my neck, my head..

[Maria]

I'm wondering which is coming first.. the neck pain or the head pain/migraine as I just popped my 3rd Fioricet in the last 2 hours. I need some relief!

Cleaning out my parents estate has been overwhelming work for and I've had very little back pain related to it although did have some stiffness and pain for a day or two (out of nearly two months) however my neck is another story.

I seem to be unable to be lie down in a position that isn't "perfect" for my neck w/o somehow screwing it up re muscle spasms or like today I moved (not lifted) but moved one of those older TVs that weighs too much for me to lift but I could shove it around a bit. Wrong!!!! I can't tell if it was that or some of the other things I did in order to show my parents condo today that crapped out my neck but it's been in a flare up for the last week and I finally had gotten it under control or so I thought and BAM.. back to square one!

When I get back home to CA I'm going to see somebody as I want an updated MRI on my neck (last one I was told the bulge at C5/6 was small so I wasn't a surgical candidate). Maybe I'm still not but I can't seem to do anything involving my arms raised to a certain level without illiciting muscle spasms or pain in my neck....

Ok just venting as I'm wide awake after my 3 Fioricet and need to hit the sack with horseshoe pillow. Tomorrow will likely be a wasted day re lack of sleep and neck/head "stuff." Can't wait to get home (almost 2 weeks) and have my own everything at my fingertips again including everything I use to treat my neck for when I have big flare ups. If this keeps up I definately have to get an injection of Toradol..

[dshobbies]

Maria,

First and foremost, let me say how sorry I am for your circumstances. Losing a parent, however expected, is losing a connection to your own self. This is how the world (is supposed to) works but it doesn’t mean it’s an easy process.

As a result, your body and mind are tense and on edge. Your body cares little that you must do what you must do and is fighting back. Your spine, your neck, they are your weakest and are easy targets for all the tension you feel. Instead of being able to relax, you’re pushing decades old and heavy TVs and much more. Under everyday circumstances, this is bad enough but add to that the strain you’re under and no wonder everything is acting up. I’ll go another step and tell you this was predictable but you already knew that.

You need someone to share your pain with and I’m right here, listening with all my heart and hoping that upon your return home, to your own bedroom, bathroom and kitchen, you will be able to relax, take a deep breath and get on with the process of healing. Until then, know my thoughts are with you.

Dale

[Maria]

Dale,
I appreciate the thoughtful reply. It's been very hard to do this alone and I've been amazed that I have done so without much of a problem esp. for my back. My neck however seems to be much more intolerant of the level of activity I've kept up on steady basis. In fact as an example from August of 2010 to late Dec.2010 I used Fioricet maybe 3 times for h/a and/or neck pain. I have used nearly the whole bottle since being here and had frequent migraines and quite a bit of neck pain.

The use of my arms as I stated lifting them above my head as in exercise or labor seems to flare me up easily and many other things like not sleeping on my own mattress, lying down and watching TV w/o my horseshoe pillow and whatever else.

What is really amazing to me is that as predictable as I might have thought low back pain would be with all this activity I've really suffered or experienced very little of that. The neck is the thing that has taken the brunt of the force I guess. Must be my weakest link right now.

Last night it was so painful and the Fioricet now give me a stomach ache (when taking 3 which seems to be the amount to get rid of the bad migraines/neck pain or at least lessen it enough to a tolerable level).

I think I even have a buyer for the condo lined up! Whoohoo! To get this settled before I leave would be great. Stressful but great! There's no place like home when it comes to relaxing with all one's pharmaceuticals and props!

[cherylstewart67]

I too have head aches and neck pain. I know though for a fact that it's my neck causing the head aches. I already have a 3 level fusion, but it has placed stress/pressure on the levels above and below. The above level would be the c 2/3 and the below would be the c 6/7. I can feel the stress at the base of my scull! From time-to-time it causes pain so sever that I have to tune out all light and noise and lay down. I took two Aleve and a Demerol and it took over two hours for it to start to subside. I too have the stress of the weight of caring for my parents on top on all of this. My mother is close to having a stroke and my father who is on disability from heart by-pass, GI-by pass and is diabetic has recently had a back injury and hit his head after slipping on the ice here in Oklahoma City. I just pray and give it to God, because I can hardly take care of this myself. Anyway, back to me...I have tried physical therapy, chiropratic, and massage, and pills till I can't take the pills anymore. But when the pain gets really bad, I pop one. I try to keep from taking them until I need them, but my doctor wants for me to take then daily regardless. It's is easier to control pain before it gets bad. I know that is true and I know that I should do the same thing. But my fear is that if I take the strong stuff they want to put me on now, I won't have anything to go to once that stops working. So I stretch a lot and do my strenght building 3-4 times a week. I also enojy red wine, 5-6 oz 3-4 evenings weekly and 1-2 martinis weekly. I only allow myself 1-2 per night. You have to protect your liver. (wink) I watch a lot of comedy TV, I think funny shows helps me escape for a while. I was really sad when Fox took "The Good Guys" off...The headaches are more and more now. My atlas is totally off wack. I even have facial pain now. Please feel welcomed to contact me or ask any questions...

[Maria]

Thank you for your reply as well. I'm sorry to hear you have that much to deal with re family as that can be quite stressful (as I well know). My Mom passed away in '03 w/massive stroke and she was 83 and still active although at a slower pace. It was kind of a shock but I was glad she didn't suffer. Last year I had to got my father into an Assisted Living Facility here in Fla that was still fairly close to his condo as he wanted to keep it. He was well taken care of there and even though he had just turned 89 he was doing well when he caught pneumonia and had Congestive Heart Failure and was hospitalized and died 6 days later.

I was left with the job of clearing out the condo and taking care of everything essentially and it's been tough but mostly it seems on my neck and probably my emotions hence the headaches/neck pain.

I do take a daily pain medication. Low dose and same that I started on 10 years ago however it keeps me quite functional. Works well for my low back but does squat for my neck. Migraines and neck pain seem to have mulit causation as far as I can tell. Some things are definate predictable triggers for both. I just despise the near complete halt my life comes to with pain from this though! Am used to it tho don't have to like it!

I was told about 12 years ago that I had inherited a "crappy spine" meaning I have DDD thru- out my spine and a bunch of "stuff" going on. In the cervical area I have DDD at about 3 levels and osteophytes and one disc bulge that I was told about several years back. It seems to get aggravated easily enough just like my low back used to. Of course I've been doing plenty here to aggravate it! If I were a candidate for ADR in my cervical spine I think I'd opt to do that. Fusion if that were necessary.. though I'm a fusion phobe pretty much.

An occasional bit of red wine seems to be nice though I find that I get h/a's from drinking if more than one drink or perhaps crappy quality alchohol. My stomach doesn't tolerate much anyway and I have intersticial cystitis so not even supposed to drink at all (but then again nor am I supposed to eat or drink a good many foods). Sometimes tho ya gotta do what ya gotta do and just enjoy, relax (and maybe pay for it later)!

Anyway that's sort of my story for now or part of it as it's way too long and boring. I'm almost done here and ready to return back to CA and take a break when I get back. Can't wait to sleep in my own bed again as it's a really good one for my spine! A good shot of Toradol 60 mg IM really helps my neck and low back out with an acute bout of muscle spasms altho I try to reserve that for when I absolutely feel I have to go there. Which might happen before or after I travel shortly!

[mmglobal]

can you see coufal, or is he off limits? Perhaps you can get the MRI ordered before your first meeting?

[jsewell]

Maria i am sorry you are going through this thing called life that some spines do not like to participate in. Mine being one of those as well. I hope you can get that shot of toradol soon.

[Maria]

Mark,
I've got BCBS PPO as primary insurance and Medicare as secondary for medical so can see anyone that takes that. Possibly I can get an MRI ordered by my PCP though not sure. She likes to refer out re specialties and some diagnostics that she's not going to interpret/deal with.

[Maria]

Yep~ so true!