What started out as a shooting pain and spasm in my back a year ago very quickly spread to my whole body. The pain has been unbearable from day one so much so that I have probably tried almost every pain killer/nerve pain medication to no avail. Also physio, tens, acupuncture. Await spinal injections. I've had numerous scans of the back/abdomen. They found bulging disks ( Docs don't seem bothered by this, apparently no nerve impingement, despite all my nerve pain and burning) and an incidental tumour in my neck which was removed, However, the horrific back pain which has spread to my legs is not from the tumour. I struggle to walk, sit, stand and yet the doctors can apparently not find anything.... They don't think it's sciatica...Oh and my arms are not so great either and am getting pain in my wrists and arms. it's not likely to be carpel tunnel.
This has practically ruined my life and I am not the person I was. I have had no let up at all..
I refuse to believe their is no injury, something must be being missed.My whole body is like that of an elderly person and even they are probably fitter..
Does an MRI always find damage. Is it really possible to have unbearable pain but no reason. Can the body be tricked into thinking its in pain as I have read some things about this..
I'm really struggling with the pain and not knowing and can't see myself ever being me again. I've even tried to diagnose myself and suggest things to the doctors. There has to be a reason..
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Rocky1
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You seem to have gone through the mill, if a prognosis cannot be made further tests will need to be undertaken only a GP can give a pathway under these conditions, MRI and ultrasound are very accurate. Tests can be done tendons and nerves although I am not able to give advice.Sensitivity may be a problem so we may be talking, about phsyciatric problems or the use of psycolagists, excuse spelling getting late Under these circumstances go back to your GP or visit another one in your practice, if not satisfied, as you seem to be flustrated regarding your regular GP.
I feel for you I really do, I have a catalogue of problems, I have had a spinal op as my disk was bulging but they said it was ok until the pain was so bad I got an MRI from sheer bloody mindedness and moaning, within two days I was in surgery and they were shocked at how bad things actually were and the pain was so much better after for along time however it now a constant battle I live with. I had five good years with my spine, I feel you need to push for more tests, and also because of the general pain in your body that you describe I feel maybe you should look up fibromyalgia symptoms and see if it relates to you and if so ask for tests.
I hope you get sorted but if you are in pain then make sure you are a pain to the doctors!!!!! Why should you suffer alone? Make them keep going till they have checked every possible avenue xxxx
I am a fibromyalgia sufferer and your symptoms do sound very familiar. The test for this is a simple one you can do yourself. You have pressure points at certain sites in your body and if you press on these points on a person with Fibro they can feel very painful. You will get information on line regarding this. I must say though once you get your diagnosis you will then have to see your GP and ask to see a Rheumatologist to confirm this. It won't be easy, as once you get your diagnosis you are then left to flounder by the medical profession and just get on with it as there is no cure.
Eventually someone in a similar situation to me....
As Bob has said, trust the MRI, they aren100% accurate, I've had many these last 5yrs...
Yip, I have bulging discs, disc degeneration and I have also had the facet joint injections done, on which where no good to me, but I wish you luck, as we are all different, and in your case this may help you...
With my arms, this is due to various damage I have too discs C2, 3, 4, 5, 6.....
My arms are always in agony, they never seem to do whst you want them to do. They have a mind of their own. Does get slighty embarrassed when they go into the spasm mode without any notice...
How terrible for you! Just a thought i suffer from Complex Regional Pain Syndrome/Fibromyalgia and back problems check out info on the above also known as CRPS or RSD - it can stem from a simple trauma - worth a look
Your complete blog , i could have written. An MRI and a CAt scan revealed nothing also. I have had all the spinal facet joint injections , nerve blocks etc with no result. I also cannot believe there is no reason for it and keep suggesting probable reasons which are always dismissed. I suppose these consultants know what they are talking about. All the best and dont give in. I am trying not to.
hi, ask your dr about "mono neuritis multiplex" your symptons mirror mine it took them 6yrs for my diagnosis, the only thing you didn't mention was numbness. hope this helps. take care
hi. there is no cure, the only thing that gives me a bit of relief is hydro therapy, but was stopped some time ago through cut backs. just lately ive increased DF118 to 6 - 7 a day (and lots of other meds), with little effect, ive been through the system and tried everything. sorry its not the answer you'd hoped for....take care
Thank you for all your comments. I appreciate it. We are all going through things and it's good to have a forum such as this to support each other. My doctor has tried to help but they get to a point I think where they are ready to give up. I can't as I'm not ready to just accept this without understanding why. They would be happy for me to be on a lifetimes worth of tablets which to be honest don't help at all as tablets are not finding out why i'm like this.. I'm scared.it will be too late by the time anything is found if that is the case.
I have been to my doctor so many times it's embarrasing but what choice is there? I'm not doing it for the fun of it... I was so much agony last night I had a bath at 3am!
Not sure if you all feel the same but I feel very alone in trying to cope with the pain, doctors certainly look at me blankly... I didn't appreciate how lucky I was before the pain....
Try an Alexander Teacher. They may not cure the problem. However they will give you the means to find ways of reducing some of the painful symptoms.
There are pains due to some sort of trauma. There is pain that we cause ourselves. MRI and x-rays cannot show pain caused by faulty muscle habits or pain caused by incorrect posture.
Sometimes half a loaf is better than no loaf at all.
John, I'm actually going to try therAlexander Technique this weekend. It's worth a go and hopefully it may teach me new things about posture.
I'll report back on how it goes!
Hello
One thing you may together with the Alexander Technique is posture, you seem to be not that old, and if younger than thirty the posture can cause problems with the spine, this could transmit down your arms and legs.
When in pain or sitting you can crunch up you need to straighten up the spine an neck this will take pressure of the spine, you then imagine that you are pushing back yyour chin into the neck this will straiten c1 and c2. Now if you push your buttoks more forward this will remove pressure on the lumber area of the spine. Now the body will walk straight you will walk with the pressure directly falling onto your legs so will take problems fromspine as the load will follow directly and evenly up the spine,
The same when lifting tuck your chin in and keep the spine straight, place feet close 45 degrees and lift with your legs This is difcult to explain although it will keep the shoulders straight as you will push the shoulders back also. The whole idea is to keep the spine shoulders and neck straight so the body is straight this delivers the pressure evenly throughout your body
TRY IT,it becomes a habit and helps you take the strain more evenly. throughout your body.
I have extensive nerve damage with arthritis of tendon shiefs and it does really help
Keep positive. I go through all your symptoms also. It is so annoying when the medical profession dismiss us older people as age being the reason for all ailments.
The only way to accurately assess how bad it is, is to open you up. I had Facet Joint Disease, lower back pain, sciatica, etc but no nerve impingement. Yet after my fusion I was told it was a lot worse than what was shown on MRI and CT. Go back and see another consultant if you have to. Are you under a Spinal Surgeon?
Thank you everyone,I also forgot to say I have vibrations down my back and legs like the effect of a tuning fork when you hit it against something. The only way I can describe all of this is as if one thing happened and it set of a dominoes effect and it has affected my entire body and now my body doesn't seem to be getting better.
How do people come to terms with the pain and symptoms?
I'm really sorry you have this, Rocky. I had several years of pain in my face & arm with no obvious physical cause. This leads people to make conclusions that the pain isn't physical. But your pain is very real so these conclusions aren't helpful.
Now that someone has found the cause of my pain it all seems so obvious and stupid that no one worked it out before, but I get it that the body is very complicated so it's not always that obvious.
When my pain was really bad and no one really seemed to have a clue why my body did odd things, I had lots of mouth ulcers and colds, I couldn't sleep, I got migraines all the time, it was like being in a dark tunnel. I think the body responds to pain like this.
Coming to terms with it isn't easy. I don't know what the magic answer is, and it didn't happen just like that. I think the main thing that has helped was having doctors who believed there was a physical cause and who tried everything to find it. Also reading up on pain - there are lots of self help books which are good, but sometimes those can be hard to take when all you want is sympathy and a good moan - which is where sites like these can be helpful. Keep as active as you can - it seems impossible some days but physical movement does help keep your body working, I'm not talking about going to the gym, just getting up and pottering about is far better than sitting or lying down.
Make a list of things that make you feel better - I'm not talking about cures for the pain, just little things that cheer you up (for me it's cups of tea), things that might ease the pain a tiny bit for a few moments (heat packs), etc. Get the list out when you feel bad and do the stuff on it. That way you are in control of the situation.
Even now I still have panicky moments when the pain flares up and I feel like I can't cope with it but they pass quickly. I used to keep a diary and looking back I can see how miserable it all was, and now it's got better, but it takes time and some effort to turn the corner.
I've just joined this group, after just reading your post.i have ME/Chronic Fatigue Syndrome . there are no tests for this unbearable illness , that consists of more or less constant pain, fatigue, nausea, memory loss and a whole lot of other symptoms. It's just a case of ruling everything else out, when I say I've been tested for everything I'm not joking and it took five years to diagnose.doctors told me it was in my head , stress, pyscosymptomatic, more or less made me feel like a hypochondriac .There was a lot of stress between me and my husband obviously because the doctors are saying nothing's wrong and I'm telling them there is . I've even developed a phobia of going to the doctors, breathlessness shakes I can't get my words out, just because I've been shoved aside so many times I don't think they'll believe me.Just trust you know your body better than anyone and don't stop til you find out. There is no cure but different things help different people and you can have moments where you do actually feel ok, just needed to share , because you're obviously in the state of despair that I was , x
OMG! My mom is going through the same!!! 1 and half years now. She also has no taste buds, how's your taste buds? Everything tastes rusty. Poor thing. We are so tired of going to the hospital. Please someone out there, tell us something. She has had 3 spinal surgeries and I believe Kaiser has messed her up! Her fingernails fell off at one time but grew back. Had frequent bowel movements but is OK now. Tremendous weight lost too. Can not lift her shoulders either. Someone helps! My email is v_eberspacher@yahoo.Com
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