have a question
 

Ok so I had an injection for herniated disc in my neck on monday. I called the dr to let him know I have lost the function on my right hand. and im in alot more pain, he said well its unfortunate that the injection didnt work for you. then he continues on to tell me that they want me to go to pain managment b/c they cant control my pain. When I first went in the first dr I saw said he wanted to keep me in his care for at least a yr. So why are the releasing me? I looked at the back of my neck and I have 2 injection sites, and when I was getting it he said he was doing a second one. Is it possible that he messed up so now he doesnt want to treat me anymore? I had mentioned that I had a lawyer trying to get me back my medical bills at my apt when I met him one week before the injection, is it a possibility that he thinks I am sue happy and doesnt want to deal with me? I dont understand why they dont want to treat me anymore, I had the injection like 4 days ago, and his answer was I dont know whats going on with your hand but there is nothing we can do about it and we cant control your pain properly so we feel you need to go see pain managment. I jsut want to know why. So I called the office again today and asked to make an apt with the first dr I saw, and they wouldnt mke the apt, they said well you saw the other dr this week so now you are his patient. The first dr I saw said to me if I didnt want to do the surgery i didnt have to and could come back and see him, so why cant I see him now? any ideas anyone has would really help me try to understand whats going on. Thanks

Thymus Gland
 

My wife's thyroid gland was removed years ago, she has one of her parathyroids left, her calcium levels continue to be high, does the thymus gland has anything to do with her calcium ?::confused:

Hi hmarie
 

I too have back issues, and have recieved different treatments. some work, others did not. If this injection didn't work, I would move on to the pain specialist. Your doctor may really feel he can't help you. It may mean he really doesn't know what else to do for you. Believe me, pain management physicians can be a good thing. I have one, who is really a good person as well and has compassion. He is also willing to go the extra mile to make sure I have help. He was the one who discovered the true condition of my neck and got me to a neruo surgeon. When my pain specialist realized he could not effectively treat me because my condition was that severe, he sent me where I need to go. I don't think a step back, and trying to figure out this other physicians intented will help you. Consider moving forward to someone who may be able to adress you pain issues more effectively. It may not be this doctors fault at all that he could not help your pain. If you have any questions feel free to post to me. I wish you all the best. ginnie

What kind of Dr. did the injection into your neck? What kind of injection was it and what disk was he trying to treat?

Yes, the Dr. came to close to your nerve and it's injured.
(you can't sue so thats not his concern) he just wants you to get qualified treatment now that he has F****d up.

If your like me it may get worse, so I suggest you get an appt. ASAP with the pain Dr. and pick a fellowship trained pain Dr. from a good school and at least 5 years of exeprience.


Joann

it was a neuro surgeon... my c5-6 and c6-7

Hi Hmarie
 

I read where you had the injections. My Katamine did help for a bit, but was admisistered by a very good pain specialist. He had the very best education. what joanne said was correct. If they can't administer injections, or are not willing to give pain meds, and they are refusing to operate, you need to keep going until you have some kind of resolution. That puts you into a vicious cycle of no help. I am thinking about you, and hope you keep moving forward to get some kind of relief. I do have empathy for what you are enduring. ginnie

Was it an interlaminar injection or a transforminal injection? Did they inject the C5 or the C6 or the C7 nerve ?

Is the herniation to one side or the other, or central? Mine is to the right on C5/C6 but my pain is to the left.. argh..

I had a transforaminal injection of C6 that caused me untold grief... argh.. but i will say that at 45 days post injection now and Butrans pain patch and Gabapentin.. it's feeling better. The good news is that usually when they hit a nerve during a procedure it will calm down by 6 months... (if you can call that good news... sigh..)

My neuro was no help what-so-ever... i think they just want to do work inside the brain, working on neck problems is way down on their list, the spine Dr. was way more helpful..

Hi joojee
 

I had two ketamine infussions for C3-7. I got good relief for about two months. I had the injection two weeks apart. I needed to address my issue surgically as nothing would help on a permanent basis for me. The pain specialist himself could see on the screen what happened to my neck. I thought this was a good proceedure however. The infussion did NOT hurt, though it took some time to do. I was surprised that I did not have pain at the injection site either. Some of the different kinds of injections do hurt. I would ask what you are to recieve, and do the google to find out about it more. I get jittery, so I do look up those things before I do the proceedure. I hope all goes well for you. ginnie

its central and to the right, and my right arm and hand are affected. They did a cervical epidural with cortisone..Ive got an appt now with 2 diff. pain specialists, I want to have options and see who I like better

Hi Hmarie
 

Are you getting these injections through a neuro, or a pain specialist.? If that first injection hurt so badly, I would be looking for another method. I wouldn't want to suffer for 6 months just do to the injection. Just my personal view point. ginnie

Have you got a traction unit for home? I really like the one I got, the court is still out on whether it will help or not but I do feel I am better a bit.

I had allllllllllllllllll the injections/treatments. I found that anything they did to my left side caused me to be in pain (like ginnie said for way to long) so that side is not worth doing an injection on. You might find that the other side is better to do the injections on but gosh, I can't say I would recommend any of them. Then again a co-worker had them and her pain went away but I think you know that after the first shot and you seem like your in my category of it doesnt help.

I had the interlaminar (what you had), the transforminal, and a MBB and RFA. The RFA on the right side did make it feel better but it makes in nearly impossible to do excersises to get better on that side, so dont know if that was worth it (the nerves just flat out dont work after the RFA).

Along with starting some medications (maybe trying gaba??) to get the nerves to calm down, you might think about the traction unit, some PT and get ya a spine surgeon in your back pokect in case you want to go that route.

I will be interested in seeing what they tell ya, good luck :)

joann

PS you might want to get the book “Treat Your Own Neck” by Robin McKenzie

Just as more info:

I had another MRI, this time with contrast. This MRI was more detailed.

I now have proof of my pain, I wasn't crazy when I was telling them the injection on the left side was killing me.

C5-C6 Bulge causing encroachment of anterior spinal canal with some encroachment of left neural foramen.

If anyone has further information on this I would love any thoughts.

:)

Hi Joojee
 

Of course you were not crazy. I know this kind of pain. I would avoid that particular injection. Maybe do some homework about what else is available to you. I had katemine infussions, they did not hurt with administering them, nor did I get side effects. I got several months of good pain control. ginnie

Yes.

Get thee on the computer and research the kind of of Doc you need and his credentials (like my spinal surgeon is a North American Spine Fellow.) Then get a second opinion. Or a third.

Hi Hmarie
 

You may never know why the origional doctos you saw, want to move you to another specility. Get off the merrry-go round-doctors, and get a pain specialist, or neruorologist. Get your records, and you may be able to see what they were thinking on their notes. When you ask for your records, request their notes. Move on to someone who can help with that pain! ginnie

Cervical Discectomy
 

I have to decide on surgery I am scared to death and my BP continues to rise anyone have operation on c/3 &c/4

Hi Neck man
 

Welcome to Neuro Talk. I am glad you found this site. We can do alot here to help you through this process of surgery. I am neck woman, having two cervial fusions, so I happen to be one who can help you a bit. I do know how scarry this is. I came to Neruo talk the same way you are doing, frightened, crying, in pain, not knowing what to expect. I do not think I could have gone through my second fusion, without the good folks here. Once I had this done, I stayed with this site, to give back the help I received.
I hope before you have the fusion, that you did all your homework. That means a second opinion in another specility field, such as orthopedic and Neurosurgery. I did not do this for my first cervial fusion. I was too in a hurry to be done with the pain. I paid a big price for that six years later. I wound up with a second even more difficult at C3-7.
That is the reason why I ask if you had that second opinion. Sometimes when the spine is damaged, the verterbre above and below have trouble that is not always evident at first. You want to ask specifically if the rest of your neck looks good, and that you understand your MRI.
The people here can help you if there is something on it that you don't understand.
As far as the pain goes, that is so individual. Do talk to your doctor about pain issues after the surgery, and what pain meds. you wills be allowed at home. I did just fine with C6-7, with good recovery time, and physicial therapy. However my second fusion was much more difficult to get through.
I did need help with meals, and my home for a few weeks with that. I hope you have a good support team to give you a hand. I wore a soft neck collar with both surgeries. I also recommend you try different sleep positions. I use a raised wedge still to this day. I will be here for you. You can PM me at any time and I will try to answer any questions you have. It will be OK. You can get through this. My bp was sky high too, ask for a medication or let your doctor know that this is effecting your BP. I needed help with that too. I wish you all the best in this, and again a warm welcome to Neruo Talk. ginnie