Im 20. Just been told I have cervical spondylosis

8 weeks ago i was at work and i came over very shakey and couldn't lift my head properly. I told my gp that my head felt to heavy for my body. 1 week later my neck started to hurt and that was it i couldn't move. I had dizzyness but no headache. I literally couldn't walk i was in so much pain with my neck. My docotor sent me for a head ct which came back perfecta nd i had a neck x-ray which showed i had a \"straight\" neck. nobody has explained this to me. I saw a physio and he said he couldn't touch me because he didn't know what was wrong with me.. i do understand why he said that. Next i had an mri scan on my neck but that didn't show anything. I have got lower bad \"degeneration\" in my lumber area from epidurals. My new symptoms are pain all over. I though i was having a heart attack this weekend but 4 ecgs showed my heart is fine and 10,000 blood tests haven't showed a thing!!! thhis last week i have been suffering with what can only be described as a pushing or swelling feeling at the base of my skull and my joints of my arms and wrists hurt. actually my arm muscles hurt a lot... I had a blood arterial gas taken from mywrist last monday which is still really bruised and that wrist hurts even more!! please help me!!! any advice please

For the past 4 days I have also had bad aches/pains in my wrists. Although I have had CS since 2001 I have not had the wrist pain before. The most severe point for the pain is at my wrist joint in line with my thumb. If I press it there it shoots a severe pain up my arm to my elbow. If makes my whole body writhe in pain. I have been taking diclofenac for 2 days now and it seems to have helped. I am now going to stop taking it to see if the pain returns to the same level as before.

I hope it doesn't!

Sorry to hear you are going through all this Viki28 and judging by your username, you are in the same age group as me (late 20s); not nice at a young age is it?

I have Cervical Spondylosis with some foramen narrowing. A while ago, before I actually knew what was wrong, an Osteopath had injured me whilst trying to 'losen' up my neck and upper back.

What it appears she had done, in hindsight, is that she had put pressure in an area where my foramen bone was and it had pinched my nerve, in an area already restricted by the foramen narrowing (unknown to me at the time).

The result was agony in my shoulder blade, down my arm, particuarly at my elbow, right down my wrist ending with pins and needles in my fingers; clearly a nerve being pressed in the neck/upper back area.

So just a long shot - it could be that part of your symptoms could be down to a nerve, maybe in your neck area, being pinched a bit which is affecting your lower arm area. You could also have other things happening in addition, like I did in past. Did your doctors suggest that it could be a nerve being pinched?

i found out that my mri neck scan came back with nothing , no nerves or anything being pinched just a loss of curvature in my neck. My blood tests have showed nothing but i managed to get an appointment on the 5th march to see a rhematologist in a private hospital through the nhs. I really am in a state though. I know that this maybe won't be cs but all the people i have seen thinks that its definately muscle/skeletol problems. Today the pain in my neck is back and my neck muscles feel tight.I am sick of taking anti-inflammatories and every other medicine know to man.. The chest pain is back and thats the scariest thing of all. My kids just want to know whats wrong with mummy and my husband is tring to understand and is helping so much but its hard to explain how all this feels. I wish there was just one word but there isn't and i am scared. 8 weeks ago i was healthy and active now i can't even walk my kids to school.

vicki28 I am sure many here would share your fears and can understand what you are going through; I had a few months of depression when I first got diagnosed.

You said you had blood tests already for stuff - what that for Rheumatoid arthritis already? You said you are being referred to a Rheumatologist so I am sort of guessing you have not already had this tested for.

That straightening of the neck (Lordosis I believe) is something I had last year when I was injured and it seems to be due to muscle spasms. However this has long gone.

I know you are in terrible pain and I had a lot of crap last year in particular, but for a while I have actually got better and I am convinced the stretching and gentle exercising, plus watching posture whilst sitting and standing, have all helped.

thankyou for replying. I must sound so silly when there are other people in worse situations than i am.. i do apoligise. I just didn't know what to do or what to think. I will try and stay positive. Oh and my rhematoid- factor had been tested and it was okay as far as i know.

vicki28,

No need to apologise, I hope you didn't think I was hinting that you were complaining as that was absolutely not my intention; what I was getting at, is that people will understand your pain and desparation on this site, whereas the ordinary Joe is not sympathetic to people like us.

Remember there are always little things you can do to help yourself, such as watching posture, light stretching etc, whilst you are seeing all these specialists.

I suggested a memory foam pillow - I know you have a young family and money may be an issue, but you can pick them up for £30 or less and they DO help a majority of people. Please try one if you have not done so already. As I said, I got mine from Argos for only £30 and it has helped.

thnakyou. I woke up this morning and literally couldn't move. it took my about half an hour to be able to get up out of bed. My neck is hurting again and the front of it feels like its being pushed out. It sounds strange i know but i am waiting for a phone from my docotr about it. But oh my god my whole body huirts. My ribs feel like i have been punched in them several times and so does my back. Any clues?? On a lighter note its nice to have a place where you can talk about your situation with someonw that has similar issues to yourself. I mean ... how do you explain these things your going through when you don't look poorly or abnormal in anyway. I am not poorly i have never felt poorly all through this which is the strangest thing.

[quote:b987f876f2=\"vicki28\"] i found out that my mri neck scan came back with nothing , no nerves or anything being pinched just a loss of curvature in my neck. My blood tests have showed nothing but i managed to get an appointment on the 5th march to see a rhematologist in a private hospital through the nhs. I really am in a state though. I know that this maybe won't be cs but all the people i have seen thinks that its definately muscle/skeletol problems. Today the pain in my neck is back and my neck muscles feel tight.I am sick of taking anti-inflammatories and every other medicine know to man.. The chest pain is back and thats the scariest thing of all. My kids just want to know whats wrong with mummy and my husband is tring to understand and is helping so much but its hard to explain how all this feels. I wish there was just one word but there isn't and i am scared. 8 weeks ago i was healthy and active now i can't even walk my kids to school.[/quote:b987f876f2]

Hiya Vicki28,

I have been following your posts, and am sorry you are in so much pain, and do not seem to be getting anywhere with the medical profession, I hope you have better luck on the 5th March.

Have you tried some heat therapy on your back? Via hot water bottle , gel pouches etc, this can help relax your muscles a little.

If you are taking anti-inflammatories (NSAIDs) you need to take a tummy protecting tablet, as they can be quite aggessive on the stomach.

Wishing you all the best for the 5th.

I can get quite alot of chest/ rib pain with CS, but once I knew what it was I stopped panicking, it makes all the difference when you know the beast you are dealing with.

Emxx

i have just been to the doctors and they put me on different anti immflamatories. The rib/upper chest pain around my shouloder blades at the front is getting worse and i am using one of those microwave wrap things. I am bent over at the moment (quite a sight!!) because i canot sit or stand up striaght. It hurts so bad that i'm thinking of going to emergency department but i have been so much lately that they threw me out last time. My doctor says i need to be admitted but she can't do it herself. I am confused because i need to get better to look after my kids.

[quote:5056deb521=\"vicki28\"]i have just been to the doctors and they put me on different anti immflamatories. The rib/upper chest pain around my shouloder blades at the front is getting worse and i am using one of those microwave wrap things. I am bent over at the moment (quite a sight!!) because i canot sit or stand up striaght. It hurts so bad that i'm thinking of going to emergency department but i have been so much lately that they threw me out last time. My doctor says i need to be admitted but she can't do it herself. I am confused because i need to get better to look after my kids.[/quote:5056deb521]

Vicki28,

Sorry, but I'm totally at at a loss as to why your gp cannot get you admitted to hospital, my gp did exactly this for me, 6 months ago.

The anti-inflams can take some time to kick in, but you still need a tummy protector or you'll end up with more problems!!

Why are they throwing you out of A+E ??

As you are in such severe pain I should get to A+E pronto!!!

Emxx

they said theres nothing they can do that they don'y have the grounds to admitt me through the emergency department. I need to be. My husband needs me to be as its stressing us all out and we don't have answers.

dear vicki, i am sorry to hear about your problems, as i read this it brought back such memories. when i first started suffering with cs i had the rib pain it felt like a really bad chest infection it hurt to breathe, which in turn makes you breathe shallow, and the shallower you breathe, the harder it is to take a deep breath. i have been suffering for the past 17yrs and it started when i was only31, i just woke up and couldnt move, at that time i had a one year old, and two little ones as well. your husband will notice what you are going through and just a few words from you should make it apparrent, but dont expect him to be a mind reader. make sure he knows what you cant do. you have only been suffering short time yet but as you get further on you will realise what your limitations are. there are so much more you can try yet, get your gp to refer you to your pain management centre, they are a god send. good luck vicki and keep us up to datewith your progress.

vicki28,

I have just logged back on - you poor thing, I really feel for you and you are suffering more than I have by the sounds of it.

Other posters are right, CS can cause some rib pain, I used to have it myself and my poor older sister had it quite a lot (she has a much worse case of CS than me).

Please take the advice above about heat therapy - I bet a lot of your pain is coming from muscle spasms; you need to keep the muscles as lose as you can and there is where heat is coming in.

Sorry I am harrassing you on another point, but PLEASE get a memory foam pillow if you do not have one, just try it.

On a final note, be damned if I would allow them to turn me away from A&E - I know you are in pain but there is where your husband can come in. I would INSIST you are seen and state quite rightly that you/your husband has paid into the system for years (presumably!).

Stick in there my darling, you wont be like this forever, you are clearly at a very rough point at the moment. The closest I came to agony was when that Osteopath injured me and pinched my nerve, I was screaming and that is saying something as I am a tough bloke normally. But it's all long gone, time will help if you help yourself in little ways.