Johnny_Five said...
Here is my Pain Timeline with symptoms. I hope its. not too long.
I’ve been in a series of car accidents and skateboarding accidents, but never experienced any long-term pain from them. In March of 2013 I had a weight lifting injury by bending over and pulling up way to much weight (345 lbs) and this caused moderate pain in my back. I got an MRI and the drs found 2 herniated discs in my lumbar and 4 in my thoracic, but they were not impinging on nerves and so they decided they werent the cause of my pain.
As time went on, my mid to upper back started to hurt as well (burning and aching). I asked for an MRI of my entire back, and they found 4 herniated discs in my thoracic. The MRI mentioned possible cord compression, but they didnt think anything of it.
My ankles started burning and my knee joints started hurting after this. Recently after this, the base of my thumb started hurting as I wrote. However I continued physical therapy, and things seemed to start doing better.
I traveled to California shortly after that, and after a long plane ride there and back, my right arm started burning intensely. My arm burned so bad it felt as if it was on fire. It made clicking noises when I cracked it. It was tested for carpal tunnel and was negative. I went to specialists to get an MRI of my leg and arm, but they were absolutely fine.
I was playing volleyball with friends one day, and my right leg started burning so bad and knees tingling so much that I began limping as I walked. At this point, both legs, my lower and mid back, and right arm burned and seared with pain. It also hurt in my joints, as if fire ants were inside my elbows and wrists. It took much effort just to go to school and sit through classes.
The neurosurgeon then sent me to the neurologist to do Nerve Conduction studies. The study showed that my nerves were not damaged. With this information, the orthopedic surgeon decided my herniated discs were not responsible for my pain.
I received a thoracic nerve ablation (T9, T10, T11). When I awoke, my left arm, ribs, face, and neck were stiff and burning with pain. I asked the Dr if this was common and he said no. I searched the internet and it seems he was right. It was not a known side effect.
I stopped going to class because I could not sit in a chair. The pain from sitting was too unbearable. I started having difficulty concentrating due to the pain. I was prescribed Neurontin, and it helped a bit.
I had sex, which at this point haven’t done in a while. The next day, the pain in my entire body was terrible. Not just my back, everywhere. In all the joints, everywhere. My pain was now at the point it was before I took the medication. Medications were added and doses upped. I went to Pennsylvania. Because of all the sitting in the plane, the pain again got worse and my meds were upped again. I was prescribed water physical therapy (the gentlest kind) and I could not even handle that. Any activity AT ALL worsens my symptoms. I was taking a class this summer but had to drop it because I cannot sit in the chairs in class.
My amitriptyline was increased to 50 mg on September 4th. That night, I was in a rollover car accident. The pain from that day increased exponentially. My entire body now pulses. Pulsing pain that is in my legs, arms, back, neck, and to the top of my head. The top of my head experiences this tingling sensation.
I'm now on 600 mg Lyrica, 3200 mg Neurontin, Amitriptyline, Klonopin, Opioids, and about 2 more muscle relaxers just to control my horrible, horrible nerve pain. I have OCD, anger, rage, irritability.... but all these psychiatric symptoms I've had for a long time. My Dad has them too, but maybe I just inherited them.
I don't know what to do. The pain is so bad suicide is on my mind all the time. I need to find the culprit and fast.
darn, 345lbs, I can lift 30lbs on a good day. Well, having sex can worsen the pain becuaes there's a testosterone decrease and prolactin increase. Prolactin in excess can increase neuropathic symptoms. Also, stressful events and anxiety can fluctuate the pain, suppressing the immune response, creating a more welcoming environment for the infections to flourish. Your immune system will then over compensate and you'll have a host of other weird annoying symptoms.
I TOO can not do much with this pain but na-rALA supplement worked pretty well. Always get the stabilized R-alpha lipoic acid not just ALA. It's more easily absorbed and works well for neuropathy. Boswellia is also really awesome for nerve pain and is POTENT but works for a short amount of time. A lot of the drugs you're taking have a added side effects of worsening neuropathic pain when they are secreted out of your system.