Syringomyelia

Hi all, for year I've had pain in my body, especially legs and back. I have a syrinx that extends the length of my spinal cord most likely due to an accident a 16 that caused a crushed vertebrae T6. It is only a thin syrinx though at 2mm wide.

My pain specialist is sure it's neuropathic pain- but the neurosurgeon said he thinks it not due the syrinx. So at the moment my gp has put it down to the syrinx but really nobody knows. I'm on Gabatine, Cymbalta and Norspan 10Mcg.

I keep getting breakthrough pain and have to keep changing med combinations. The pain seems to be increasing over the years even though the syrinx is stable. Does anyone think it could be fibromyalgia instead? It's confusing and frustrating.

Thanks.

Hi

I wanted to pop in and welcome you to our cp forum. Glad you found us but sorry you are having so much pain. You will soon find the members here to be very supportive and understanding. It's a great place to come for the support you are looking for. We all suffer from some sort of chronic pain so we all "get it". So please keep posting with us and let us know how you are doing.

Suzane

Thanks for everybody's warm welcome

It looks like a very supportive group of people on this forum, so thanks again for making me feel welcome!

I have had a Dr suggest investigationg Fibromyalgia but there was no specialists near my town as I was a bit remote. I have since moved and there may be a few more opportunities to explore although I already feel like I've spent far too many hours of my life in clinics and Dr surgeries Considering seeing a neurologist but I can't think what they could do to help.

I brang up with my gp last night that I don't have a long term plan for manageing this pain or for fixing things etc. No Dr will look more than a few months ahead at a time. Then there are other Dr's that are sceptical or think that because I'm in there about it so often that I'm exaggerating. I get the feeling of exasperation from a Dr if I've been seeing them for too long and perhaps it's because they can't fix it...

Hi there...Welcome to the boards..

I was diagnosed with Fibro back in '95 and that was by a Rheumatologist so I agree with Tina that this would be a good Dr. to go see. You can ask them first before you make the appt. if the Dr. treats those with Fibro so as not to waste your time.

I'm not quite sure what the medicine Gabatine is that you wrote...Did you mean Gabapentin or (Gabatin) which is the generic for Neurontin? May I ask in what dosage? The therapeutic range is usually 2400mg to 3600mg.

It's a bit unusual to see someone prescribed two nerve pain meds as you are on with the Gabapentin and Cymbalta...But if you are on the max dosages for each....maybe it's time to change over to Lyrica or even Savella.

Another med that is helpful to those with Fibro is a muscle relaxer. Just like the nerve pain meds you are on that are specific to that type of pain...a muscle relaxer is best for those spasms. These are either Flexeril, Robaxin, Skelaxin, or Baclofen.

As mentioned...I hope you take a look over on the Fibro board and the "sticky" at the top of the page there called Fibro 101. That has lots of good ideas and natural ways to help those with Fibro.

Many of us with more than one issue post on multiple boards.

This is a great community (family) here on this website as we all can share empathy as well as suggestions on how to cope living with health issues.