<p>Op,
Your interventional radiologist said to see a neurologist, and I, also an MD, also says to see a neurologist to get an MRI with gadolinium of your spine. What is so hard to understand?
Once you know what and where the problem is, then you can figure out where to get treatment. Most of the time with spinal and vertebral issues, treatment can be medical: physical therapy or as others said, chiropractor, acupuncture, massages, or it can be surigical. Most MDs would recommend surgery as a last resort because of it’s variability for success. Since a neurologist is not a surgeon, neurologists are also usually not excited about surgery either.
Back or spine surgery often has variable success for relieving back pain. However, It might be very successful for relieving numbness and tingling from nerve compression. </p>
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<p>Interesting thought, but I’ll admit to being concerned about continual use for any length of time without more info on exactly what is causing things.</p>
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<p>This will never be a problem. It’s taking things that I have to convince myself to do - for all the side effect and internal mental reasons (see previous post).</p>
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<p>Yuck. If this were to be the case, it sort of makes suck up and deal with it attractive - without all the checking it out part.</p>
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<p>I’m not actually opposed to much. I’m clueless about a lot, but working on the learning curve. I do prefer understanding the “why” part of all of it far more than the “just do it” part of it.</p>
<p>Certainly, it would be poor advice to tell you to “just do” some kind of therapy without finding out what is causing the problem. YohoYoho is advocating that you take concrete steps precisely to understand the “why.” When you know what it is and what the prognonsis is, you can decide what, if anything, to do about it. But until you get that diagnosis, you are basically clueless. </p>
<p>I have waited and not consulted a doctor because a) I didn’t have adequate health insurance. ($15K deductible per person), and b) I am also the kind of person who does not run to the doctor for everything. Some of those issues eventually resolved. Others did not, and progressed to a serious state. If I were experiencing what you describe, I would see a neurologist. The likelihood is that it will take you some time to get an appointment. If it magically goes away, you can cancel, right?</p>
<p>Since you’ve gotten the neurologist referral, Id book the appt.
It likely will take several months to get in, and longer than that to prescribe tests and read the results.
While you are waiting you can try other remedies.</p>
<p>Ok… so the consensus (and reasoning) says that a neurologist appt should be the next step.</p>
<p>It’s Saturday… I have until Monday to look at the referrals and figure out who - or it might be just as good to pull out the boy’s dartboard and put names on it.</p>
<p>Then next week there is bound to be at least one day when my body will overcome the deep insides of the brain.</p>
<p>It helps having a little more confidence that what I’m feeling isn’t just stress or a mirage (or whatever the correct word should be).</p>
<p>IMHO, as we age, we need to take our bodies’ symptoms seriously. That doesn’t mean we go running to the doctor for every little thing, but it means we need to recognize when something in our body is out of the ordinary and doesn’t dissipate quickly.</p>
<p>Op,
Lastly, I would recommend a female neurologist. I personally prefer woman physicians for myself. And given the style of your posts, you would do better with a female neurologist as well. If your IR MD’s referrals include only men, then look on your insurance’s website and pick a woman neurologist from the website.</p>
<p>See the neurologist. Then go home and google what he says (we know you will anyway!) and come talk to us again. Don’t be afraid to get a second opinion. It could be the first neurologist will immediately know what is going on and what to do, it could be he won’t. It could be the course of action he suggests seems too drastic to you (i.e. surgery). Either way getting a second opinion and knowing more about what is going on will help you understand what to do. The stuff you are dealing with now sounds awful and you should get to the bottom of it. </p>
<p>I like Lergnom’s story about working hard to overcome a condition. Get some more information and don’t be afraid to take your journey in a new direction. </p>
<p>Both MD’s I’ve had recommended to me are male. It never occurred to me to consider others and I’m not sure for this that I care about gender.</p>
<p>We don’t do insurance. We’re part of one of the Health Share groups so any doctor (real MD) anywhere is fine. They’ve “covered” the brain tumor in full with no fuss. I doubt there will be any fuss about this either.</p>
<p>I guess I could google other options and see who is out there reasonably close by.</p>
<p>"…coupled with a PCP who hasn’t seemed concerned about it"</p>
<p>My dear Mr B could be dead if he had listened to his PCP who was not concerned about Mr B’s stomach ache!!! Thank goodness MrB’s appendix had not ruptured by the time I took him to the ER. </p>
<p>Bottom line: you have a great insurance coverage. It does not hurt to check it out with a neurologist. Sweeping a problem under the proverbial rug is not going to make it go away. I tried to tough it out with my back pain for a few weeks, but then saw a pain specialist MD who gave me a corticosteroid pack as the first line to keep the inflammation down. I really did not need any shots or any other stuff, and the treatment was fast and efficient.</p>
<p>Not to scare you or anything… The world lost Steve Jobs because he was trying to avoid western medicine to treat his (apparently treatable) pancreatic tumor. By the time he finally resorted to it, it was too late. </p>
<p>OP,</p>
<p>I also have some odd things going on: Numbness in head if I lean my head back or my neck is put in an odd position from a car/chair backrest. Possibly you should ask for a positional MRI. (where they do the MRI when you are in the position that causes the symptoms - there are chair MRI machines available. My cause is unknown, but neuro suggested taking ONE 300 mg tylanol 3 times in a 24 hour period to stay ahead of the inflammation. It seems to help. A bag of frozen corn for a few minutes on the back of the neck also works wonders.</p>
<p>Get your blood tested for inflammation so you can feel confidents about taking an anti inflammatory drug. I think this is called a “sed rate”. </p>
<p>I also have C5-7 disc issues where my nerves can get agitated and I feel it acting up in my thumb, index and middle finger. (I have previously had a pinched nerve and surgery for this) I still have trouble lifting anything with my left arm. (I an now manage a quart of milk, but with the kids home from college they are buying gallons and I have trouble lifting that)</p>
<p>I am a Mayo patient and they did a genetic test to determine how my body metabolizes certain drug substrates. (I think this is in a research area called Pharmogenomics. (Google Cytochrome 450) My personal issue is with CYP2D6 drugs and I can only tolerate 1/4 dose of these drugs. (2 years later I am still having issues from my surgery drugs) If I recall there are some other CYP’s relating to chemo drugs. Maybe you are a poor metabolizer of these drugs? </p>
<p>I also have permanent nerve damage from taking a statin drug. ( I never made the connection between statin drug and the shoulder/neck pain for the 18 months I took it) You could ask your neuro to do a nerve conduction test (not fun) to run a baseline for nerve activity in your arms or legs.</p>
<p>Every night in bed my hip area gets numb feeling and I wake up with my little toe and the one next to it feeling numb and a they are starting to curl under from this nightly experience. This only happens when I am laying down or sitting for too long.</p>
<p>And I cannot ride in my husbands fancy sports car or there is some sort of a chain reaction that occurs from sitting in the car seat. I get pain that radiates up my spine hrough my neck resulting in horrible pressure behind my left eye (where an aneurysm has taken up residence) </p>
<p>Finally - it kinds of sounds like your neck and base of head could benefit from some stretching and strengthening exercises. Here are two of my favs. 1) “Nod” yes 10 times looking straight ahead and then 10 times to the right and left. 2) with good posture, hold the side of your finger vertical from the tip of your nose to your chin. Now leave your hand in place and move your head and neck straight back (as a single unit in a vertically upright position) and hold the stretch for the count of 5-10 and repeat a few times a day. </p>
<p>I agree with the YoHoYoHo, you should see a neurologist that you feel comfortable with. </p>
<p>I know how frustrating this can be and I am sorry you are having these issues. </p>
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<p>Op,
I don’t mean to be offensive but given your posts, again, I STRONGLY recommend a female neurologist. Really, they will more likely listen to your long details that you enjoy providing, your indecisions, your multiple options for treatment, and will provide more compassion and sympathy and validation that your are clearly searching for.</p>
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<p>Clearly something is not coming across in print. This thread can be deleted now if a moderator is reading.</p>
<p>Creekland - I believe you. Try my stretches and keep looking for answers. I know in my heart that the solution is somewhere out there…</p>
<p>Creekland, I don’t think that was meant as an insult. Some people are more able and willing to be verbal about their observations and symptoms than others. Some are more perceptive than others. I think that is an advantage. I think that it is good to participate in your care. I can’t stand doctors who don’t want to talk to me like an intelligent adult and just want to pronounce from on high. I want to discuss treatment options with my doctor, and I want them to pay attention to me, personally, not classify me with some standard case. (Believe me, as a T2 diabetic with unusually good control due to diet, this is key. Many of the treatments and recommendations for T2s are based on people with an HBA1C well over 7, while I keep mine between 5.1 and 5.6.) Which is one of the reasons I <em>always</em> choose a female if possible.</p>
<p>Many male doctors are great. But almost all of the obnoxious ones I’ve encountered have been male.</p>
<p>Consolidation explains this so much more eloquently that I can!! :). I always choose women MDs whenever I can, too.
Also great job On keeping your HbA1c below 6!!!</p>
<p>Interesting perspective.
I preferred female pediatricians and ob/gyn, but never thought to consider primarily female docs for other things.
Even in my city, there really isnt that much choice. I just want a Dr that is willing to investigate the cause of the symptoms, and that seems to be an issue regardless of gender.</p>
<p>Oops, I meant HgbA1c</p>
<p>On Saturday I was probably preconditioned to not read anything correctly. In my “other life” (not school) we raise English show ponies. I had a mare due July 8th and either due to old age or side effects, it totally slipped my mind that July 8th means the youngster could come in late June and be within range. It slipped my mind even though we’ve been raising ponies for 17 years… and even though another foal we had earlier this year came 12 days early (vs this one at 10). Nature saw to it that the colt made it here just fine, but we weren’t there for “med care” as we like to be, so if bacteria slipped in, it will be my fault… Considering ponies have been born and survived for millenia without human intervention, all will likely be fine (time will tell), but on Saturday I was already not in a good mood due to “health issues” messing up life. It’s not the first stupid slip of mind from this all, but it could be the most costly.</p>
<p>Then couple it with the fact that, if I’ve been told anything about details, it’s always been that I’m not giving enough info - from male doctors. I took a bit of time and tried correcting that for this thread. There’s more on here than even close IRL friends know. And in hindsight, putting it on a thread I can’t delete is probably NOT a good idea - “anonymous” board or not.</p>
<p>Plus, granted I don’t have a lot of experience, but the only medical experiences I haven’t cared for have been with a female PA - who took it as her job to berate anyone not getting medical care up to her standards. I do “get” that in the same way I have to remind Johnny that homework really is important to have completed, but style/tact/whatever… hers chose us to find a different PCP (and we’re not the only ones).</p>
<p>So… conclusions?</p>
<p>1) Never start a thread with info you aren’t sure about sharing on a site where you can’t delete it.</p>
<p>2) Love the ibuprofen suggestions.</p>
<p>3) Some of us probably aren’t cut out to deal with medical stuff in the same way that some aren’t cut out for college or other aspects of life. I’m still finding myself wishing I’d never called to figure out why part of my vision was “off.” This last year (not even a year - Sept will be a year to that first eye appt) has been a mental whirlwind.</p>
<p>So… for now… I’m in the “Quit b____ing about it, and deal with it” camp - albeit with more use of ibuprofen than ever before (not continual though).</p>
<p>But if my brain opts to keep the memories going, I’ll know who to look for when/if I feel differently.</p>
<p>And now out to do critter chores. He is a cute little guy… nice mover… should do very well showing as long as he makes it that far.</p>