Upper back & neck pain/stiffness

Hey everybody! First post here. It's a bit long, so I've tried to bold the important bits.

As the subject heading suggests, I signed up to ask a question about the chronic back & neck pain I've been experiencing for several months. It started in early 2012 (before I received my Lyme diagnosis) and, so far, it's continued in a pretty uninterrupted fashion to the present day, which is about 2 weeks after ending my 2.5 month treatment of antibiotics (Ceftin, 500mg 2/day oral) at my doctor's suggestion. After reading about other folks being on abx for up to year, I was worried this might be premature, but so far I feel pretty good, except for a few notable exceptions...

Anyway, the back pain/stiffness is weird. It's located mainly in my upper thoracic spine area between the shoulder blades, extending upwards to near the base of my neck. When this area tightens up, the pain also seems to refer upwards, giving me what feels like a tension headache, or just a very distracting sense of pressure in my head. When I described it to my doc (an LLMD), he said that it sounded like it was due to inflammation, rather than direct injury, since the stiffness is usually worst in the morning -- especially if I've had any bodywork or done any light exercises that target the area the previous day. The pain/stiffness also seems to get worse when I eat certain foods on my list of food sensitivities (e.g. peanuts), and it's usually accompanied by some pretty severe brain fog and fatigue, which I've been interpreting as more evidence for some kind of generalized immune/inflammatory response.

Thus far, I've seen massage therapists, chiropractors, acupuncturists, a trigger-point therapist, and several physical therapists, who have tried to fix me with manual therapy, targeted exercises, massage, and spinal manipulations. Generally speaking, these relieve the pain in the short term, but it almost always comes back with a vengeance the next day, so, for the time being, I've stopped everything but the PT. Also worth mentioning: All of these specialists have told me that my posture and general spinal alignment are fine, and, although I spend a lot of time in front of a computer each day, I've tried to minimize the strain on my neck by adjusting the height of the monitor and keyboard and so forth.

On the internal medicine side, I've tried magnesium supplements (MagTab-SR, 4/day), vitamin D (D3, 2000 IUs/day), B12, and NSAIDs with little success. Aleve seems to do the best job of relieving the pain when I'm having a particularly bad day, but it doesn't address the brain fog or the fatigue. I also ordered a bottle of Yes Essential Oils (http://www.amazon.com/Yes-Parent-Essential-Oils-Capsules/dp/B001HW4A9C/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1363717062&sr=8-1&keywords=yes+oil) in the hopes that increasing my omega-3 intake might help.

So, I'm wondering:
(1) Has anyone else had this kind of problem, and do you think it's related to Lyme? I've never had any kind of pain in my knees, hips, or other joints (which I know is more common in Lyme), so sometimes I wonder.
(2) If you have had similar problems: Any suggestions are far as additional treatment options? What's worked for you? My doc suggested yoga, but if simple stretches can't do it, I'm not sure why yoga would be any better...

Thanks!

Hi Jon,

Welcome to the forum!

I have had (and still have) these tensions and pains for many years. Sometimes it's so bad I can't bend my head forwards, can't look at my feet, especially in the morning. And it gives me a terrible tension headache when it gets too bad.

about the food/pain connection: when you're having food allergies, it's better to avoid the foods that give you more pain. When eating someting you can't tolerate, your body will react and produce toxins that will give you muscle and joint pain. It's a normal reaction, I have a very large amount of food allergies/intolerances.
I think that everyone should get tested for food allergies/intolerances, cause it can cause so many problems.

I see my osteopath when in too much pain, when too much tension in my body. He has 'golden' hands, that give me a lot of relief. He also learned me some fascia therapy exercices, it's very gentle on the body.

When I was in better shape, I did pilates (2 times a week) at a good pilates center (choose a good center or teacher if you decide to do it). Back then, I didn't even have to go and see my osteopath. It built up my muscle strength, kept everything flexible. I would advice it to anyone, but it's hard.
I had to freeze my subsription at the wellness center... I'm so sad about that... but I hope that I'll be able to go back...

Yoga was not bad either, but I overstreched once... be careful with that... and there's many sorts of yoga to choose between. But I preferred pilates.

I have this same thing. Cat's Claw helped. Well, at first it made it worse - but then it helped.

I have the exact same thing.  Very sore, especially in the morning.  Can't turn in bed without a lot of pain.  It is in my upper spine and around my shoulder blades, into my shoulders and up into my neck.  I get pressure headaches with it as well.  I have my husband give me a deep massage, that helps somewhat temporarily.  I have found no pain meds that help it.  Acupuncture helps somewhat.  I too have had MRI's, x-rays CT scans, all showing nothing abnormal.  It baffels me that something so painful, doesn't show up somewhere. 

I was just thinking about how much my back and shoulders were hurting.

I cant say that its my worst symtom, but its up there.

it moved to my collar bone and chest for a month or two, now its back in my upper shoulder blade/neck area again.

nothing seems to help me either. advil or aleve does a little

More? Wouldn't that make a mountain out of a mole hill?

I am glad you brought this topic up. I have had really bad low back pain and neck stiffness for about 2 months. I have been told I may have lyme for I have had the rash and have an appontment to see a llmd in 2 wks. I have not found anything but vicodin that will help so far.

I have pain in this region that is similiar, but with a few differences to what others are describing.

At first it started with painful shoulders and blades that were far too easily dislocated and then the pain moved inwards and then upwards to the neck. On really bad days, this neck pain is accompanied, by typical meningitis symptoms.

Ive found great relief in a good old electric massager. Ive also heard good things about acupuncture as well and may try this next.

Edit: I wanted to also mention that detoxing with enemas almost completely eliminated my severe neck pain, at least the kind that seemed related to meningitis. So in my case there is a very specific link to neck pain and my toxicity levels. Ive been on heavy ABXs for while, so this is of no surprise really.

Post Edited (vcast) : 5/12/2014 5:43:28 AM (GMT-6)

Hi I just came across your post now. Shortly after getting what I thought was a simple virus in 1992 I developed a deep ache in my mid spine and swelling in my right toe. I had no pain in my knees, hips but now years later I am totally disabled because I was misdiagnosed for too many years and have severe neurological and now joint degeneration and swelling in my mid spine and that darn toe. I had massive amounts of antibiotics four or five years after a Lyme doctor found me. I was down over 20lbs emaciated, could not get out of bed. Had multiple hospitalizations and was misdiagnosed with ALS, Chrohns disease because the lyme caused a colitis or the candida did due to my immune being under such a strain from trying to fight lyme.
To end my mid back feel like the discs swell up and then the nerve from there radiates around to my chest, my upper back and neck crack like krazy as if lyme is still in me. I have no quality life any more.
I am now trying the cowden protocol and am on day 19 and I think I have had bad herxheimer reactions from it.
How are you now? I have reached the point I don't want to live like this any longer, but I can't just give up.
I hope these bitter herbs work.

I must have Lyme still alive in me. When I first got ill and had the colitis from lyme or from the severe candida infection I had due to my immune system trying to fight off lyme. The gastroenterologist said it was Chrohn's disease and proceded to give me massive amounts of iv steroids which lowered my immune system more. My neurological symptoms got 1000X worse. My arms and legs would jerk uncontrolled. Muscles were twitching in my face, legs and just about everywhere. I had difficulty breathing, my bowel completely shut down for 12 days. After a month of laying in that hospital and the doctor not knowing what the hell was going on they told my wife it must be a rare cancer and they wanted to put feeding tubes in me. I checked out and went to Mt. Sanai where they did exploratory surgery for Chrohn's. There was none!
After 5 years a lyme Dr. found me somehow and he has called me a steroid disaster. My mid spine joints actually swell up just like a rheumatoid joint on a finger and it causes me great pain. I am on an herbal protocol now because after massive amounts of iv, oral and intramuscular antibioitics I am still sick. 23 years of hell. I had what I feel was a bad herxheimer 3 days ago. I will be on this protocol for 6 months with hopefully some positive results. Thanks for getting back.

Yes and headaches so bad you will vomit. Can't look at light, want no sound, just take a pain killer and curl up in a ball on the couch with blinds closed and not move at all. Feels like spinal menningitis! I will post if this expensive herbal remedy does anything to help this living hell.