chronic pain from head to toe just on left side of body

Have you been tested for Lyme disease?

"Im glad to hear Im not the only one.  I see people with the same symptoms but i don't see a response of an actual diagnosis or a good way to deal with the pain.  Am i missing something? this is my first time here."

Your quite right.  Typical of the confusion and uncertain diagnosis where there may be a trapped or threatened nerve.  Probably most are trapped nerve in cervical spine due to different grades of cervical spondylosis, which has gone unnoticed.  It's a common problem, and yet it gives rise to all sorts of speculation on causes. UNfortunately, there's a tendency to only see the local issues, rather than the cumulative effects of a single trapped or threatened nerve in the neck.  Dealing with the pain may well require a different approach for each individual case,  but a good starting point would be how to stop aggravating the neck , and thus ease the radiated symptoms.  Have a look under Cervical Spondylosis to see if there are similarities.

I  have  prolapsed  discs at c3-c4/c4-c5/c5-c6.

2nd the discs are slightly  touching  my spinal cord.  I have pain all over and had a 51 day stay in hospital after 4 weeks damaging  my neck in what started out as a simple fall.

Nash really  helped that much I have tried  everything  available  to. Physio , nerve blocks,  bed rest, acupuncture, and a brutal for of physio. All of which  has made small changes but  no cure and  they keep  scratching their  heads as to why I  don't  seem  to improve.  My latest treatment  has been  injections  right  into  the  facet joints which  has numbed my neck but not  changed the symptoms.  

I think  there is  only one  fit her step  which  is  to remove  the  damaged discs but they won't  even consider it, they dismiss  the  fact that I now  have  an injury  at three separate  points  in the spine. Which  in my thought process  can contribute  to  the all over body pain that I  suffer so  it is  a prescription  of pills  and get used to  it. 

I have been  offered a  course  on how  to  personally  learning  how to live with  the  pain so  I  will  give it a try.

Sorry  that I  don't  have  a  cure to share.

"Sorry  that I  don't  have  a  cure to share."

No need to apologise.  There is no cure, and that takes a bit of getting used to.  Even surgery,  which comes with variable outcomes,  is usually only a temporary remedy....when it works.  When it doesn't work,  and we get to hear little of this aspect,  it can make things more vulnerable.  For me,  I prefer to look at other possible options....particularly self management techniques which might help alleviate the symptoms.,,,that's the only way I see that quality of life can be beneficially affected.  The meds and the surgery are always held in reserve anyway,  so why not try other approaches in the meantime.  Sometimes the urgency of the distress of the symptoms makes us want to jump at offered solutions which don't quite make the grade,  and that can be at the expense of a more informed approach which might offer other means of easing symptoms.  Gaining some control over the symptoms,  and learning how to not aggravate them and how to ease them is probably what's really important in the long run.  THe first step in that process is recognising that there is no 'cure' being offered, and maybe there never will be.  So,  self management with least meds, and least surgery,  should be prioritised at the top of any C/S wish list.  I think that, when what's being offered isn't satisfactory, then we have a responsibility to ourselves to look at other self management approaches, just in case we've overlooked any other methods which might help ease symptoms.  The track record from what the services provide is not impressive.

I know that there's no cure and I am going to an assessment clinic at Liverpool's Walton Centre the week after next for the Pain Management programme. 

I had an operation on my shoulder in April which  was fantastic until  about 3 weeks ago when I feel and cracked a couple of ribs and popped my shoulder out of joint. The fact that the operation was a success must mean that my body hasn't forgotten how to repair itself. For this reason I am still  hopeful of some kind  of relief from a medical /surgical intervention. 

HI graham

Seems you've had some real bad luck with that fall,  setting things back like that.  I've had cracked ribs myself,  several years ago,  There isn't much they can do for it,  just let it heal over time....in my case it took a couple of months for it to settle down and stop interfering with sleep.  I still get an ocassional niggling reminder if I turn a certain way.

Was wondering why you'd had a shoulder op in April.  I've got degeneration and some stenosis from C3 to C7,  so it's pretty similar to yours.  Over the years I've had three phases of frozen shoulder,  twice in one shoulder, once in the other,  each taking about 10 months to clear up, with no surgery or physio.  I've always seen shoulder issues with C/S as referred issues which don't require local surgery....if the nerve in the neck is the source problem,  how can shoulder surgery help ?   In cases of extensive damage to spine, they are usually reluctant to advise surgery,  mostly because they can't predict with any clarity how the neck might react afterwards,  and so they are more inclined to adsvise management techniques,  or upgrade medications.  Personally,  I'm wary of any exercise regimes which might further irritate a nerve, and medications tend to only offer temporary reliel, if any,  and come with long term effects which might become a problem in themselves.  I was offered neck surgery 3 years ago,  but I declined because of the risks.  Instead,  they gave me an  'open appointment' at the neurological hospital,  which means that if things become intolerable,  I can just contact them directly, and because I've already been thru' all the tests (MRI,EMG, Reflex etc) they already know what surgery might be required.  As it happens,  although I've still got numb hand/pins and needles/ and other associated symptoms,  I've found that generally I've been able to manage it all.  If anything,  I'd say that the symptoms have improved without any treatment .  I try to not aggravate the neck in any way,  and I've adopted altered sleeping postures (sleep on sofa etc) for the worst phases,  and, all in all,  the whole thing has become much more manageable in a home-based kind of way.  Not saying that that's going to suit everyone with C/S,  but it works for me, to the point that I haven't needed to see any health advisers for over two years about my C/S.  That's a relief in itself,  after nearly 30 years of disappointments with offered advice/treatments.  It has restored a sense of some control over the symptoms which I never realised I was capable of before,  in fact I've had more success in controlling symptoms than all the treatments/advice I'd had previously.  Achieving that sense of control, and continuing it daily,  is the only treatment I'm inclined towards now....mostly because it offers better quality of life....something that was in short supply when I was totally dependent on treatments which simply didn't work.

Hi Gerry,

My shoulder surgery was something that I had been waiting for three years and was a complete success. Unfortunately the fall has undone the work at the minute. I am in Liverpool for an assessment next week for a pain management programme which as you say that might well work for me to.

My concern is that I know that two of the disc's are touching my spinal cord and if I manage to get more active will that worsen the situation I am scared now as I have three separate injuries in my spine. First is my neck then between my shoulder blades and then at the bottom of my back.

I worked through my pain yesterday and now I can't feel my feet properly I have pain in my ribs/shoulder/neck and arms. Also have pins and  needles in my hands so when I have myself to much man do I pay for it.

I have known when to be careful with my back injuries but with the medication I am  taking I don't know I've gone to far until it's to late.

Anyway  soldier on and see what they say next week 

Hi Graham

Sounds to me like you have stenosis at three separate places in the spine.  That usually means that a disc or vertebrae has moved inwards and may be touching the nerve root in the root canal.  That accounts for the numb/pins and needles sensations, loss of power etc.  Any pain issues usually result from muscular protective adjustments which must be made to stop any further compression.  I've found that the only way I can influence outcomes is by reducing any irritation to the nerve,  particularly by sleeping or napping in what seems the least compromising positions (sitting upright for instance).  But then, I've only got the neck issue, so I don't know if that would help your problems.  It might be worth trying.  With trapped nerves,  I think it's usually best to allow the nerve to reposition itself to its least threatened position.  If that's possible,  the associated symptoms should ease accordingly.  If the threatened nerve/s is being constantly agitated, it will cause a range of known symptoms....but, in my opinion,  it is always trying to find its least threatened position so that it can continue functioning as it should.  All that self corrective adjusting to favour the nerve is usually the cause of all the symptoms we are familiar with, and, in my experience, learning how to accommodate that process can help to ease symptoms. 

Good luck with the Pain Management Clinic.  Hopefully they've got some good ideas for management.....but you're right to be wary of anything that looks too strenuous.  No harm in asking them to explain the theory behind their suggestions before submitting to their advice.  

I bought a copy of my mri before my last appointment with the consultant and questioned him about my c4 vertebrae and the 17 frames that were taken. Across the length of the vertebrae the canal is closing very close to the cord. When I asked him he said that it was a "blip on the scan" I said for seventeen frames........

He couldn't get me out the door soon enough. This closing is of course "stenosis "

Alieve is the only thing that I have found to

Iighten the pain, it never really goes away

Some days it's unbearable and it will

Lessen it enough to sleep

Sounds similar to mine, although mine is mostly at C6.  I also managed to copy my MRI DVD onto my PC, I suppose so that it's always available if I ever want to change consultants,  or if I travel abroad....might save having same tests again.  On the MRI, if I slowly rotate the the image frames, I can see where there is no white fluid separating vertebrae from nerve root,  and unlike yours, that's been confirmed in neuro report.  I think sometimes, maybe when they're unsure about the benefits of surgery, they are inclined to 'talk it down' patronisingly.  It would be better if they told it like it is, even if it means displaying their own doubts about what they can do for it.  THere's always the option of asking for a second opinion,  but I realise that's not an easy thing to do because nobody wants to upset their consultant..we depend on them.  Alternatively,  a private consultant might assess your MRI,  but it might be expensive.

I sent a copy of my mri to Germany to be assessed with a written report on how my condition was at that time, it came back with the consultant saying that if I was in Germany I would be operated on within 4 days as there remit is to get you back to a working condition 

Makes me wonder why our politicians,  and to be honest, why most people in the UK, still carry on insisting that the NHS is the best health service in the world.  I suppose if they say it enough times,  it leaves little mental room for acknowledging or thinking about the problems.  True,  it's free at the point of service,  but if that service is slow to react,  then it is also a barrier to quick responsive treatments.  That aspect is continually swept under the carpet.

I know the German system is a combined Free/Private service which seems to work quicker,  more in line with patient's expectations.  Here in the UK,  many are kept in a Twilight Zone of referral delays and subsequent t5reatment delays.....probably greatly increasing the overall burden on the NHS.  Is the NHS self-mutilating ?

I'm on the Isle of Man, so waiting lists differ slightly from the UK but our waiting times for MRI is now 7 weeks......

I don't get it. If there is the demand then surely they could run two shifts as for most people I am sure that an appointment between 5:00 & 9:30pm would be better as far as work is concerned and this goes for a lot of services. 

But I am not a politician or hospital manager so what would I know 

In a funny way, it's kind of comforting to realise that things are no different on the Isle of Man.  I would have thought that a small community would be better able to hold on to its communal values regarding appointments etc.  In London it sometimes takes two weeks to get to see your own GP...we get redirected to assistants and nurses first.  I'm not sure whether that's down to increased traffic,  or just some attempt top make their services seem more special by increasing the rarity of a proper appointment !  If I were to guess,  I'd probably be better off not to !

 My partner live with the same symptoms for 6 years. After time and money spent for medical checks, she now only walks and very gently neck moves for exercising.

Every time when pain is felt back she tries to relax her entire rigth side of her body, starting with the head and the neck on a neck and lower back supporting pillows.

That is what she says helps.

Allow me to repeat my words to you, too.   My partner live with the same symptoms for 6 years. After time and money spent for medical checks, she now only walks and very gently neck moves for exercising.

Every time when pain is felt back she tries to relax her entire rigth side of her body, starting with the head and the neck on a neck and lower back supporting pillows.

That is what she says helps.

I can understand what you say.  The posture really helps, particularly when sleeping or napping.  Adjusting postures by sleerping/napping on a sofa, for instance, can have a dramatic effect on otherwise recurring symptoms.  I've had symptoms completely disappear after a one hour nap....seemsa to work better than any meds oir therapy I've had.  It's all about finding the most comfortable postures which allow the threatened nerves to relax...especially when asleep.  In a lot of C/S cases, sleeping horizontally in a bed every night contributes to the cyclical nature of most of the symptoms.  It probably goes against the grain to suggest people should purposefully adjust their assumed comfort zone,  but a little trial and error/success might yield surprising results.

I would like to add :  It is annoying when the whole side of the body is talking to you in pain and symptoms for years, from the eye to the toe, I use to joke and compare with the lights on a Christmas tree - you never know what is next.

Sometimes the pain can be good - we know that the neck nerves are under pressure: we need to learn how to give it some space, and this is person and situation specific.

But sometimes the pain can be bad - we need a meditation or relaxing the whole side of the body muscle by muscle, part by part to the 100%. Because it feels even more hard and tense with  pain, and lead to more...

And it is hard to learn how relax your bodyafter  being in pain for years...but a painkiller is not always the best move.

Hello Gerry

I know you have posted quite often on this site and you are something of an expert!  I had a disc replacement and fusion (C5-6) a year ago and was absolutely pain free for two months in Sept and October. I went on a plane journey which was obvioiusly too ambitious and have been suffering with severe nerve pain down my arm ever since. (3 months)> It feels exactly as it did pre-op although the scans show that nothing is now compressing the nerve. I have tried everything and yet I still have this relentless nerve pain. Do you have ANY suggestions? I am on the brink of giving up work because I can't travel, can't sit a computer etc etc.

Thanks for any advice you can give.