New here... Hello Everyone !!!

[eric]

Hi,

My name is Eric, 38 year old male, and through same reasons as you all have come here, I have unfortuntaely made it here as well.

Seems according to my recent MRI I have 3 herniated discs in my cervical spine.

They are c2-3, c3-4, and c4-5

So there... : )

I guess with time there will be many prayers, questions, and unfortunately possibly many stressful, painful and sleepless nights in store for me...

Question is, which is better and safer, dealing with my body originals and see what happens with what my Parents and God did, or the invasive surgery multilevel Artificial Disc route which is still somewhat new technology (can still fail) and for the most part still is in trials at least here in USA ?

[mmglobal]

Eric, Welcome!

I hope that you have minor problems and you won't need surgery. The answers you seek (and questions you need to ask) are different for each case. I know many successes and failures for all types of spine surgeries... they all work for some and not for others.

What are your symptoms?

Mark

[dshobbies]

Hi Eric and welcome,

I'm sorry you have just entered a very convoluted world. 20/20 is hindsight and sometimes we don't know if we've made the right decision until we've realized an outcome. The best thing you can do for yourself is find a good doctor who is well versed is the various types of remedies available, ADR being only one of them. Together you can try non-invasive physical therapy and progress from there if necessary. Then get yourself a new education. Ask questions and investigate for yourself so if the time comes for a more invasive procedure, you won't have to second guess your decision, which I'm afraid you'll probably do anyway.

I wish you good luck, Dale

[eric]

Thank you dearly for the welcome...

I will soon post all my symptoms as I make a list of em.

And will surely openly share all my experiences as you all have.

Good to find a place for others like me where hopefully I can truly feel at home and among friends.

It truly brings some warmth to my heart and mind especially after all my pain, a genuine lack of care & understanding from others who are close to me, all my negative & very depressive thoughts as well as many sleepless nights in the last few months.

Thanks again !!!

: )

[eric]

at first when it started about 3 months ago,
i woke up in pain all over but my legs, and was like all frozen,
was basically all locked up and in pain,
could not turn my neck,
the had severe headaches and bad reactions in the heat, would womit and feel weak,
cool dark rooms and rest helped,
but unfortunately i still went to work through all this instead of resting home,
vision a tab blurred and very restless and uspet to say the least,
sharp and dull pains on rear of neck,
pins / needles in my hands,
right hand would fall asleep at night,
lots of crackling poping sounds in back of my neck/head,
and i myself simply could not sleep...


had some accupuncture, lots of ice on my head and rear of neck, chiropractic care (trigger point) and pills nsaids ibuprofen and aleeve as well as muscle relaxers and xanax to help sleep,

now down to...

have some quick light spontanious head pains on certain sides of the head when i turn my head a certain way, pressure on the rear of my head, some pains on the very rear edge of the scalp area, light ringing in the ears, light crackling sounds in rear of neck area, light upper shoulder pain, cant sleep nights, and light occasional gentle numbness in my hands when i hold the hands up too long.

it looks like the worst of it is all slowly improving, but... ?????

so far went to two local neurologists, one said for me to continue with the therapy and the other is seding me to a neuro-surgeon at jefferson university in philly, pa.