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I can't tell you if your spasms are related,but my problems are cervical as well and I also suffer terrible spasms..so odds are that they are.We have to be careful that what we say here is not misconstrued as medical knowledge,but only personal experience.Having said that..I would feel it safe to say that it might be related.My spasms get increasingly worse at the very smallest of temperature drop.Have you noticed that?

Try a heating pad with your muscle relaxer and see if that gives you some temporary relief...and enjoy reading and posting here..it can be rewarding...

Have a DR???Well,of course you have a doc if you have medication...maybe you should call your Dr before they close?

Goodness........You can't let them(spasms) get the best of you like that.I mean shouldn't...sorry...my words come out wrong at times.What I mean is that we have to stay on top of our pain and control it-not the other way around.It can be like a game of tug of war at times.

Jen, I have suffered from muscle spasms for years, but they worsened last year after a Functional Capacity Evaluation for my LTD company sent me over the edge.

I have tried heat, ice, deep tissue massage, physiotherapy, trigger point injections and a million other things..... Most recently, my doc put me on 20 mg of prednisone, SHORT TERM, for pain and spasms that got completely out of control, and I could not believe the difference. I know it's an ugly drug and we don't want to resort to it very often, but it literally changed those spasms in 24 hours. I have now tapered it off to nothing, and the spasms are just barely coming back; I'm hoping the relief will last a while. I know your frustration with it, and can sympathize!!

For a long time I took high doses of magnesium and malic acid, which is a great combination for muscles; if it doesn't interfere with your meds, it's an easy enough supplement to take.

Hope I've given you some food for thought....good luck, and keep gritting those teeth!!

Tracy

Hiya, well its 5am here. I am up early again, woken up by those all so painful, teeth clinching muscle spasms. It goes from the middle of my back all across and down to my lumber area, down both sides, into both hips, and then i have the siatic pain that radiates down my right leg to my foot. Also down my left leg to my knee. I am in so much pain. Normally as the day goes on the pain eases, but yesterday , it got the better off me, and just would not let up. I tried the cold then hot method, it didnt help. I try to move but it hurts to much, to move backwards, forwards, side to side, the basic things in life we take for granted become such a task. I get tired real easy to, but thats because of the fibro i think. Anyway i just thought i would elaberate on the topic.

Angie x

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Its difficult to take a stab without some more details.
Where were your cervical fusions? Did you get relief at all after surgery? How long his this current problem been going on for? Are you taking any other medications? And last, what treatment plan are you under? Physical Therapy, Traction, Heat/Cold, Massage, Ultrasound, etc?

When it appears to be more muscular, its Ice for the first 48 hours and then heat afterward. But that is just the guideline, you do what feels better for you. If this is the case, you should at least discuss the idea with your doctor about muscle relaxers... But again, that is something your doctor has to see based on what he sees in you.

How are you doing?

Are your spasms under control yet?

I sure hope so

Hi Jen,
I am sorry to hear you are suffering such nasty spasms. I suffer from these too, really bad ones that stop me in my tracks. All I can offer is sympathy. I take diazepam when my spasms are really bad, and use a heat cushion which does help. Usuallly though, I just have to lie still and wait for the spasm to pass, and sometimes that can take hours
Angela

I had ACDF just last month so I'm still early in recovery. I too have spasms between my shoulders. I already take valium for them but find when that isn't quite enough I thank the good Lord that they invented those Therma care pads for various parts of your body. You could try them if you find they give them some relief then great. I use them because they are portable and I can take them to work with me. If I were you I would definitely talk to your doctor about your medication as it doesn't seem to be working for you.

......any of the heating tools? The reason I ask is because I saw them in the drug store and they are pretty expensive.I would like to have SOMEthing to use in the winter months b/c as soon as I step outside my entire back and neck gets in spasms.

I don't go out much,but when I do it doesn't matter if the car is warmed up or not..it only takes as long as getting into the car for these to start and sometimes it lasts a long time.

That's a good question. I'm in Physical Therapy now and they use something called Hydrocollator Heating pads. I LOVE these things. I feel so much better after I leave PT. Unfortunately I have to endure the spasms between PT sessions and this is not an item that you can just pick up in a drugstore. So now you've got me thinking. I wonder if my insurance would cover the cost? At this point I really don't care. I'm buying them on my own but to be reimbursed would be nice.

heating pads. They are just not as large as the ones generally used in PT sessions. But they are heated up the same way. (warm-hot water). I have about 4 of them, 1 designed for the cervical area, the rest for any spot on the back. It is also important to purchase the heavy duty pad that those hydrocollator slip into.
The Therma heat pads are good also, but all the ones I've seen are one time useage. So, they would be fine for a car or plane trip.

For heating, those mentioned above are good as well as many of those pads filled with rice. You put them in the microwave (2 minutes) and you have heat. Just a word of caution, I used one of them, under my back and with a sweatshirt on, went to bed, when I woke up, I had a 3rd degree burn that eventually required surgery to remove the eschar and plastic surgery to cut away a flap of skin to cover the gapping hole.

For Icing, a simple bag of frozen peas or corn! Take them out of the freezer and they will mold to your contour.. When you are finished with them, back into the freezer they go. Last a very long time, or until you decided on having a meal that requires those peas or corn.

I was wondering if I'm using too much heat now. I seem to be depending on it more and more instead of less and less. I just bought one that is so comfy and turns itself off if it doesn't feel pressure and automatically turns off after a certain amount of time. So I'm glad I picked this one after reading what you went through. What also fascinated me about this one is that I can spray water on it and use it for moist heat. It's still lacking in the hydrocollator dept though. I still want one of those for my neck specifically because this one I still have to manuever it around my neck to get it to where I need it sometimes. Ok. so after this very long winded post do you have an opinion about using heat too much? I'm 2 months post op almost. Is there such a thing as using heat too often? Am I doing any damage to my muscles by heating them so often? I come home from work and head straight for it for at least an hour before I move again.

there is NO limit to the amount of heat that you can use.
And of course, as long ast that is not too hot (ad I am the victim of that)
For about 7 weeks in a row (before my burn), I was using moist heat every night. I set it up on one of my form rollers (I would be lying on that) so that my chest would be open and take pressure of my thoracic area.

I have leg spasms and thats sciatica from L5-S1 herniated disc. I take lyrica and flexeril and heat helps too. Maybe you should see your GP and see if you need another MRI. Take care. Charry

Well I feel much better reading that. I take Valium for the spasms but it wears off and I find relief between with heat. I stick to my schedule with the Valium but I still need heat for those really bad moments until it kicks in. So it's good to know that I'm not doing my muscles any harm.