[gbsb]

for those who are interested or bored.

I went to the hospital this morning at 0645 to check in / register for an MRI of my cervical spine (#2).
Got all the way to MRI when I was told my MRI was scheduled for 1930 tonight.
The girl was really helpful and they squeezed me in like 10 minutes later. As I was laying in the machine I wondered if they got the order for my thoracic spine MRI and if we could do it at 1930 tonight.
Well, turns out they did and it was scheduled for the first week of March. The same girl arranged it so I could come in for that one at my original time tonight.
Sometimes things work my way!
I also saw a pain management Osteo doc this afternoon. He wanted to do some injection on my neck but held off because it would skew my MRI results.
The osteo doc seemed pretty good. I asked him if he has seen people with TOS and people who have had a rib resection to no avail. He said he has a few patients he is currently seeing who are in my situation. He listened well and didn't seem to want to rush into anything. Which I like. I go back to see him in 3 weeks. After a follow-up with my surgeon.
The osteo did prescribe Lyrica. Which I'm going to have to look into. From what I recall a lot of people gained weight on it. I just lost 20 pounds of the 65 pounds I put on in the last 18 months.
My PCP took me off the Cymbalta. Way too many side effects for me. And put me on Lexapro. What a difference I'm not being all paranoid about work and investigators and insurance companies, etc.
The next big day is with the surgeon. I'm still worried he may just say I'm all set in order to keep his "batting average" up.
Hope all are doing well!

[Donna7]

gbsb...I'm glad they were able to work out all your MRI issues! I did gain weight on Lyrica, as well as get dizzy, but I just restarted it this week for possible RSD symptoms. I didn't want to, but I need to weigh (pun unintended!) the pros and cons, and figured weight gain, while unpleasant and unhealthy, has nothing on RSD!

I tried Cymbalta one day, and got so nauseated I decided I'd never try it again!

Anyway, hope things go well for you with the surgeon...that is so irritating when they brush you off like that. But at least you found a good PM doc!

Take care...
Donna

[johannakat]

gbsb- glad to hear from you that the visit to the osteo was good. I had high hopes for you. I think i mentioned earlier that I have heard many good connections between osteo's and TOS patients. Most recently i found out that SuperJoyce (my awesome PT) got her specialized training with osteopaths. That has sealed the deal with me and I am currently looking for one for myself.

WIll be curious to hear how your situatino progresses. I truly hope you find some answers.

Johanna

[gbsb]

I'm going back to see the osteo/pain management doc this AM.
We have done three injections into my cervical spine in the last 2 or 3 months.
I noticed no significant relief from them. Though I was hopeful because at some point while he was injecting whatever he does I felt sensations from cold, tingling, and pain in all affected area's. This lead me to believe he found the source of my pain.
Maybe it is or isn't.
After my last injection I realized it was really not doing me any good as the steroids that were in there just made me go like a bat out of h*ll.
It never felt like I had complete relief but I was just so pumped up it seemed like I forgot about the pain for periods of time.
He also put my on Lyrica(50mg). I felt some relief at first from constant pain. But it did nothing for flare ups after activity or just the random flare ups.
We increased the night time dose to 75mg and I started to notice severe pain in my knees and area around them after upping the night time dose. Also I experienced daytime drowsiness again which I thought I was over.
Some people spoke of decreased urinination on Lyrica. It's the opposite for me. I am up three or four times a night. Very surprised I am not dehydrated.
Am planning on speaking to him about all of this today.

My TOS surgeon has refered me to another shoulder surgeon for a 2nd opinion. The 2nd said the same as the first, basically. They see some damage but nothing significant.
I am hoping that if the pain management doc says he's done all he can then the first shoulder surgeon will agree to go in and look around.
If I can't get relief in my whole area from neck to fingers I'd at least take some relief in the shoulder.

That's all for now. My apologies for not being involved more here but the nice weather is short here and I'm taking advantage. Also I go through phases where I just try to forget I have some sort of pain/disability problem.
Take care all!

[gbsb]

Well, I guess all went well today. I think the osteo was kind of disappointed that I had so little relief from my previous injections.
Decided to have me ween myself off of Lyrica.
We will do some sort of nerve block I believe it is to try and stop the pain from travelling down my arm.
That'll be in a couple weeks.
In the mean time I plan on cleaning out from some of the meds I've been on and wait to see what happens after the nerve block.

[Jomar]

It seems each person needs to work out a med combo that works best for them.
Sorry the inj didn't do more for you.