Picture a 3D torso divided equally into fourths and imagine the upper left quadrant. (left side neck down to top of breast, including over shoulder and left upper back). This entire area is numb and anything touching that skin is very painful. Like electric shocks and the area feels like a bad burn
Dr did X-ray, CT showed degenerative disc disease but nothing they say that accounts for this pain. Dr did an MRI For brachial plexus which showed nothing.
Does anyone have any ideas? I just feel like crying because everyone is going to say it’s my mind doing it. I have not had the MRI on my neck. Is there a point?
Does anyone have any ideas? I had a herniated lumbar disc that had to be fused last year.
Written by
ShouldaWouldaCoulda
To view profiles and participate in discussions please or .
I’ve had no rash, no shingles, and no feversIf it IS a pinched nerve I’d have thought the CT of my neck would have picked that up. But no, so far it’s “just osteoarthritis.”
It certainly sounds like shingles, although as you say, no rash. CTs are not very good at picking up issues with nerves, you really need an MRI for that. So I would go for the MRI of your neck.
That’s been what I’ve been thinking and I owe the hospital/surgeon so much money, I won’t live to pay off. So, I’m going to do the MRI if possible. . (U.S. healthcare with insurance)
So sorry you have the worries of finances re healthcare. I’m thankful we have our nhs, so the MRI would be funded. Hope you find answers soon, it’s a dreadful pain to live with. Have you tried meds like pregabalin or amitriptyline which are good for nerve pains 🤗
Hello. I'm sorry you are not having a great time and in so much pain. I just wanted to add to other replies that my husband had a horrible time with pain over his left side and into his back. After a lot of tests it transpired that he had shingles without a rash. It lasted for months and then gradually improved. Apparently it's a 'thing' that you can have no rash shingles! I hope you begin to see some improvement soon. My best wishes to you.
If you have been offered an MRI on your neck I’d have it.Nerves in the neck area affect so many areas…..I just smiled & thought “Yeah right” when my rheumy blamed all sorts on my very dodgy neck…but an MRI proved him right.
I had the herniated and pinched nerves in my lumbar region for a couple of months last year. I know what that felt like on my left leg. Surgeon fused the discs and that nerve pain went away. This seems to be very similar but I’m not sure.
If you’re being offered an MRI I would have it…. Whatever your doctors see on the results …..they will know what to recommend you should do won’t they?When my neck was first injured they took a graft from my hip and made me two new vertebrae at C4 /5. That was over 25 years ago and I have had very very little trouble with it since…. but now of course I’ve developed OA in my neck…. & the first AZ Covid vaccination irritated the nerves & caused Occipital Neuralgia…but thankfully physio has helped with that.
I’m at the stage where I think …if it isn’t one thing it’s another and just get it sorted!
Hi, I also have degenerative disc disease. Though not the same as the pains you describe I have what I call a bee sting pain in my right shoulder blade. I was told that even though they could not see a nerve being pinched that one was intermittently. They also said it really shows up on scans. I find if I have a shower and try and relax my shoulder and neck it sometimes relieves the pinch.
Mine does come and go so obviously I’m able to in some way stop pinching. Hope this helps
Bee sting somewhat describes the pain which comes and goes. Before the skin sensitivity started up showers had worked well for aching. Now with this It’s too painful on my left side.
Docs thought I was having a heart attack but it was shingles took a month for spots to appear! Never felt so rough in my life. Keep speaking to your doctor for help! Good luck 🤞🏻
ShoudaWoudaCouda - this a link to a rather long NPR (National Public Radio for those unfamiliar) interview with a lady that was diagnosed (finally after a very long long medical journey) with “autoimmune thyroiditis”. She speaks about a symptom of electrical shocks.
Mind you there are myriads of us who have followed a similar medical diagnosis nightmare like path! And this interview offers few solutions to resolve autoimmune thyroiditis, but perhaps it reveals a clue to what direction you might want consider / talk with your own medical team. Personally I shared this with my Dr.
Veterans on HealthUnlocked might find it tiring as there is mostly nothing new - but perhaps a tiny glimmer of hope that mainstream medical is at least beginning to admit…”We really don’t know much about auto immune diseases. Perhaps it’s not all in their head?”
Thank you for the information…..I will look into that certainly. I wouldn’t rule anything out at this point, as the doctors aren’t coming up with anything but the “arthritis.”
Yes, agreed. I have it too (Hashimotos) and I have not had the shocking, tingling thing, but then again....it could manifest itself in that way, and evidently did to the lady in the article.
I read with interest how this lady went to England to get the "microbiotic" fecal transplant. Even further interest in that she felt that she got better. Not the first time I've seen that connection between the body's biosphere in the gut believed to be destroyed by antibiotics, and people swearing by the relief they received from the transplant. The more I read on Hashimotos - the believed causes, the research, those that report relief from various angles / remedies, the more it seems to me (as is often the case) that there is more than one way to skin a fish.
For me, it was an iodine reduction diet. (And I do feel so cured!) But vitamins and minerals, bovine glandulars (T3), donkey milk, hormonal balance...many of these learned about here...they all contributed to where I am now. Almost two years without need of thyroid replacement hormone.
My sister "cured" here Raynaud's Sydnrome with CBD Oil - accidentally! She tried the CBD oil for arthritis in the elbow. She was nearly unable to use her right arm. Now? She swears the CBD oil / pills removed all traces of pain. And then one day she was removing snow from her car without gloves - which would have triggered the Raynauds instantly in the past. And it didn't happen. And it didn't happen...no more Raynaud's for years now.
I think MRI of the cervical spine is essential for you. The symptoms you are having certainly sound neurological and a CT will not have been able to exclude nerve root problems. The brachial plexus MRI will have excluded a lot of possibilities but I don’t think it shows problems in the upper cervical spine.Hope you get sorted out soon.
Thanks, I’m thinking along those same lines as well. The Dr is sending me to a Neurologist for testing. The painful sensations are still in left upper body and shoulder. I can’t stand CLOTHING touching so I’m walking around my house wearing “togas” lol
Content on HealthUnlocked does not replace the relationship between you and doctors or other healthcare professionals nor the advice you receive from them.
Never delay seeking advice or dialling emergency services because of something that you have read on HealthUnlocked.
Pain on left side waist area
This sounds stupid, but does an MRI scan affect your body like that?
chronic neck, shoulder and upper back pain
