Long time sufferer

[Jokk]

Hi I was first diagnosed with cervical spondylosis when I was 37 I am now 52 I have deteriorated considerably in this time. Have had numerous medication and various procedures including cervical manipulation and nerve block injections. I am on a lot of medication 13 tablets a day Lately I have had difficulties relating to my work in a busy medical practice. Also I am continually slurring my speech and forgetting my words. I find myself unable to work my concentration levels are pretty much non existent Is this it for me or can I expect any improvement

[Doodle2]

Gosh, jokk, wish I could help but I don't know with your problem. Must be difficult. Sure is horrible. I know my neck problems seem to be an enigma.

[Unnerved]

Good day Jokk,

let me start by saying I had severe osteoarthritis in the cervicle spine by 40, and was...or shall I say still am living on meds for breakfast lunch and dinner, so I understand that part very much. I am also now 52, last year I lost arm function and my spinal canal was 5mm so I had to have surgery.

Spondylosis just describes various things that can be wrong, but basically is degenerative, so as we age, it is by nature progressive.

There are alternatives I want you to consider regarding your brain fog and slurred speech. I was fortunate enough to see a researcher who studied cervicle stenosis and fibromyalgia. His studies showed 85% of people with cervicle stenosis had fibromyalgia. Now doctors will debate (especially neurosurgeons) whether this is true or not, or whether you progressed and cervicle stenosis is causing it, but just for the heck of it, based upon what your saying, you might check the symptoms of both and see if fibromyalgia or stenosis apply to how your feeling. (Brain fog, slurred speech, and lack of concentration)

I am going to throw in another idea, I studied all my medications, side effect, benefits, and reviewed and worked with my pharmacist and pain management doctor. With multiple physicians some of the benefits of the medications were being duplicated, or I was on medications to alleviate side effect of other medications, so we removed some and modified others and just that alone took away a degree of my comatose feeling,

I don't know when your last mri was, but you you might find it may be more then meds causing you to feel this way.

If your fortunate, you might benefit from less invasive laser surgery to help reduce pain medication, symptoms, and to reduce your chances of ending up with the more invasive hardware, I would look into that as well.

Bottom line here, you may be able to find something to help you improve somewhat, or remain stable, but nobody is going to be able to tell you where you are physically or how you will continue progress, especially without knowing what exactly is wrong. Our bodies are different and age differently.

I wish you well, and hope you are able to find a way that's not invasive to control your pain and symptoms

[Jokk in reply to Unnerved]

Thank you for your very informative reply. I had my last mri around 3 months ago. I am due to see a specialist on 2nd January so hopefully sort something out. I will be discussing al options.

[Noneck]

Get an MRI of your neck asap or get to a neurologist asap your spinal cord could be injured. I have myelomalacia from waiting for so long to get an MRI with my neck pain. It is not cureable and causes me alot of disabling symptoms.

[Jokk in reply to Noneck]

Hi Noneck

Thank you for your reply. Unfortunately my spinal cord has already been damaged. I’ve had numerous MRI scans since my diagnosis. There is no cure for my condition Drs just like to monitor me. All they can do is try to control my pain or possibly surgery. I was advised years ago by a neurologist who was a colleague at the time not to have surgery unless I absolutely had too so at the moment I’m following his advice. I had another root nerve injection last week but sadly that hasn’t helped as much as they have in the past.

Have you tried acupuncture? I find I respond well to it. I also have acupressure bands that help with my lumber pain.