Pain Management

My friend made this today and posted it on my Facebook page.  She knows me well.  With me, be careful what you say.  Or it'll go in the blog!

I had the EMG/NCV test done today.  I had it done three years ago, and all I have to say about the two tests is that I do NOT remember it hurting that bad three years ago!  The electric shock part hurt.  The needle in my muscles hurt.  My bicep STILL hurts.  I was crying at one point, but fortunately the pain management doctor was really nice and moved the needle when it hurt too bad.

Here are the results:

No carpel tunnel.

No pinched nerves.

All the pain/numbness/weakness in my right arm is caused from the disc issues in my neck.

What can be done?

Surgery is still not recommended, as the pain management doctor thinks that if I do the surgery now on the two discs that have ruptured, I'll wind up having surgery again in a couple of years on other discs.  Though, I will admit that my fear is that at some point every disc in my spine will be herniated at one time and I'll have to have a complete spinal replacement, which I am pretty sure they have not developed yet!

There is a question, Kris is "Googling" it, of the difference between herniated discs and bone spurs. The neurosurgeons both told me the discs herniated.  The pain management doctor said bone spurs.  Kris said once you have a herniated disc the bone spurs can grow.  The difference is extra bone growing where it shouldn't be and the herniated disc is where the disc ruptures and isn't where it is supposed to be.  If you combine the neurosurgeons and the pain management doctor's opinions, I have both.  Who knows what is going on inside my neck!?!

I asked him about my back, as it has been so problematic lately.  He simply said that he thought strength training would help that.  :-/  I wasn't very happy about that, but over all, my back is feeling better today than Sunday and so I'll take it.  I'm just trying to take it easy and make sure that I am not doing anything that will make the pain worse...which is pretty much EVERYTHING!

BUT...I am scheduled to have an epidural block in my neck on July 16th.  I'm nervous about this, after reading through the little brochure they gave me about it.  The first thing that the brochure said was that my pain could worsen in the first few days after the injection.  I don't find that very encouraging!

The other thing the doctor gave me was a prescription for Gabapentin (Neurontin).  He told me that it helps with nerve pain but that it can be difficult to get used to.  He said that the hardest thing to adjust to is the extreme sedation it causes until your body is used to it.  I was hoping that I could experiment with it tonight, to see if it would help me sleep actually, but every time they try to send a prescription over to Walgreens through their iPads (I blame APPLE), it doesn't work and I have to call.  So, I will have to call tomorrow morning and have them call it in.  So, maybe I'll sleep tomorrow night!

Overall, I feel like I'm making some progress with my pain, but still feel like I'm missing something.  I can't quite explain it.  I'm still frustrated in general and not a patient person.  So waiting two weeks for the epidural block doesn't appeal to me, but it is what it is.  I've just got to trust that this is all in God's timing and it's the next step in my treatment.

Have you ever taken Gabapentin/Neurontin?  I'd love to hear what your experience (or that of someone you know) was.  Just to give me something else to worry about.  ;-)  One person told me her husband was on it and was sleep walking before he got used to it.  And either he or someone else she knew had very vivid dreams while on it.  What about you?  Any stories/possible side effects I should be aware of?

We interrupt the drama...

...for a brief medical update.

So, here's the word on where I stand, after my visit with a Pain Management specialist yesterday.

Considering the fact that there are two ruptured discs in my neck and several others bulging throughout my spine, he said everything looked pretty good.  I was thinking "Well, everything doesn't FEEL pretty good!"

He wants to do an EMG/NCV test on June 26th.  He isn't convinced that there isn't nerve damage along C-8.  He wants to see where the nerve damage is, what nerve is being damaged, and determine how bad the damage is.  Something is causing my elbow pain.

He also wants to send me to physical therapy.  I went through at least 3 different 6-week rounds of P.T. years ago and it was awful.  Everything they had me do made me feel worse.  The doctor told me that if anything I do makes the pain worse to stop.  So at least that left me with some comfort.

Additionally, he prescribed a muscle relaxer for me to take twice a day.

Once he determines what is going on with the nerve in my arm and my elbow, he will know whether or not an epidural block in my neck would be necessary.  He was starting to dismiss me and I said "What about my lower back?"

He said "I thought it was just your neck."

I said "No.  I can't do daily activities without extreme pain in my lower back.  Standing to cook or wash dishes, load the the dishwasher, switch laundry.  These are all things that make my back hurt and the more I do them, the worse the pain gets; and the longer it lasts.

Thank God he listened to me.  He sent me across the hall and had them x-ray my back and pelvis to see if anything shows up on the x-ray that will explain what is going on with my lower back.  He said we'll discuss the results when I go back on the 26th.

He also showed me how my neck should be held at all times, my new posture.  It's REALLY hard to hold my neck the right way.  It is uncomfortable.  But apparently, nothing he does for me will help if I don't learn to hold my head/neck right.  I'll just have to keep practicing.  I'm seriously considering one of the hard neck braces when I'm at home!  Then I'd be forced to hold my neck the right way.  At least, that's the theory...

I didn't leave as frustrated as I did last time.  But at the same time, I'm skeptical of physical therapy and hate the way it always makes me feel really self-conscious.  I guess we'll see.