Quote:
Originally Posted by ShaggyChic_1201
1. Get cervical myleogram. No experience with this. Does it hurt?
2. Get EMG/NCT. I am vehemently opposed to this on right arm b/c my last one 10 years ago was so intensely painful I swore them off for life. Nice doc tried to apply logic to discussion, but my inner 5-year old was shouting, NO NO NO NO with her fingers in her ears.  Can I be given large amounts of valium and still have a useful EMG?
3. Go to a center, like Mayo, and throw myself at their mercy. Aside from stripping me of every last dollar I may ever earn in the future, does anyone have anything positive to say about doing this?
Lastly, kind sufferers, can you address nice doc's central point that PN doesn't act this way? |
My responses - I have PN from a critical illness, when the pain in my back intensified it made the pain in my feet & legs even worse. The pain I had versus what the MRI showed were two different things. When I found I wasn't a candidate for a spinal cord stimulator I went to a neurosurgeon and have my answers for your first 2 questions.
1. Mylogram - they inject fluid into your spine they take x-rays and a CT scan then you lay still for 2-3 hours. It hurt no more than any other injections in your back. I had numerous epidurals prior to this so it wasn't a new feeling. This test was the test that provided my neurosurgeon the answers to my back pain, in much greater detail than an MRI. It confirmed DDD an led to spinal fusion.
2. I've had 4 EMG's in my opinion there is too much human interpretation, in my case it showed pain from PN but not from any particular area of my back. The dr's like this test, I think it might have value if done by the same person the next time it is done, that way they can compare it to your results and not the test group.
3. I have no reference, I went to the largest teaching hospital system in my area for my neurosurgeon. My pain Dr is actually from a a different hospital system.
While I still have PN and take Gralise (time release gabapentin) my back pain is pretty much gone.
Hope this is some help for you.