Medical diagnosis for all you budding docs out there.....

Before I start, I have an appt with my doctor but earliest I can get to see my regular one is three weeks away.
I suffer from athritis in my hands and elbow plus my lower back has been affecting me for many years in that I had to give up long distance truck driving due to the long hours sitting which I,cannot do now.
What it is, for past six or more weeks, my right arm from the shoulder to the elbow is giving me so much pain I cannot even lie on my right side in my bed at night. If I take a jacket off for example it is extremely painful but goes away after a short time.
Last time I saw the doc he said it was a trapped nerve but I have my doubts.
When my back really went last year, it lasted for about 8-10 weeks and the pain was so,bad I nearly called an ambulance but eventually it eased off.
I can carry bags of messages for example but cannot lift them up above the waist without dropping them.
It's a bit like toothache in that the pain is constantly there all the time.
Any ideas would be really welcome as it's doing my head in....

Okay I'm no doctor by any means but I have been around them enough in my life that I can offer you some advice. Okay arthitis sucks, I have it in my lower back,ankles,an right shoulder. But I also have something that you may want to have your doctor check you for. I have RSD or CRPS if you prefer. I have lived in agony for the last 8 years. An no amount of blocks,therapy, "new" methods of treatment have ever helped with the pain so lets hope you don't have that. But still get checked on it because once you mentioned nerves an pain with slight touch my RSD bell sounded.

reply to post by scotsdavy1


I have never done this before but you really sound like you need help and I have a lot of the same ailments you describe.

My arthritis is nowhere near as bad as yours but the arthritis in my neck gave me BAD headaches, I was prescribed a drug called Diclofenac I have been taking it for 15 years now and went off of it once, that was a mistake. Its now with me the rest of my life.

It is a muscle relaxant and a blood thinner of sorts, "DO NOT" take this drug without you talk to your doctor.

Good luck.

My mom is disabled. Her disability relates to cancer, but was worsened by the rupturing of 2 disks in her lumbar area about a year ago. She spent 3 months in bed trying to recover from it. Her misery was bad enough that it made me very aggressive with her doctors. To the point that her last PCP dropped her (when it comes to my wife, mother, or sons I have no problem being a complete jerk) due to her staff perceiving veiled threats (they weren't veiled, i was pretty blunt).

She has since begun getting steroids injected into the joint. She is once again enjoying life, albeit with a walker.

I have had AC joint issues in my shoulder. The pain is immense with that particular malady. I was a powerlifter in my youth, and it wasn't kind to my shoulders.

I am on Tramadol 50mg caps 6-8 a day plus Ibrofon and 5 mg Valium and none of it helps at all.
I also have an elbow bandage the type that is tight and wraps around but again it doesn't help at all.
I think it all started when I was in my early 20s when I worked as a driver throwing crates of what you call pop (lemonade) around when I delivered to shops and clubs etc.
Each crate weighed about 20lbs each and I lifted 4 at a time, 2 on each arm if you see what I mean.
I did this for 6 years then drove 40 ton trucks all over the UK. One day I bent down to put diesel (gas) in the tank and my back just seized up. Had to,get the customers to unlad for me at the time.

reply to post by scotsdavy1


Ask your Primary care Physician about being referred to a Rheumatologist to discuss your symptoms.

I have a sob story to go along with that, but I think you should really just talk to a Rheumi and see what they have to say.

scotsdavy1
Before I start, I have an appt with my doctor but earliest I can get to see my regular one is three weeks away.
I suffer from athritis in my hands and elbow plus my lower back has been affecting me for many years in that I had to give up long distance truck driving due to the long hours sitting which I,cannot do now.
What it is, for past six or more weeks, my right arm from the shoulder to the elbow is giving me so much pain I cannot even lie on my right side in my bed at night. If I take a jacket off for example it is extremely painful but goes away after a short time.
Last time I saw the doc he said it was a trapped nerve but I have my doubts.
When my back really went last year, it lasted for about 8-10 weeks and the pain was so,bad I nearly called an ambulance but eventually it eased off.
I can carry bags of messages for example but cannot lift them up above the waist without dropping them.
It's a bit like toothache in that the pain is constantly there all the time.
Any ideas would be really welcome as it's doing my head in....

Sorry for the pain you're suffering! The best thing you can do right this minute (in my opinion based on personal experience) is go outside and stand barefoot on the Earth. If the sun is shining, stand with your back directly to the sun, and if you can, tilt your head to where it is shining onto the crown of your head.

Look, I know it sounds like new-age bull-#e, but please don't knock it 'til you've tried it. There is an instant positive calming swoosh that flows thru me. Like energy from the sun, and I'm grounded so it flows thru me, and feels like it 'untangles' tangled energy (ailments) and brings great release/relief.

Rubber-souled shoes-- insulate us from the flow and cause problems is my working hypothesis.

reply to post by scotsdavy1


I'm not a doctor but I'm somebody that, through experience, knows a whole lot about nerve damage/impingement and arthritis. Your doc could actually be right on the nerve entrapment. When you develop osteoarthritis (basically, overuse arthritis), the swelling within the joint can impinge on the nerve causing a variety of symptoms from extreme pain, tingling, loss of sensation, and loss of function. Part of my injury was in my vertebrae around the brachial plexus, which is at the point where the neck meets the shoulders. Thankfully, I have only lost function of my arms once but the pain during the episode was incredible to say the least. It ran from the shoulders (both) and tapered off down to my hands. The bulk of the pain was between the shoulder and elbow. I also have nerve entrapment going on within my elbow, which causes me to lose sensation in my ring and pinky fingers in both hands. So, if you're getting sensations of tingling or if your arms feel like they are on fire, it's probably nerve related.

The best thing that you can do in that kind of situation is to eliminate the behaviors that are aggravating the condition. In my case, I cannot lift anything heavier than a gallon of milk and I have to avoid leaning my arms/elbows on my desk. NSAIDs can help if it's due to osteoarthritis. Depending on how severe it is and if it's the brachial plexus that is the problem, there are options that are more invasive to try to correct it.

Another really common source of shoulder pain that runs from shoulder to elbow is bursitis of the shoulder, which can result from overuse. Like the brachial plexus pain, it is largely from the shoulder to the elbow and how I describe it is that it feels like my arm is half torn off and dangling from a few tendons. I also have a hard time getting to sleep when it's active. NSAIDs (like Advil, Aleve, Naproxen) and immobilizing the arm with a sling for a day or so actually improves it a whole lot so you might give that a shot and see if it helps.

Wish you luck. Pain sucks. If this is looking like it's a permanent thing, you might want to start trying to practice pain management techniques. One that I've mastered is kind of like spacing out on a distance point and then, forcing myself to basically mentally shoot myself to that point. In other words, I dissociate from my own body to make the pain far away. It was hard to learn at first but I can eliminate just about any pain now using this technique. Another method that I'll use is basically a form of self hypnosis where I will imagine myself traveling to the source pain and beginning to erase it. Both of these are possible and can be too effective at times as I will mistakenly shut down pains that are telling me that I'm getting hurt. I spent 3 days cooking my own skin with an overheated microwave heat pack and I didn't even know what I had done until my fiance actually looked and found a 3x5 inch burn. So not kidding about how mental pain management can be extremely effective and extremely dangerous.

reply to post by WhiteAlice


You hit the nail on the head with osteoarthritis because thts what the doc said it was with the trapped nerve! It's really annoying to say the least and as I said I can't lie on my right hand side in bed at night which is another pain I have to endure because I liked to turn both ways while sleeping but the pain walks me up if I do turn.
Do you think injections might work?

scotsdavy1
I am on Tramadol 50mg caps 6-8 a day plus Ibrofon and 5 mg Valium and none of it helps at all.
I also have an elbow bandage the type that is tight and wraps around but again it doesn't help at all.
I think it all started when I was in my early 20s when I worked as a driver throwing crates of what you call pop (lemonade) around when I delivered to shops and clubs etc.
Each crate weighed about 20lbs each and I lifted 4 at a time, 2 on each arm if you see what I mean.
I did this for 6 years then drove 40 ton trucks all over the UK. One day I bent down to put diesel (gas) in the tank and my back just seized up. Had to,get the customers to unlad for me at the time.

Tramadol is a very mild pain reliever that works on certain pain receptors, but not others. If you aren't getting relief with it, you should talk to your doctor. No, hydrocodone isn't the ideal...but it may be more effective.

The ibuprofen is a good pain reliever that helps with swelling. May harm your kidneys, so watch out for that over the years.

Valium is a sedative. If they are trying to relax muscles, likely would get better results from a muscle relaxer vs a benzodiazapene. It is more addictive than the hydrocodone, if that matters at all.

I am not one to worry about addiction. Tis better to be addicted but not physically suffering, in my book

reply to post by bigfatfurrytexan


Tramadol helps my back pain but not much else I'm afraid. Will have a long talk with my doc when I see him. Last time I,had to get an x-Ray on my back,and they found a shadow at the base of my spine. Nothing to worry about he said.....
I,hate going to see the doc but at least here in the UK it's free regardless of what medication ot procedure is needed.
I used to be a body builder and now I feel like an old man at times...

reply to post by scotsdavy1


Injections to the site of the inflammation do work. Shots to joints these days have a mixture of cortisone and pain killer so they aren't nearly as painful as they used to be. Many doctors don't like doing them because that jolt of cortisone can have negative effects on the body but if it's bad enough, they can and will use them. It's just way better to try other things first. Since it is osteoarthritis derived, I highly suggest slinging the offending arm for a couple days while taking advil regularly for a few days. NSAIDs like Advil do not reduce pain like tylenol does. They reduce inflammation and the effect builds up over time. Immobilizing it "rests" the joint to prevent additional inflammation and taking the NSAID consistently reduces the existing inflammation. Try it. I've had to have innumerable cortisone shots to joints but I've never had to have one in the shoulder because of this sling/advil practice.

eating food that causes inflammatory makes arthritis worse. Simple dietary changes can sometimes help. The doctors tell you this when you have arthritis or other diseases that are from inflammation but do not give you any real advice as to what can help.

If you eat eggs that are scrambled they cause more inflammation than if you eat them with the egg and yolk hardened separately. This is just one example of how simply stirring something can raise inflammation.

Breads can be inflammatory to a lot of people. They digest different than other foods and acid production causes wrong chemistry for digesting bread. Actually it is better to have the bread a half hour after you eat... This means that having desert a half an hour after eating is better, it stops the production of acid.

I have been trying different systems but it is slow, if I forget and eat a snack the whole experiment gets messed up. Maybe in a few years I will have figured it out. I have incorporated some changes into my eating habits, I haven't changed much most times, mostly just changed the timing of things. my minor arthritic symptoms have disappeared pretty much unless I screw up bad, then they only seem to last about three hours after that. I wanted to find the minimal changes you can make to keep life better. Like I said, it is slow research.

I don't think anything that suppresses the p450 enzymes is good for arthritis. The Valium does that, it could suppress the liver's ability to detox some of the inflammatory chemistry in the body. My sister took tylenol with codein for her RA for many years, she died at 40. The medicines she took caused the intestines to not work right, pain relievers do that, she had to get part of her colon removed. I don't have a solution for you, but maybe if you google foods that cause inflamation on the net you may see some that you are eating that could be causing the disease to be worse. My minor arthritis is no where near what someone with full blown arthritis has, I can't test how things work for full blown arthritis.

Im a doctor of neuroradiology and spend all day looking at spine and brain scans with

similar symptoms.

If you can get an MRI cervical spine scan, do that.

If not , any good physician exam should uncover any "radiculopathy" where you may be
getting pain, paresthesia (pins and needles) or weakness in the hand/arm muscles innervated
by specific nerves. Google radiculopathy and look at some dermatomal (netter anatomy) illustrations.

Long standing neck disc protrusions can chronically compress nerves and NOT be as severe as acute
low back sciatica from disc herniation. Ive had both, and im mid-40's.

good luck. heat packs, massage/ hot tubs, NSAIDS and/or the pain meds you mentioned can get you from point A->B (B being the doctor's examination room).

cheers

reply to post by scotsdavy1


A couple quick questions: Have You ever had any neck trauma? A neck injury will radiate (sometimes) down the arms. My neck is damaged behind repair and I have radiculopathy (numbness) down My left hand from the middle finger to pinky, the damage to My neck is on the right side.

Have You ever had chicken pox? This will manifest (I read a New Age reference) into shingles. Yoga and light stretching and making sure You drink enough water. As to the epidural injections, I've had those in the past and stopped when there was a bad batch here in the USA

Nothing worse than a bad back, it'll ruin Your Life if You let it. Best of Luck.

Getting grounded into Mother Earth is also a BIG ++++

namaste

I had chicken pox when I was about 11 years old. I had neck pain before in that I couldn't move my neck to the right hand side for about an hour and it happened a few years ago.
Don't know if it has anything to do with it, but when I was about 9 years old, I was involved in a traffic accident.
I got a fractured skull, broken left leg, broken right arm and severe internal injuries. I'm not a catholic but doctors didn't think I would last the night and my local minister was called. Bit like when Catholics get the last rights if you see what I mean.
Saying all that, I passed the medical to join the British Army with flying colours.and also the medical every couple of years when I got my HGV 1 for driving trucks, but failed the last one due to my condition.

White Alice and the neuro doc up above have probably covered it nicely; I would recommend adding high dose vitamin C to your normal diet (buy the crystals and add them to water or juices; you can take up to 10 GRAMS a day (not milligrams) or to 'bowel tolerance' which means if you get diarrhea, back off on the dose. You need Vitamin C to heal every cell in your body and most people border on almost-scurvy unless they're big veggie eaters. A small glass of juice that's been pasteurized doesn't have much of any in it and any kind of inflammation, trauma and/or smoking burns through a lot of Vitamin C, more than most people realize.

Also, high dose B vitamins may help calm down the nerves that are firing off and causing the pain. You want a good commercial brand, hopefully from a health food store because they'll be fresher, and in very high doses; the companies that make them will have the different B vitamins balanced out. They'll cause your urine to turn bright yellowish-green, can cause diarrhea at first until you acclimate to it, but ignore it and keep up on them. High dose Bs are also good for shingles for the same reason.

If you have a disc impinging on your spinal cord, lying on a sturdy surface and slowly 'creeping' your hips away from your head to stretch your spine carefully may help, as would soaking in a hot tub or swimming pool to release the effect of gravity on things. A pinched nerve versus an un-pinched nerve can be the difference of microns, so every little bit helps.

Good luck.

Thanks for all of you who took the time to reply, I do appreciate it and will take all into consideration so that my complaint might ease off a bit.
You think you are immortal when you are younger but your body thinks otherwise as you get older.
Sometimes feel as if I'm falling to bits but will persevere and soldier on regardless.
And to the doctor who replied, I will do as you say also and ask my doc for that as well.
Many thanks again, you are all a great bunch

reply to post by LewisStulePhD


Oh cousin in neck woe! I had arthritis in my C1 through C4 before I took an awful tumble down the stairs a year ago and had the common sense to land first on my neck. Damaged the upper portion (the arthritis upped the ante there) and lower portions of my neck. Neck injuries are one heck of a ride, aren't they? My biggest problems have been cerebral swelling at the back of the head near the neck, which actually has impacted my visual cortex and arm issues. Quick question but one thing that the neuro never clarified on was my palms. They are blazing red on the fatty pads on the ring/pinky side of the hands and have been since my tumble. Did you (or do you) have that issue?

reply to post by WhiteAlice


No my palms are ok but I have sore three fingers on each hand for some reason.....