Hi everyone.... Advise needed.

[icemaiden]

Some of you know that recently that I suffer from trapped nerves in my neck. Would take co-dydramol and the. Pain would ease up before going away after a few days. Had X-ray of neck. Showed "wear and tear".

On Saturday morning, woke up in excrutiating pain. Left shoulder and left arm both painful. Shooting pains and painful intense dull ache.
Went to walk in centre, was given tramadol. Went home, Sunday still very painful. Went back to walk in, was given Naproxen as well.
Went to my gp, was given dehydrocodine to take as well as the naproxen.
Now today I am still in a lot of pain. Very different to what I have had before. I have made an appointment to see an osteopath on Friday, desperate measures.
I feel I need to know what's causing this pain. Could I request an urgent MRI scan from my gp? Painkillers are just masking the problem and I only have enough until Friday then I just know its going to get bad again.
And being the weekend I don't fancy sitting in the walk in centre for two hours again.
Any advice much appreciated.

[dotty.]

i know what causes mine, it's the repeated impact injuries from falling off my horse in my teans.

[icemaiden]

Ouch Dotty! Had few falls in my time too.
Docs are baffled by what has caused this. They asked if I had had an injury or if I had lifted something heavy, but I haven't done neither. I have a memory foam pillow that I bought hoping it would help but it clearly hasn't.

[KJN]

Requesting an MRI scan from your doctor sounds the move I would make. Good Luck.

[Sqad]

Well, the X-Ray has shown a degree of spondylosis (wear and tear) and may be due to the situation of past injury indicated by dotty.

However your symptoms suggest a herniation of the nerve roots emerging from the neck and this can only be confirmed by an MRI scan.

An urgent MRI scan is in my opinion only provided in the case of a life threatening disorder and I appreciate that you are having severe problems, but it would be stretching the imagination to describe them as "life threatening."

You should see your GP and get a referral to an Orthopaedic surgeon, but in the meantime persevere with the naproxen and dihydrocodeine.

[icemaiden]

Thanks kjn and sqad.
My doctor will only put me on the dihydrocodine for 5 days. I will make an app in the morning to see him again and will ask about an MRI.
I'm really hoping the osteopath can relieve me of some of this pain.

[cupid04]

I wish you well soon icemaiden.xx

[mazie]

Hope you get it sorted icemaiden x

[Mosaic]

Can you ask your doc to refer you to a sports physio? They seems to be very good at advising management of these kind of MSK problems.
In addition, the old bag o' frozen peas applied to the hurty bits helps.
I did my left shoulder lifting heavy stuff last week - sounds similar to your but nowhere near as sever - I took ibuprofen 500mg (very sqaddie) and gave it time, hot baths and cold compresses. It's easing now, so if you can hang on yours might ease up after a few more days.

[icemaiden]

Thanks Cupid and Mazie. Kind of you both.

Hi mosaic, my gp did offer me physio but to be honest it never really helped in the past. One of my friends uses a sports physio though and she says he is brilliant. Certainly something I will consider if the osteopath doesn't help.

I'm glad your shoulder is feeling better mosaic. :0)

[Baldric]

My OH had similar problems a while back and was prescribed a course of acupuncture which worked wonders for her.

[Mosaic]

How's the pain doing Icemaiden?

[icemaiden]

Hi mosaic.
Been to osteopath this morning. He located the problem is a neck vertebrae. The pain has decreased but is still there. I came off the painkillers on Thursday as they were making me feel very sick. I'm now just on tramadol as I know I'm ok on them. They do take the edge off it. I hope to be back at work Monday. No mucking out horses though but can do my office accounts. I did go back to gp and ask about the MRI, he has reffered me to some skeletal dept who will asses me and decide if I need one. If they don't offer one, I will pay for one myself. Ended up doing that a few years back with my spinal fusion. It's the only way to see what's going on.

Thanks for asking. X

[Spoonboy]

Yes, an MRI scan is the next route to take which will enable your doctor to determine what course of treatment he can recommend next. I just recently had a scan and am off soon for another root block injection in my spine to see if it can ease the sciatica and femoral nerve pain which is debilitating me at this time. I hope all goes well for you.