Sorry to hear that, Cha. My wife was on Gabapentin for a while and found it did nothing but help her sleep. And, she went up to 3,000 mg 3x per day in an attempt to find if it would ever work. We were told it has no side effects* (unlike, say Lyrica which is a sedative) and no limit to how much can be taken. As medically directed and titrated, of course. You might check back with your doc for an increase if it's having no effect.

*It did, however, make wife pretty loopy for a few days with each increase.

So sorry to hear about the chronic pain and that you have to wait another week for an appointment!

In the mean time, heat should help take the edge off the pain.

Hopefully by June it will be history!

thanks!

It seems like despite the fact that I'm only taking it at night, its making me tired all day as well. The worst part of the pain is sleeping, and I'm getting some sleep now, so I'll probably wait til after next week til I change much.

thanks!

I think I see the light at the end of the tunnel for this neck issue. My fingers are crossed.

I saw my chiropractor yesterday. He seems to know a lot more about what is going on than the MD did. He said Gabapentin is a pretty commonly used drug for this situation. He said the neurologist will probably want to do an MRI because the source of the irritation of the nerve is highly likely to be in the neck somewhere. He mentioned about four different types of problems that might be causing this pain, none of which are herniated discs. I dont remember them.

He thinks there is a good chance that if the MRI shows one of these things, that the neurologist will probably suggest an epidural with cortisone. He said that the problem is probably that the nerve got irritated in the neck area and then it swelled up. He knows that I have smaller than normal spaces for the nerve to run through my neck based on the xrays he took of my neck a while back, so he says once the swelling goes down in the neck area, along with the ART work he's doing to free the nerve up along the pathways into my arm & hand, that this might be fully healed in just a few weeks.

My chiro took some ART classes last week. Apparently these new techniques he learned are very difficult and complicated. He did a bunch of new stuff on me yesterday that has my whole upper body feeling looser than its been since I can remember. The arm pain is still there, but that's understandable base on the stuff he said and the fact that it felt like he beat the hell out of the nerve in the painful area while working on it. He also gave me a nerve flossing exercise to do a few times a day.

I think the biggest issue going forward might be the time it takes to get the MRI taken and then getting the epidural. Hopefully that can be done next week.

Good recovery man!

Thanks!

I still have a long ways to go though.

Good luck with your recovery.

IMO, having dealt with similar, I would just rest.

gl!

Can you post the nerve flossing exercise he gave you?

thanks!

thanks!

I think its specific to this nerve, which I learned is the C6 nerve on the left side. I straight my left arm in front of me, close my fist and do sort of a wrist curl, then bring my fist back and away as far as I can from my torso as I tilt my head to the right (ear to right shoulder). Does that make sense?


The neurologist I saw yesterday says he isnt ruling out anything. He told me he's pretty sure it is the C6 nerve and that the source is coming from the neck (duh, I knew that right away, my teammate chiropractor knew that right away and my chiropractor knew that right away, but the MD I saw was not convinced the source is in the neck.) The neurologist said I needed an MRI of my neck to see the source, and he also said I need an EMG test of the nerve all the way down my arm.

I was able to get in for the MRI last night.

The EMG test is something the neurologist does in his office. I have that scheduled for Friday morning. He will have results of the MRI by then, so we can talk about that then as well. Then I will know the course of treatment. Things he mentioned include chiropractic treatments and traction. I asked if an inversion table would be similar to traction and he said yes, that would be good to do. It is worth noting that he is the second neurologist to tell me that using an inversion table and getting treatment from a good chiropractor are good, legitimate treatments for spinal disorders.

He has not ruled out a disc issue. He said if it is a small herniation, he does not like to do surgery for that. He only does surgery if it is a very big herniation. I think the fact that this has improved quite a bit after the last two chirpractic treatments, and the fact that the test my chiro did tells him a disc issue if unlikely, makes a disc issue unlikely. There is definitely something wrong with my C6 nerve in the neck area though.

RE: that movement are you extending the arm backwards? Sounds similar to a stretch in general for the trap/levator that I do, sometimes loaded sometimes not. At least the head tilt bit not the first part.

yes, back and out as far as I can get it.

In the past, I've done a trap stretch where I pull one arm downward behind my back with the opposite hand. This is different that that.

Agreed, its very similar though but I can see how this would fall into nerve flossing as it takes the nerve through a shortening and lengthening in a single motion along its "route" in the range of motion of the arm.

Just got back from the neurosurgeon. I like this guy. He spent a lot of time showing me and explaining the MRI. I have moderate posterior spurring and disc bulging along with some disc degeneration at C6/C7.

The EMG test was a little painful, but not terribly so. He said he's done over 10,000 of these tests over the past 16 - 17 years, so he has some experience with them. It showed issues in my triceps and pronator teres in the left arm, as well as mild carpel tunnel. He thinks I do not need treatment for the carpel tunnel.

Treatment is:
- traction, inversion table once daily, and chiropractic treatment rather than physical therapy
- a week from today I will get an epidural with cortisone
- I can begin lifting again immediately, but he suggests starting off lighter than normal, like maybe 2/3 or so of what I usually do

I called my chiro and he agrees with allowing me to lift right away. I'll see him once a week or so until this is all better.

Sounds like great news to me. And it's great to have a doctor you have confidence in. You're well on your way!

That will do the trick.

Kara has had great success with a shot(s) for her back issues. Allowing to train pain free = get stronger = feel better.

That's good to know.

I had two separate cortisone epidurals in my low back about six years ago before I was able to start rehabbing my lumbar herniated disc. Both seemed to help only a little then, but that was a far worse problem than this is. I get the feeling this will fix me for a while as long as I dont do something stupid afterwards.

Good news

This!

For a person who goes into every log to tell people they are setting themselves up for neck issues, it's pretty ironic you ran into them yourself. Haha.

Not that I've read any recent post here though, I have no idea what happened. Good luck with fixing it!

HaHa?

Was trying to lighten the mood, maybe "Hehe" would have been more appropriate. Hehe

Glad I asked.

thanks!

I've had neck issues for 20 years. Its very sensitive if I do any little thing wrong. I know a lot of movements that cause problems in my neck and I know a lot of symptoms that happen as a result. That's why I suspected you had a bad neck issue a couple years ago when you were having, what was it, arm pain? And you found out later that you have a herniated neck disc, right? Most of the stuff I know about physical issues is from having dealt with similar problems myself.

edit: What happened this time was I was sick with a cold, hadnt lifted for a few days, had a kink in my neck when I went to bed, must have slept on it wrong and woke up with this problem that at first seemed similar to other stuff I've had, but its different in a bad way this time. Bulging C6/C7 and bony protrusions in the area. It is improving now though.

You are correct, you were correct back then and your advice then and along the way has always helped me greatly.

I used to have a lot of those neck kinks as well, but now I honestly can't even remember the last time I had one. Improvements in my posture, more balanced programming, and increased awareness of my neck/back position during sitting/standing/whenever,... all of these things have helped. Also another big thing I think has been taking up Olympic WL, it has a really positive effect on my thoracic spine and other general flexility/mobility.

Not saying I am now immune to neck problems, of course. Almost everyone can (should?) do more, including me.

Waking up like that seems horrible. I can only imagine how tilted that would make me feel. Good to hear it's getting better!

yeah, I should probably do more than I do too. I'm glad your neck isnt giving you trouble anymore. My low back injury from 2011 hasnt given me any real problems for years now.

Its interesting to me that you feel like WLing is helping with your issue. I feel like PLing is helping with a lot of my issues, including the neck, and I couldnt do a power clean if my life depended on it due to mobility issues.