Quote:
Originally Posted by Ozzieace
Im new here....a year ago i was in a minor car accident, i had a shoulder injury that i sought PT for. Underwent an mri on my shoulder after therapy helped my movement and strength, but pain was still there. mri showed no tears, and PT said hopefully pain will go away. A few months later i went to an ortho specialist who decided to mri my neck, and found i had three buldging disk, but nothing that needed surgery and should not be causing the pain i was having.
I had cortizone shots and a spinal injection which did nothing. I was taking gabentin which i could not tolerate as a full time mom and business owner and it did nothing for the pain. I was then referred to a neurolgist. He did a nerve study which came back normal, however he diagnosied me with crps type ii.
I have been taking clodine and amatryptline (sp). I thought at first it wasworking as i didnt have constant pain, but still daily pain. I continued to take the meds, but the pain had gotten more intense and goes froma burning, stabbing, to icy cold, and it used to be just in my left shoulder and down my arm, but has now in the past few days started to include further up my neck and deep into my left ear.
I do NOT have discolorex skin, nor the skin sensitivity to touch that i have read about. I have started to get very brittle nails that break and peel way up on the nailbed. I am wondering since i dont have all the symptoms, is this really crps?
I run a very stressful business at this time of year, and i dont have time for all this, i really want a better diagnosis....the doctor really didnt give me much hope that i would have any pain free days without the use of heavy medicines or surgical procedures...im still working on trying to prove him wrong  |
I'm sorry you are having this pain!! My first question would be if you have seen a Neurosurgeon? I know you mentioned a neurologist but a Neurosurgeon is who you would want to consult with for cervical spine issues especially if the bulging discs are putting pressure on your nerves. An ortho would not be as qualified to interpret these results and relying only on MRI reports is not always a good idea either. I had a very successful 2 level cervical laminectomy/foraminotomy after my head on collision and my only regret was that I had put it off due to fear and suffered way to long. I was immediately better and have had no further symptoms or issues since the procedure just over a year ago - this of course was
before I ended up with CRPS II after several complex hip operation. Did they say which nerve was the cause of your CRPS II? In order to make that diagnosis they rely on objective findings of a specific nerve(s) injury/damage?
It isn't necessary to have all of the symptoms to be suffering from CRPS. In your shoes I would certainly seek second and 3rd opinions but keep in mind not all doctors are familiar with CRPS so you may get conflicting diagnosis anyways. I think with CRPS II (at least from what my doctors have said) that it is much easier to diagnose because they can identify the nerve injury unlike with CRPS I or RSD. You might also ask why they diagnosed CRPS II that way if you missed anything during your appointment they can further clarify what you missed.. lol.. we often don't always hear everything being said during quick appointments.
Keep up with that attitude of proving him wrong.. no matter what the diagnosis is that kind of mentality will help you in the long run!