Any rheumatologists / physio / ostepaths on here?

gcwebbyuk

I am currently waiting.......

....for a diagnosis of my neck and shoulder troubles via the NHS.

Have had various physio over the past couple of years due to neck pains / nerve pinches, but no one has ever got to the bottom of it.

Was on Diazepam and co-codamol over xmas/new year to try and bring down a severe muscle spasm in my neck that forced my neck to one side.

I have also been advised a Home Traction kit, to try and help the discs regain their composure as they appear squashed:



Had an xray a couple of weeks ago, and am waiting for my appointment with a rhuematologist in Feb - but the wait is killing be, along with the pain!

I managed to get a copy of my xrays from my NHS physio - who is very unkeen to do too much until the rheumatologist has seen me.

Its driving me mad - I have had to sell my motorbike as riding it would be unsafe, and havent actually used my MTB in over a month.

I am only just 30 and feel like a proper old man at the mo

Here are the xrays:




Anyone have any ideas?

Surf-Matt

Is it you that has also hurt your knee?!

That sounds bad. Sounds like you need to see a really good physio ASAP.
I'd put aside a bit of money to get it sorted properly.

gcwebbyuk

Nah my knees are ok - touch wood!

I spent £450 ish earlier in the year for a course of physio - all ok - 2 days later - twisted to talk to wife on the sofa and back on the floor again - that was the time I was given Diazepam (valium) and Co-codamol.

I am dealing with the pain - I have been dealing with it for a long time now, so I kinda blank it out a little (am ard as nails honest!) its just the uncomforablness(?word) and the unknown as to what has caused / causing it.

Surf-Matt

A millions miles from being an expert but spent my entire life training hard in one form or another.

To me, pain killers are really not good - just covering up the pain and allowing your body to do stuff it shouldn't.

You need to get to the root of the problem - something is out of place, imbalanced and not right be it a crushed nerve, curved spine or similar. I have a friend who is a brilliant sports biased physio - she's sorted me out several times (with physio ONLY... ). There MUST be a solution somewhere?

Oh and it's Blitz with the bad knee - sorry!

gcwebbyuk

Yeah I agree with the pain killers - doc and NHS physio want me to keep taking Ibuprofen to keep down any swelling etc and help with the pain somewhat.

Been taking them for nearly 3 weeks now and not enjoying the fact that bung me up good and proper!

I have quite limited movement of my neck in both twisting and leaving movements - especially on one side, and my shoulder blade feels quite iffy in some positions too.

Am just hoping that the NHS rheumatologist will get to the bottom of it quickly!

chippy436

Hi Mate, Sorry to hear your having problems.

Have they said it could be arthritis? hence you need to see a rheumatologist.

Have they also taken any blood for testing for arthritis or scanned you?

The neck is not normally affected with RA on its own, do you have any other joints which are swollen, red and painfull.

I first got arthritis about 6 years ago when i was 32 and spent over a year completly unable to do anything for myself, couldn't even lift the top off a toothpaste tube.

If you do take pain killers such as ibuprofen make sure you take it with food so to line your stomach, a good tablet such as omeprazole will also help against any side affects from ibuprofen or other painkillers.

If you need any help or questions with arthritis drop me an email and i'll help if i can,

Good luck and hope your back to biking as quick as possible,

regards

Paul

gcwebbyuk

Thanks chippy.

The only joints I have issue with are my neck and shoulders - they did the usual and blamed it on posture, but that wouldnt but as much wear on them as is currently showing - but I agree bad posture won't help.

RA was also suggested - and yeah an MRI scan will be done in due course. They did the xray first due to cost - xray £50 / MRI £700 - so they wanted to rule out any bone problems before going down the MRI route.

Will mention the imeprazole to my GP - is it a prescription only drug?

chippy436

I've always had omeprazole on a prescription with my other 8 types of drugs :-(

One thing if you need to take lots of medication and the cost of the prescriptions are high, is to get a pre-payed prescription certificate, it costs for the whole year £102 in england or £48 in scotland. (why the difference i have no idea, but it hacks me off).

http://www.nhsbsa.nhs.uk/1127.aspx

I was spending £33 each month to start with until my chemist told me about it and you can back date it to cover previous costs and the chemist gives you your money back :-)

regards

Paul

gcwebbyuk

Nice one - am asthmatic too - so have to pay a fair amount on that too!

gcwebbyuk

Resuts back from doc this morning regarding the xrays - "osteo-arthritis in the bottom 3 spaces of the neck"

Any advice you can offer chippy with regard to arthritis until I get to see the rheumatologist?

Surf-Matt

Oh cr4p - that's pretty bad news.

I'm afraid I have no idea what can be done but I do hope it's sortable.

chippy436

s**t thats not good... if they're right.

first thing is to understand the problem, there are a few sites on the net such as http://www.arc.org.uk and http://www.arthritiscare.org.uk/Home which are very good.

Osteo arthritis is explained in the following link:

http://www.arc.org.uk/arthinfo/patpubs/6025/6025.asp

Second, did you have a blood test?

Might also be worth going for a 2nd opion, if you've only had xrays done and they've said you have Osteo-arthritis.... sounds too quick a diagnosis.

Osteo-arthritis is not common to men and normally affects women from 40 upwards, especially during the menopaus. (i'm not saying your a girl though).

Has your rheumatologist put you on any medication?

If not for the moment, best not take anything other than that what you are currently on.
Paracetomol can help and does not harm the stomach.

Do you plan on having kids in the future?
Some arthritis medication can affect the sperm and is not advised to try and have children whilst on them.
I've had to come off my main drug "methodrexate" so we can have kiddies... 2 years later i'm still off them and no kids :-(

Have they said when you see the arthritis doc?

regards

Paul

gcwebbyuk

Thanks for the info chippy will have a read through it in a bit.

They didn't give me a blood test, but then I had one about 3/4 months ago to do with diagnosing my asthma - so it could be from that which has confirmed it.

I have seen Rheumatologist yet, that will be on the 9th feb, this is just Radiologist and doctors diagnosis of the issue. I had an osteopath look over the xrays before, and it was his first suggestion too cervical spondylosis - arthritis of the neck.

As for medication, doc said to continue with ibuprofen until i see the rheumatologist, who may then prescribe me something else.

As for kids, no - no plans for mini-mees - so all ok on that front!

Am kinda glad in a way they have diagnosed something - but hoped it would be a simple pinched nerve or something - arthritis sounds a bit more severe

Also I just checked my GPS software and its been 2 months since I rode my bike! Just hope it eases soon so I can get out on it

chippy436

with regards to your blood test, there are many tests they can make and i wouldn't have thought they tested your arthritis count.. not on the NHS unless they thought you had it.

the arthritis test can also be negative, its called zero negative arthritis... i had this at first until one day when i became really ill and my arthritis count went through the roof.

After spending over one year stuck in the house, i got back into cycling and running...

its amazing how great it feels after being ill and not able to do anything to actually get out and about, but i did too much too quick and my achilles went.

best thing is to stay happy and think that you'll soon be back on your bike.

Hope things go well and its not arthritis (theres over 200 types), keep me posted and i'll help where i can :-)

regards

Paul

gcwebbyuk

Thanks chippy

Reading that article on oa, it mentions there is no blood test for it, just x-rays, they may give a blood test to rule out other forms of arthritis thouhg.

Am sorry to hear you had it so bad! Mine only appears to be in my neck and shoulder, and just causes a large amount of pain (extreme when the bones touch the nerve) and restriction in moving my head around.

I was going to do a sponsered cycle ride this year to raise money for asthma - looks like it will be a joint raiser for asthma / arthritis now.

gcwebbyuk

Would wearing a rucksack make my neck more uncomfortable?

gcwebbyuk

I have my MRI test on Monday, and then meeting to dicuss the results in two weeks.

Bit nervous about the MRI as I can never keep still!

Glad my groin and arse sees to be on the mend after my crash, as I was gonna feel proper stupid limping into the hospital to have an MRI on my neck :oops:

The saga continues...