unable to diagnose!!

Hello I am 25 years old. I will give you a quick history...car accident at 16, transferred to larger hospital hours away because they thought I "broke" my back. after being at new hospital for 3 hours I was released with "no problems" Kinda a big leap if you ask me. Since then I have always had very mild back pain...My first child was born in 2009 and thats when things went down hill. Over the last 4 years I have gone to a pain level only in my back of maybe a 2....to a constant level of pain in my back upper lower and middle, hips , neck, headaches, several pinched nerves, pulled muscles, and basically I feel like what I can imagine a 90 year feels like. Constant level of pain of an 8 or 9. I have 2 young children and spend most of my morning crying for at least the first 2 hours while bathing, feeding, getting them around. I was fortunate enough to see a pain management DR last year at our old duty station where we did lots of muscular injections multiple xrays, MRI that came back with no reason for the pain...I moved and now my new pcm who can only diagnose chronic muscle spasms has handed me back over to pain management.which I have yet to see, that appointment is in a few weeks..I have tried every muscle relaxer on the market, every anti-inflamitory, every topical patch, cream heat/ice chiropractic care, massage therapy. I am at my wits end...what if they stilll cant find a stable diagnoses..will my pain just be dismissed...I also suffer from anxiety depression and currently on meds for that as well...Is it ever going to end? anyone else have not been able to diagnose but have found treatment that makes life liveable?

Or you may need a full-body PET scan, which is the most sensitive of all the standard tests.

david

If it has been more than 6 months since your last MRI I would strongly ask for another one. Also seeing a neurologist or a neurosurgeon is a great idea. A back and/or spine specialist is someone else who may be able to give some answers.

It is hard to say what might be causing you the pain you are feeling. Just one of the possibilities I can think of is that you suffered some nerve damage during the accident and it was made worse during your pregnancy and/or delivery which would be very hard if not impossible to detect with imaging tests. This is just one reason why seeing a neurologist is a good idea

Hi tooyoungforthis. Welcome to the forum. After reading your post and other stuff, you really seem to be focusing on the car accident when you were 16 as the most likely cause, and I can't help but wonder if it wasn't just a catalyst for an underlying condition. Have you been checked for other conditions such as MS, or fibromialgia, or anything else? I just wonder if the pain in your back might possibly be just a symptom of something else, which could explain why your MRIs and such have come out without any obvious solution. Obviously I'm not a doctor, and can't really offer you anything in the way of a diagnosis, but it seems to me that sometimes, we need to think outside the box before the doctors will.

I wish you the best of luck, and hope that your doctors are able to find the source of your pain and treat it. Take care, and feel free to come here and talk about what's going on, or just to vent, or whatever, it really helps a lot of us to have people that really understand the effect this has on our lives.

Just wanted to pop in and welcome you to the cp forum. Sorry to hear you are hurting so much. I hope you get some answers at your upcoming appt. Keep us posted.

Suzane

Tooyoungforthis87 Welcome to Healing Well Chronic Pain Forum, something you said caught my attention, you mentioned ( "at our old duty station" your PM did allot of test and all) in your beginning post. Are you or your husband in the military?  Are you seeing military doctors?  Have you been seen by a neurologist? a competent neurologist?  There are allot of things that could be causing your problems, you mentioned that you had an MRI was it of your upper, lower or middle back? Have they done any nerve conduction studies? Or maybe a MRI of your head (brain) Just because the test they have run doesn't show anything, doesn't mean that there isn't something causing your symptoms and problems! So don't give up, Maybe if you could go to  a university teaching hospital or even Mayo clinic or some place and have a good medical work up done. 

 When I was in the military I had allot of problems with pain in my arms, and it took along time to get it diagnosed, and when they did I had to have emergency surgery, as I had a massive herniated disk in my neck. But before they found out what was wrong,  I was sent to see an Army orthopedic surgeon  at Ft, Wainwright, and he told me I was malingering and sent me to a psych.  It took many  months before they finally did the right test and found out what the problem was.  So  I think I can relate  at least a little to what your going through of not  having a diagnosis!  Even now I have several problems that some doctors think might be caused by MS but others don't think so, they just think it is  caused by my bad back.  But my bad back doesn't explain everything that is going on! So I know it is hard living with a situation and not knowing what is causing it. You just have to have faith that you will eventually get answers!

There are so many things that could be causing your problems, especially your muscle spasms, I would encourage you to try and see a good neurologist, as maybe your problems and spasms are not caused by your problems with your back? Being a young lady, there are allot of other conditions that could be causing your pain and muscle spasms. Just keep trying to find a diagnosis, and don't give up. You do have people here that will listen and support you, so you are not alone!

Good Luck to you and please keep us posted on how you are doing, when your here at this forum, you are part of our chronic pain family, and we all care about each other.

White Beard 

Hi tooyoungforthis87, I am sorry that you have to go through this, I do understand the frustration you must feel, when in the military (or being a dependent) you have limited resources, and more or less have to accept what they give you! But with that said, there are still ways of getting the proper treatment. The saying the squeaky wheel gets the grease or attention, is still valid, so you just have to be persistent, and if your not happy with the treatment your getting or not getting better then just keep going back and tell them that. But do be careful as the military medical is famous  for labeling people as psych cases that continue to insist that there is something wrong with them! Just try not to get them mad at you, and hopefully you will find a doctor that really cares and will listen and not give up or give in, and will find you the proper doctor that will do the test needed to find out what is going with you. I know my  twenty plus years in the military, I found for the most part, there dental was outstanding, their medical for regular ordinary  run of the mill stuff and for combat related injuries was usually fairly good, but if you have something that is different, then.......well..........it would all depend on the doctor you have been assigned to,  the medical facilities available close by and a host of other variables that you have no control over.  I think you know what I mean.

I will tell you if you really think that they are missing the boat, and you really have something going on, ( after all, you know your body better than anybody else!  What is right and wrong with your body and what your feeling, i.e. pain, muscle spasms etc.) Anyway be persistent, and don't give up!  You are and have to be your own best patient advocate! That is true in most all situations in life, civilian and military but especially in the military medical system! I do wish you  and your husband all the best, I do admire young people that still believe in our country and volunteer to serve in our armed forces.  This includes the military dependent, as they are the main  back bone and support system of allot of our servicemen serving our country!

Good luck to you, and please know that you always Welcome here, as part of our chronic pain family here at Healing Well!  We all care and support each other! I do hope you become an active member of our forum!

White Beard

saw pain management yesterday, he doesn't understand my oain at all. my pcm. had my in a low dose pain killer 4 times a day. no it didn't even come close to b taking my pain away but it dud take my pain level from crying to just WANTING to cry. this dr said I'm too young to be in pain, cut my meds.to one a day abd said ( use this as a last resort like right before considering sn ER trip) offered up no other medication physical therapy NOTHING except he said I can come back in 2 weeks abd do s cervical epidural. what am I supposed to do til then? I've always veen told STAY AHEAD of the pain. is he a quack our am I crazy? p.s I have no history of drug or alcohol abuse, I don't even drink. I. just want to STOP crying!

white beard :)- THIS WAS A CIVILIAN DOCTOR!! sorry for the caps im not yelling at you...just frusterated...i have no diagnosis just severe muscle spasms...what this doctor does not take into consideration is everyone is different but I have NO TOLERANCE for pain. Yes I am a woosy! I have an appt with a different pain managemnt doctor on the 25th but I do not have my hopes up. truth is if I have to continue to wake up every day unable to function (i dont expect to be pain free nor function at 100%, but right now im functioning atabout 25%) I dont know what this will do to my mental stability. I am being honest, im tired of hurting and tired of waking up everyday just cause I know Im going to spend most my day in pain.

Sometimes even with civilian doctor it can be hard to find that one right doctor and I would say you need to look for another civilian pain management doctor, (it took me 5 doctors to finally get one that wasn't injections crazy) your not alone in having been seen by a bad doctor but you must not let that make you give up trying the right doctor is out there for you...keep hope and look for another doctor...Many well wishes... and keep us posted on this as we do care...