    hmmm having a tendon problem today in my neck on my right hand side.. it feels like i am being pulled to the left and my right tendon along my neck is so tender to touch.. i am certain it gets worse with cold weather... oh and i have a new symptom.. cold hands.. they just go icy cold and hurt to much.. think i'll have to put my gloves on inside!!
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