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

reply to post by scotsdavy1


There was a neurologist above that said some pretty solid stuff for you.

The tramadol works well for my mothers back. It works poorly on her other aches. Hydrocodone works on everything but her back. So she usually just lives with aches and pains and takes tramadol. I am allergic to it, so can't take it (but regularly get Toradol by injection in the doctors office with no ill effect).

The pain in three fingers...if its the same fingers on both hands, likely is related to repetitive stress injury. Could be nerve related in the neck area, as you have mentioned that.

Dealing with pain management can be difficult. Especially for medical professionals who forget their lesson to let "pain be what the patient says it is".

reply to post by bigfatfurrytexan


The doctor did say some really good things and I will be looking into that.
Tramadol is also good for my back but not for anything else. Gets me so angry with myself that I can't do things like I used to do. Other week, I had to get someone in to cut down two large bushes we had when usually I,would have done it myself in problem.

reply to post by scotsdavy1


I hope you can get your problems sorted out and under control.

As far as the last part of your post, not being able to do things like one used to is perhaps the hardest pill of all to swallow.
We age, our bodies break down and begin to fail us. It truly does suck.

I've heard of good results with learning about an anti-inflammatory diet. And anti-inflammatory supplements.

reply to post by DontTreadOnMe


thanks m8...

I think you should see a Rheumatologist. The symmetrical nature of the arthritis in your hands gave me pause..

Do you have any other symptoms (even if seemingly unrelated)?
Fatigue?
Mild flu like symptoms that come and go?
Poor appetite or weight loss? Are you stiff (not like THAT..) in the morning?
If yes, how long does it last?

reply to post by daryllyn



I don't really feel too well these days and find it hard to get to sleep as well at night and when I do, I'm a light sleeper .
Other half says I snore for Scotland and I have woken myself up at times with it...
When I take a jacket off, I have to let it slide from my left side before I take the other side off otherwise the pain is unbearable.
Has me worried though in case it's something more serious that might lead to other problems as I get older.
Flu like symptoms come and go, I did get the flu a few weeks ago strangely enough.
Appetite is ok.
No weight loss.
No fatigue as such but don't do as much as I should do and used to do...

scotsdavy1
reply to post by daryllyn

 

I am always stiff in the morning

my joints lol
I don't really feel too well these days and find it hard to get to sleep as well at night and when I do, I'm a light sleeper .
Other half says I snore for Scotland and I have woken myself up at times with it...
When I take a jacket off, I have to let it slide from my left side before I take the other side off otherwise the pain is unbearable.
Has me worried though in case it's something more serious that might lead to other problems as I get older.
Flu like symptoms come and go, I did get the flu a few weeks ago strangely enough.
Appetite is ok.
No weight loss.
No fatigue as such but don't do as much as I should do and used to do...

edit on 16-11-2013 by scotsdavy1 because: (no reason given)

Seeing a Rheumatologist is your best bet. They should do a lengthy history and examination of your joints and afterwards, you need to be sent for blood work and some imaging, preferably an MRI as it can show joint damage well before a plain film xray would be able to, so it gives a more accurate picture as to what may be going on.

There are over a hundred types of arthritis, and some have no exact test for diagnosis. Many of these diagnoses are made based on your symptoms along with any supporting imaging/lab work. Be sure to tell the doc about any symptom you are having, even if it seems unrelated.

Arthritis... is horrible. I have an autoimmune and inflammatory form of it, so I totally understand. I hope you can find some answers and hopefully those answers lead to relief

reply to post by daryllyn


thanks for your words of encouragement as all the others as well. appreciate it

thetimewasright
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.

i will read the rest of the thread but i wanted to respond to this because i was going to toss the crps angle out there.

i too have crps. i will say it sucks.
on march 28th i had an accident at work and my left ring finger got amputated and my middle finger got shredded.
after the initial heal up process the pain started to travel and get worse. i was sent to a specialist and she diagnosed me with crps. i had never even heard of it. started reading and got freaked out. last week workers comp sent me to an independent medical exam and that doctor agreed that it is crps.

i know i have had it for a short time but it is terrible. this is the worst pain i have ever had in my entire life and my quality of life has gone way down.
i am in extreme pain all the time. the pain goes from my finger tips to my forearm and up to the bicep and shoulder.
it is extreme all the time but it also flares up and gets far worse.
my fingers usually feel like they are burning or like there are hot needles getting pushed into them.
the forearm and bicep pain feels like a hard, deep pain down to the core of the muscle and into the bone.
my fingers are hyper sensative to the touch. my range of motion is gone as well as my strength. i have no grip. i drop things all the time.

it wakes me up at night. my fingers are purple and my entire hand as well as the fingers are cold/cool to the touch.
i can not regulate my body temperature. i will be cold and i will get a flash and start burning up in as little as 30 seconds.
it never stops.
if the cold air hits it it gets worse. if fabric touches my fingers it gets worse. my wife has to shower with me and wash my hair because i cant let the water touch my fingers.

the pain meds dont work. i am on some extremely strong medicine as well as a specially compounded creme for my fingers. my doctor wants to put a spinal cord stimulator in and this is all freaking me out.

it never goes away and it usually gets worse.
some of the literature i have read has really freaked me out. this is a terrible, terrible disease.

to the OP, i sure hope you dont have this because i would not wish it on anyone. according to the pain index the medical pros use it rates higher than child birth, cancer, and fybromyalgia.

this is absolutley terrible.

i am 100% medically retired. i will never work again. i am still on temporary disability but as soon as i reach maximum medical improvement i will be put on permanent disability.

in the end, it just sucks worse than anyone can imagine.

timewasright, is yours type 1 or 2? did you get it from an injury?
the spinal cord thing freaks me out.

i live in the northern part of the states and my doc had this creme compounded at some pharmacy down south and with the ingredients i thought for sure it would work and nothing.

nothing works. i am surprised i function with the meds i am on.

if you need to talk, pm me. you have hat it longer than me but i can relate to the pain

My personal experiences with
1) rheumatoid arthritis
2) chronic pains

...and how I dealt with it and cured both.

(1) I had rheumatoid arthritis in my hands, and it was very painful to hold anything.
I researched and found that rheumatoid arthritis sufferers were deficient in Vitamin D3.
In fact the holistic products you see on tv for arthritis have as their active ingredient Vitamin D3.
So I started taking it. I didn't have to get the tv version, just a good vitamin D3 supplement from my local vitamin store was sufficient (the one I got also had calcium).

Now IT TAKES TIME. It took about 3 months before any noticeable improvements.
It took about 1 year for it to completely clear up. I took 1 D3 tablet a day.

(2) I also have had chronic pain for many years, and this year was the worst.
I have been checked out by doctors for many years and they could not figure out what was wrong.
I did research and realized it was nerve pain from inflammation (diabetic neuropathy).
I found two excellent holistic products that WORKED (otc stuff like aspirins never helped).
One was Topricin a topical cream that one applies to affected areas.
Another was Curamin a holictic pain relief solution which works by reducing inflammation.

Using both reduced the pain, after a couple of months or so, no more pain, I am pain free.
(if it comes back, I just use either until it goes away again, but when it does come back, it is not as bad as when I had it before)

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....

Sounds like you got "floxed".

Had Cipro or Levaquin lately (or any antibiotic with "flox" in the name?) That crap causes permanent damage.

reply to post by infolurker


No, nothing like that. Only thing I take is for my back which is called Zydol.

i dont know if im just soft but i get almost insulted when people come in with their vitamin cures and such.

i just dont know what to say but it really bothers me.
there is nothing out there to support any of those claims. in another thread here someone is saying you can cure cancer with baking soda and maple syrup. disgusting

i dont know if im just soft but i get almost insulted when people come in with their vitamin cures and such.

i just dont know what to say but it really bothers me.
there is nothing out there to support any of those claims. in another thread here someone is saying you can cure cancer with baking soda and maple syrup. disgusting

reply to post by CardiffGiant


So the fact that the vitamin cure, cured my arthritis, is irrelevant?

To be sure, there is a lot of quack cures out there, but that does not mean that all vitamin related cures do not work.

Some vitamin cures work, some do not.

SirPaulMuaddib
reply to post by CardiffGiant

 

So the fact that the vitamin cure, cured my arthritis, is irrelevant?

To be sure, there is a lot of quack cures out there, but that does not mean that all vitamin related cures do not work.

Some vitamin cures work, some do not.

i appreciate your input and i dont want to offend you.

i just dont believe that you can cure arthritis that way

people suffer every day with arthritis and if it was that simple/cheap to cure then nobody would be suffering with it. that does not make sense to you?

i dont think people would risk medications like vioxx and live with he pain if all they had to do was take a vitamin each day. i just dont believe that it works.

my step father has cml. its a type of leukemia. i see the meds he takes and how he struggles to stay ahead. i also see threads with people talking about how easy they beat cancer and how baking soda and maple syrup works. how the syrup is a vehicle for the acid in the soda to attack and kill the cancer.
its hokum. people wouldnt suffer if it was that easy

It annoys the hell out of me when either my back goes, which it does on a regular basis, or like my right arm which has been really painful for past few months.
Can't see my own doc for another two weeks but will even ask for an x-Ray as I don't believe it's just a trapped nerve.
Can't lie on my right side at all in bed at night, can't move my arm around my back without pain etc.
Used to really fit and healthy when younger throwing beer barrels around when working, but now I feel like an old man!

been to the doc today. he said i need a surgeon plus an MRI scan and possible surgery as its went on far too long. pain is extruciating at times and cant go on like this the way it is.
only if i move my arm above my head or try to place it behind my back plus i still cant lie on my right side in bed...

reply to post by scotsdavy1

I am also not a doctor but youve said youve been a driver over long distances. Truck and l. distance drivers have a lot of issues with the shifting-gear arm, or the dominant arm they use: up and down, in-out of your truck all day.

Years and years of repetitions can cause permanent damage/issues to muscles, tendons and strengths in them.

reply to post by mysterioustranger


Hi, we use our left hand here for changing gears not like the States where it's the the right arm. I can use my hand no problem, can lift things up ok but if I bend it at all, I get severe pain. No swelling in my arm or anything like that at all, wish I knew exactly what is is and get treatment for it....