RSD arm is acting odd
 

My hubby has been having Stellate Ganglion Blocks for his left arm/shoulder.
He had his 5th yesterday.
This evening his arm is MORE swollen,moving on its own(like the muscles under the skin) and feels like its on the verge of falling asleep!
anyone experience this? i dont know what to do! If I take him to ER they wont know anything..GRRRR

If it's urgent, call the doc who performed the block. If an ER visit is needed, a teaching hospital would be preferred.

I agree. Swelling and tremors are typical with RSD...but if it's something worse than normal then you should see a doctor as soon as possible. Very sorry to hear that happened.

I get those muscles spasms too. I've explained them to my neurologist and the answer I got was the nerves were trying to fire up on their own. A typical symptom of RSD. If mine get worse she is going to prescribe muscle relaxers and maybe that's the course of action that your hubby needs. The ER won't do much but his neurologist might.
My left leg and foot are constantly feeling like they're falling asleep. Sometimes just tingling then other times feeling like they're in a press being squeezed. When both my arm and leg are in the press together I've cried from the pain being unbearable.
I have to stay indoors so the weather or wind won't bring on a flare up.
This monster sucks the big wazoo...

Thank You All
He refused to go to hospital and well they probably wouldn't be able to help him.
I am letting his Dr know of this. I believe also the Dr treating his back should know about the RSD DX. It was his Shoulder Surgeon who DX him, and sending him for treatments. I did call and get him some muscle relaxers a couple weeks ago, but this was different than whats been happening. :eek:
I am going to need a whole big bottle of anti-anxiety pills!
I hope all are having a good day!
:grouphug:

I have had severe swelling right from the start of my RSD. It was so bad at one point my doctor thought I had a blood clot.

As to the block, I have had 2 and they both made me worse. One made me loose my coordination (couldn't walk - spent 13 months in a wheelchair) and the other made me develop severe myoclonic muscle spasms. I was later told that blocks can make RSD worse and aren't recommended, especially if in an RSD limb so that may be something to look into.

So sorry to hear about everything your husband is going through, I hope things get better soon. Tell him to keep moving no matter how much it hurts (and trust me I KNOW it does!) as hopefully that will help with the swelling.

Take care and let us know how he gets on!
Alison.

Thanks Ali,
He has very limited movement in that arm as the rotator cuff surgery that started this also failed. The top of his arm is actually a little higher than his shoulder because of the original injury was so bad(his tendon was completly detached from the bone) When they reattached the muscle back to the bone and sewed up the muscle it left the muscle to short. Also the muscle is torn again. So he has more going on in that shoulder, but still uses arm just cant move it very far from his body(think chicken dance) but can bend elbow (think eatting or drinkking) He would like some physical therapy and take his meds and call it a day. The blocks helped with him being able to wear clothing on his shoulder and arm but seems to have opened a whole nother ball of wax.

Blocks need to be treated with respect. The experience of the doc with RSD, the time he spends, the meds he uses--all make a difference. This is your spine we're talking about! But, it is an important tool as well.

For the OP, was this a stellate ganglion block? I had a radiofrequency neurotomy that was a described as a longer lasting, more intense block, and I had horrible side effects...

How bad is the swelling? The severity is key.

If he's suddenly able to move it after long disuse that could account for some swelling and that in turn could cause numbness. The twitching could be a result of the nerves finally getting messages after so long a period of dysfunction.

Get him in to the doc that performed the block asap. Get a second opinion if he doesn't relieve your concerns.

5 blocks, especially in a short amount of time, can cause scarring on the nerves. This maybe should be his last... But, they might be finally starting to have a positive cumulative effect...

Dr doing blocks is not his treating dr and i dont think he has much knowledge of RSD.
His surgery was over 6-7 months ago so it isnt like has gained any ROM he has been out of a sling full time for quite awhile.
he sees the back dr tomorrow and i will get with the shoulder dr inthe am
the swelling was more than normal and also in a new area. now with the arm on verge of falling asleep has me concerned that maybe they are doing more harm than good
he is supposed to have the last 2 blocks tuesday and friday. i think a follow up visit is called for even tho he isnt done.
since this is workers comp we dont get the luxery of going to other dr's until we are referred. Otherwise I would just schedule him with a expert in RSD or at least as close as i could find. Grrr
His treating Dr has treated RSD patients though i found out but he is a Orthopedic Surgeon. Think with what is going on he will send hubby to another Dr for the RSD he was trying to stop it so he could do surgery to fix the shoulder and I just dont see that happening.
thank you all for your responses they are most appresciated:hug:

Well all, I called his Dr this am and spoke with his nurse (she is familiar with RSD I was impressed) Anyway I told her what had been going on and she got with the Dr and called me back.
Dr cancelled the last two injections and wants to see him tomorrow. I will be going with him and am anxious about what he recommends next:eek:
Wish us luck!

Good luck at the doctor's. Let us know how that turns out. I had a bad reaction to a block and it made my RSD worse...but I hope that is not the case for your husband. It may just be that he's not getting enough relief and it's time to try a different treatment. Good luck...I really hope they are able to find something that helps your husband. Sometimes it's just a lot of trial and error to find exactly what works.

I believe well I know the shots just made him worse. I fear they have sent him on a slippery slide,he won't recover from.
He saw the back Dr today that MMI him or in other words said your as good as your getting and gave him permanet restrictions and recomending retraining. So he had to face the Dr telling him his career is over and thats not even including his shoulder and the RSD! Needless to say he is angry at the world today.
I will report back tomorrow what the Dr says about his shoulder/RSD.:(

I am so so sorry about the MMI. It is so hard when we can't go back to the careers we always had and loved. I am working really hard to get myself in shape to go back to my job but I know that even if I do I will never be like I was (always hands on and willing to do the physical stuff to get the job done). So I totally understand his anger. Hopefully he will be able to find something new to do that he will really love. I hope everything goes well today and you guys can get some of the answers that you are looking for.

So Dr stopped the blocks. When hubby turned hand over to show Dr where his palm was numb, the Dr jumped up and flipped his hand back over nd was concerned about how bad his hand had atrophied, this is evident in his entire arm. his elbow is now the largest part of his arm! The other night we noticed his arms were two different colors. He is now to have an EMG of which he isnt amused.

That's not good at all...I'm sorry.

Dr was saying something about the nerves you do tell what to do (pick this up,move over here,etc) as opposed to the ones you don't. Not sure where he is going with this. Keep in mind hubby had a failed RTC surgery so he has that going on too.
I will post the results,but as this is WC, everything takes forever! The EMG is to be done Dec 19 and see Dr 12/22.
This is all just too much! I have MY surgery 12/16! I will be starting Vit C here soon, to well, be on the safe side- it won't hurt- but could be a life saver for me! Right?
He is at least getting some muscle relaxers and pain killers-albeit-low dose but it helps- some. He isn't eatting bottles of advil anymore.
During one of the blocks, he said it was different, felt like a wire going out towards his shoulder. Like Dr pushed right thru.
He has this feeling like his shoulder is being pulled apart. And I am powerless to help. :(

[QUOTE=Dubious;827538][FONT="Comic Sans MS"]And it shouldn't stop there with only an EMG. With that much atrophy, neurologically more needs to be explored to find out if the atrophy is a nerve compression (more likey)."

Unless the SGB, caused it. He had MRI of neck and it was fine. That should have told us if he had neck issue. Right? I have pics of his surgery, and the bruising(extreme) a week after. It was all wrong from the begining.

Trying to put the pics here-warning- they are very bruised.
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Some doctors are just too scared to admit to a mistake...:mad:

And that scares ME even more than the fact that they can make a mistake. We're all human...mistakes happen...but if they aren't willing to admit that they made a mistake that can leave the patient suffering when they could otherwise possibly get the help they need quickly if the doctor just admitted what happened or even just the possibility that a mistake was made.

Yes, the Dr looked shell-shocked after he finished. Said hubby was likely to retear the muscle because of the way it ripped.
The swelling in the elbow never has gone away. He had bled out after I got him home, The bandages that were to stay on 3 days only made it half an hour. then his shirt and the recliner and lots of bounty paper towels! (I grabed what I could)
He has the open type of surgery. He had detached the tendon completly from the bone and split the bicep. Also had to sew the labrum up front to back.