My horrible appointment

I am still not doing so well. I ended up going to the ER last week and they gave me DHE in an IV which got rid of the headache until i got home, though it wasn't as severe.

This week I did have one day where it was like I had a great day, like I had my old self back, but other than that, it has been the same pain over and over. I had my appointment with a neurosurgeon yesterday. I went in there feeling really confident, like this is a doctor who knows what he is doing and he can find the answer. Boy was I wrong. Something went horribly wrong. He didn't ask too many questions, jsut basically what happened and I explained to him about the accident. He just looked at my X-rays which I had back on February 1, and the MRI from April. He found a tiny bone spur on C-5 that he said was there before the accident, and mild disc degeneration on C3-C5, none of which could be causing such pain. He didn't want to recommend surgery but he did want another set of X-rays of my neck in the position of me looking down since that seems to put me in the most pain, but he just wants that for documention as he would more than likely still not recommend surgery.

In a nutshell he told me to stop taking all medication, exercise, and forget the whole thing happened. He started talking about people who are hurt in an accident but you can't find whats wrong with them and something about litigation. It almost sounded like he was saying I was there for money, but then he said "I am not saying that is you and that you don't have a valid complaint, I am just saying I see no neurological problems with you." So I got two things out of the appointment, 1) the pain is in my head, and 2) I am there trying to get money for a settlement.

I left feeling pretty upset because I still have no answers. I am in pain and don't know why. I haven't gone back to the Pain Clinic because none of what he was doing helped. I am not sure what to do at this point. I could try a different doctor but what if I get the same scenario? Or I could see my Primary care doctor and get another MRI. I just don't know what to do. Then there is the problem if I am doing to much and inusrance doesn't want to pay because if they can't find anything wrong. Right now I bought a neck brace and I am doing what a physcial therapist friend of a friend told me to do, wear it for two weeks and rest, try and get better on my own.

I have migraines and have spent many a 24 hrs in the hospital having DHE administered to get rid of a migraine. It has always worked wonders for my migraines. Do you know you can now get it by script and you squirt it up your nose. Just wanted you to know that.

How did you find this dr? Did your PCP ref you, if so, I would go back and tell him/her how this dr acted and how he tried intimidating you with the accident theory of his. Please don't give up, he is not the only specialist out there. Susie

I have since went to see my Primary Care Doctor. She basically said the same thing the neuro surgeon did, but in a much nicer way. Since they cannot pinpoint what the cause of my pain is, there is not much they can do. Basically I need to try and move on. She said to lower my expectations about finding the answer and getting better fast. She says I won't be in pain forever, I just need to rewire my pain receptors since they are exaggerated (not me, but the pain receptors) and I shouldn't be in as much pain as I am based on what happened. She put me on tramadol. She also asked me if there is anything I feel wasn't done that should have been done and I mentioned wearing a neck brace. She wrote me a script for it and I have to say that it has worked! I had 4 days without a headache, which has not happened in over 8 months. I took the brace off for a couple hours last night and now my head is hurting, so I have it on and won't take it off for another week or two.

It is sort of sad that there is no answer or solution to my chronic pain, but what can you do when all doctors say the same thing? I have exhausted myself financially and emotionally trying this doctor or this procedure to no avail. So maybe what the doctor said was right, get on with my life and accept the pain as it won't be there forever. Maybe with the Tramadol andneck brace is all I need anyway.