pseudogout in neck
Posted , 7 users are following.
So I woke up in the middle of the night and my neck was so stiff I couldn't turn in either direction, and it hurt fairly seriously from even tiny movements. Could this be pseudogout?
?At first I figured I just tweaked it, but the stiffness lasted through the day. I finally started wondering about meningitis, but I felt fine otherwise, which didn't match. It got better slowly over a week, so I just let it fade. But just a few days later it has come back.
?Aspirin helps. I have had (self-diagnosed) pseudogout in the knee and foot, just a few weeks ago. I've had regular gout before as well, but have been taking celery seed and I think that's been 100% preventative on the regular gout. I only started taking "pseudogout" seriously as a real diagnosis, as of a few weeks ago.
?Googling turns up a lot of stuff that says pseudogout (CPPD) in the neck, in the "yellow ligament" (Ligamentum flavum) does happen. The call it rare, they find it in really old people, but hey I think I've got it too.
?Anybody else here have any similar experience?
0 likes, 33 replies
Guest jx41870
Posted
rustygecko Guest
Posted
The 99% chance is that it’s muscular. If the person tries a Valium - it that fixes it it indicates it’s muscular.
jamie90498 jx41870
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I'm 32 years old be diagnosed with degenerative disc and my doctor just told me he thinks I have pseudogout in my neck I have had similar experiences like I had a gout attack at 23
jamie90498
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It's putting pressure on my nerves in my neck causing sholder pain and pain in the middle of my upper back and also dizzness I'm freaked out.
jamie90498
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rustygecko jamie90498
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You say your doctor “thinks” you have pseudogout. Surely he should “know”? Did you not have liquid extracted from your joints, and X-rays on the effected articulation? If not the symptoms could be other maladies.
This is unusual at your age. Are they doing further tests? In Younger people it is often associated with thyroid problems or blood mineral issues.
Good luck anyway.
Sochima822 jamie90498
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So young, there are ways to help with this, like chiropractics, massage, injections & nsaids. What have you tried? Over time it will cause osteoporosis from what I've read.
jamie90498 rustygecko
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shara59921 jx41870
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I'm 33 years old and have connective tissue disease and brittle bone disease and have just been confirmed to have pseudogout in my large toe (which is also very rare) and also I'm my neck in spine. the steroids for the treatment caused me to get pneumonia and sarcoidosis from a cold I got while on the steroids and I have the exact same symptoms as you did but mine is from having osteoarthritis from having over 70 broken bones from my disease. they found the pseudogout in my neck and spine from having to get a CT on my check and ribs to confirm the sarcoidosis. all of my Drs are dumbfounded on how bad I got so quickly, this was all within a week.
jx41870 shara59921
Posted
Hi Shara, that all sounds pretty awful! I don't know how all those conditions would interact. But, have you had "regular" gout before?
Nobody really seems to know what causes pseudogout, but one factor may be related to regular gout. Maybe.
In retrospect I still don't really know if had really had pseudogout, that has not recurred. Though a year or so later I did have a more normal tweak on one side of my neck, that has taken most of a year to come close to clearing. But I figure that's just what it is, along with some age (over 65).
shara59921 jx41870
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I have a Dr that specializes in rare diseases and no previous gout does not cause pseudogout. the cause of pseudogout is caused from some kind of arthritis and a flare up from an injury or change in weather that would cause for excessive inflammation. The uric acid in gout is completely different from the calcium increase of an arthritis flare up. He said the calcium increase is what causes the crystallization and swelling. I hope this helps, he also said once you get it once expect for occurances to happen more often.
my disease causes for me to not be able to absorb vitamins properly bc all of my cartilage, nerves and tendons are deteriorating so then bc I can't absorb vitamins I'm not getting what I need in my bones so I have brittle bone disease and since 6 people have been diagnosed with my form of connective tissue disease then I have been fighting 6 years for disability and I keep getting denied.
rustygecko jx41870
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Absolutely correct. There is no relation between gout, and pseudogout. what is confusing here is the name. Use the correct name Calcium pyrophosphate dihydrate crystal deposition disease (CPPD) and you see it has nothing to do with gout.
Gout is about uric acid, nothing to do with calcium.
jx41870 rustygecko
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And yet, perhaps damage from one may facilitate the other, or they might just both tend to occur for other reasons.
I've definitely had both.
shara59921 jx41870
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reoccurring gout can affect the cartilage and cause arthritis which will cause for CPPD so yes they can contribute to each other. I have never had gout they think mine is because my vitamin d and calcium levels are almost non existent no matter what I do.
rustygecko jx41870
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Do you have any evidence for a link between the gout and pseudogout? I can find none.
I suspect what you are confusing is cause and effect. As 50% of people over 85 get pseudogout, of course half of all gout patients who make it to 80 will have pseudogout, but it doesn't mean the former caused the latter.
From age 60 onwards pseudogout increases in both men and women. There are several common drugs which will cause pseudogout.