fMRI for Confirmation of Pain ?

Hi Ransomed~

It's very nice to meet you. I'm sorry your husband is suffering so much. I'm not sure on the fMRI but they are wonderful for many things related to function. I did some reading and it sounds like this is still in it's infancy, more so than I realized.

Here's a bit of what I read for those who are interested: (paraphrased) The wonderful thing about it is it reveals function and not just a static picture. For now it sounds like most of it's uses are for imaging the brain during activity to locate areas that are active. It shows what areas are active when you think of someone you love, when you feel sad or someone pinches you. These capabilities have led to new knowledge in serious diseases and new forms of treatment. But it still has many limitation and bugs to get worked out before it goes 'out of the clinic'. One area that is showing promise is in lie detection. It's a spendy way of doing things but seems to be effective is showing if someone is being truthful or not. But the chances of it being admitted into a legal case are slim to none as it stands now.

If I may ask you a question....what type of pain does your husband have? Is it generalized muscle pain, specifically in a joint or one region? The reason I asked is fibromyalgia came to mind. That is where the body has generalized muscle pain that can be aggravated by temperature, stress of any kind and even weather. Not too much is know about it's causes but it's very real and very painful. I know from personal experience. It's just a thought. You might jump over to our Fibromyalgia forum and do some reading there. It would give you a start anyway. If you think it's possibly fibro then a good PCP or rheumatologist who treats fibro would be able to diagnose it. Often people who have it suffer for 5-10 years before someone finally recognizes what it is since there are no blood test, etc for it.

I hope something here gives you hope. Please keep posting and let us know how we can help you and hubby.

Warm hugs,
Chutz

Hi,
I am not sure I thought I posted my response already and since I am new to this, I got this screen. So have no idea if both will show up or not and if the other does, I am sorry. :)

What I had said in the other post- is what about trying the biofeedback? I believe and correct me if I am wrong (since I haven't gotten to try this yet but want to) but it will show the areas in your body that will show any kind of strain while sitting and or in different positions. This may help at least prove to a Dr that its there!

Your husband sounds like alot of what I have been going thru myself! Be sure to tell him to keep searching for that Dr! Because I am now 39. I started out in 2005 with major migraines, neck issues, etc.... I was able to still work. I was always a worker!! Loved it! But by May of 06 my Dr took me out of work because I wasn't able to reduce my hours. And I was getting worse. She sent me to a Pain Management clinic, and thats where alot of my trouble began......

I ended up with high blood pressure- which I would ask about, got no response except its my pain level. Not to worry about it. I ended up having to get spinal injections to try and relieve the pain. Well those weren't working either. My foot was hurting extremely bad- and I would bring it up to them, and did for a few months, and same with my shoulder- again they didn't care. Told me it was part of it. And that I was probably having withdrawl to a med they were still giving me!!!! that was my foot- my shoulder I got told that if they wanted my opinion on what was wrong with me- they would have asked me!!! Ya!!!! Nice huh???

So I went back to my reg Dr, and she had me do MRI on my shoulder. And she took xrays of my foot. Long and short of it- My foot ended up with a break, my shoulder has a tear in the rotator cuff! Not only that, but now becuz of the care I was getting, I have RSDS in my foot. I had a heart attack at 37 yrs old. (cholesterol levels were perfect, they said it was stress!!!) And the other thing was at the end my Dr at the pain clinic would withhold any pain meds unless I let them give me spinal injections!!!! Well since then I have been a mess!!! And I quit going there. And now I am at a much better place!! Its worth it to keep looking. Dont do what I did. Becuz I am 39 and haven't been able to start my family due to all of this junk!

Dont give up!!! Keep looking!

[quote]best of all they don't throw the big egos around

Wow. :)

Hi, MS is tested through a brain MRI.

I believe there is some research out there regarding pain and the brain. They are now testing some things on Fibro patients, where they experience pain differently than normal people. But I don't have any specific studies.

I know this may sound stupid, but part of this sounds like Myofascial pain. It's worth looking into trigger points and trying to "work" them at home. I was tested for MS a few months ago. Same thing- blurred vision, trouble hearing certain tones, numbness etc. It ended up being trigger points. If he has had all the testing this is free and available online. You work the spots (there are free manuals online) and see if things improve or not. Just remember the spots are sometimes in different places vs. where the actual pain is. You may have numbness in your hand and fingers but the spot causing it could be the upper arm.

I hope you look into it, it really helped me.

We have looked into trigger point treatments (massage), and it looked promising. But I tried it while he was having the speech problems, and it caused his neck to jerk violently and looked like things got worse. I am wondering - did I cause him to have to go to the ER that day? So, we are both hesitant to try trigger massage again.

I saw an interesting program last week, can't remember the name of the program, something like Medical Mystery Diagnosis. Not sure.



Have you checked out Dystonia? May be worth a look.

Bonnie

Oh yeah, I think it was somewhere near where the neck muscle and shoulder muscle meet that caused his head to jerk.