Please help! Neuropathy

wwlady41

I am so sorry to hear how much you are hurting. Have you told your doctor about this pain?
I know that many here on this site have said that the healing process takes far longer than most of us expect.
I hope that you begin to get relief from your pain soon.

This is a great site filled with info and supportive folks. I hope it helps you as it is helping me.

take care

Wandtmac

Without my hubby this would be unbearable!

I've got to constsntly stretch my neck by either jutting my chin forward or by placing my hand on my chest, GENTLY applying pressure & pulling down, rotating my head side to side while looking as far behind me as possible. Looks like some serious eye rolling. Sort of like trying to look at your butt without twisting your body.

The spasms I can tolerate with ice & heat. I've got to alternate between the two (10m ice & 20 m heat) & it helps within about 1 hour. I will tell you mediation helps a lot. Never was a believer but i really helps. One dr had me concentrate on my breathing...4 sec in thru nose & 8 sec out thru mouth. Less than a minute my shoulders started to relax. Muscle pain I've all sorts of ways to control...have you tried Volteran Gel or Pennsaid? Both are pricy BUT drs do have samples. Rubbing these on my neck, shoulder & chest area really help with any inflammed muscles or joints.

I truly wish you the best! Please let me know if any works or not ... what all have your tried?

I really wasn't worried about the recovery & never asked...I didn't have much time to debate my choices & never thought recovery would the worse that a double lumbar fusion...I confess its much worse. My lumbar issues were a cake walk compared to this!

God Bless You!

Jewel2005

I am taking anti-inflammatories and a muscle relaxer. I don't know why I have so much pressure on my head. After I get home from walking I feel like my head weighs a ton and is being pushed down. I have to lay down to feel better. It's awful. I don't know what's worse before or after surgery at times. But I am hanging in there taking the pills and started physical therapy. You are lucky to have a husband that supports you. My boyfriend distanced himself right after the pain started and 3 weeks after my surgery he said he was dating other women and that I should find someone myself. This has made my recovery a lot worse because I thought I at least have him to support me through this. He kept supporting me to have the surgery so I could feel better but then doesn't stay to help me through anything.

Jewel2005

Thank you for your reply. I have told my doctor about this pain but he said to do pain management. This makes no sense he said the surgery would help with my quality of life. I am so disgusted with doctors. They don't tell you anything. No tests were ordered before surgery, he just went by my MRI. He also told me that epidurals woundn't work for me. Now I think I should've done those instead.

Wandtmac

You've founf out the hard way that not all drs are up front. My surgeon is wonderful. He took one look at my MRI & said I wouldn't make it thru the weekend. He remembered me from my back surgery 8 yrs before. He gave me a choice of surgery on a Sat morn (we talked from my pcp drs office on that Fri morn) or taking his cell phone # & calling him over the weekend if I got worse. I had to update my living will & poa papers so I waited & had surgery that Tuesday morning. I wasn't seen in his office before the surgery & never thought to ask about recovery until after. My situation was rare that there was such a short timeframe to decide my fate.

RESEARCH pain drs in your area. Don't expect miracles but to find a livable situation. That's what sucks for me. Treatments & meds last at most 8 months then my body says NO! And we have to change everything again. I've had gastric bypass which leads myself to believe its the reason my pain meds don't last the time expected/experienced as other patients. Shortened digestive tract means faster processing of the meds!

I will tell you 10mg of methadone every 6hrs has been the BEST thing for my neck pain. My pain was starting to break too soon again & the oxymorphine wouldn't control the breakthrough pain.

I take 2 strong pain meds that requires me to take some form of pain med every 3 hrs. I take cymbalta 2x to 3x a day (this varies due to it can cause insomnia to be worse).

Sounds like physical theraphy may help...you don't hold back & make sure you are clear with them about what works & what is a waste of time. A good therapist will listen & adjust. My last pt was stopped before started. They were straight with me saying I was too out of control with pain & it needed controlled more before starting pt again.

Jewel this is a WONDERFUL site for support 24/7. You will meet great people here. Some will be wonderful for support when you've hit your end. Others do offer much needed advise to help the physical pain. (Please ignor anyone you may try to knock you down).

Either way you are not alone now that you've found this site.

Traci Mac

Jewel2005

Yes. I am glad I found this site with others who are experiencing issues like mine. It is hard to explain to those who've never had any of this type of pain. I don't know I just think I should've waited a bit longer to have the surgery since it was not a severe stenois yet. But the muscle spasms I had were very bad that I could not even wear a bra without major pain. I did one epidural before surgery which gave a bit of relief. I am sure I would've needed the 3 maximum to keep the pain to be manageable. I trusted the doctor and believed him when he said that the epidurals wouldn't help. I had done physical therapy but I don't think the therapist did the right therapy for me and maybe that's why I didn't get much relief from it. He didn't do any type of neck exercises. Now with my new PT she does neck exercises which I am hoping will help. This has been the worst pain ever and hope that one day I will be pain free again. I am thinking about doing prolotherapy next for my neck. I am also buying a book by Robin Mckenzie.

Wandtmac

Just checling in to see how you are doing...I can tell you that methadone is the only thing that's helped my nerve pain...now my hands are starting to numb again...

Jewel2005

I am taking my pain killers and doing p/t so I am feeling somewhat better than a few weeks ago. I am getting massages at p/t that are good although the pain never fully leaves, it just helps with it. I am trying to find someone that does prolotherapy near me. I've been reading the Mckenzie book but it is not helpful for my pain. I also purchased another neck pain book but also not of any help for my pain. It's frustrating. This has been the most challenging time of my life. I am taking it one day at a time and hoping that something good will come from all this.
Hope you get some relief soon!