Degenerative Disc and Fibro?

[supermom3]

Hi! Does anyone know if a degenerative disc could cause hip pain? Could this disc problem also cause Fibromyalgia?

I have been to more specialists in the past 5-6 years than I care to mention - long story short, I have a degenerative disc in my lurabar spine - injections of cortisone only provide relief for a few weeks at most. Now I've been diagnosed with Fibromyalgia - I've been on the medication called Gabapentin for a couple of months - it's helped a lot but there are days when my low back is so tight and my hips hurt most of the time - (actually, I believe it's the muscle tissues around my hips) - I've been told to do pool walking, but it's a matter of finding the time to do it -

thanks!
Bonnie

 

[Baybreeze]

Hello,

I can tell you that I have pain in both hips, groin, and across my entire pelvic girdle. (It started out in my hip areas) Lately I also started getting sharp pains in my left front thigh. I know that all this pain is caused by a disc herniation and some stenosis at L1/L2. I also had a few bilateral ESI's done recently and afterwarRAB I had almost no pain, also taking my usual meRAB. The ESI's only last about 2 weeks for me, though, but in the short time they last, they sure help me a LOT. After my first one at this level, I actually went almost 2 weeks and was suddenly attacked by terrible nerve pains again, so much more awful than they were before, but I think I might have overdid things from feeling so good. My second round wore off more slowly plus I was VERY careful not to overdo anything and I also tried not to straigthen out either.

At what level is your disc issue? Is it herniated at all? Or do you have any stenosis?

I do not think DDD can cause fibro, but of course I'm not a doctor. Besides issues in my low back, I also have cervical spine problems (which were confirmed via MRI's recently). Going back a few yrs, I was seeing a rheumatologist. He knew about all my lower spine problems, (Spinal OA, stenosis, disc herniations, etc.) and even suspected AS. It all started in my low back, but over a few yrs, it went up my spine. I had such terrible bouts of pain in my neck & shoulders with spasms that literally warped my face & hanRAB and felt as if someone was wringing my neck. That Rheum insinuated it was Fibro (well, actually I know he diagnosed me w/ fibro after seeing some of my medical reports). He gave me 10-12 injections of lidocaine into my severely spasming muscles constantly. It did nothing but make my spasms even worse. (Mind you, insurance was being billed about $350 per each injection). He prescribed me Lyrica, which did nothing for it, except it seemed to calm some of my nerve pains at the time (though not for long). Now I have confirmed it was due to stenosis in my cervical spine also, along with a massive herniation that's impinging my spinal cord. All that pain I had where he pressed around on my upper back was from spasms, not fibro. Any time I take steroiRAB, whether orally or via ESI's, it eradicates the arthritis pain I have and also helps my nerve pains a LOT. I don't even have spasms while the steroiRAB are in effect.

I don't know what exactly has been diagnosed in your spine, but just stating that it IS possible for compressed nerves in the spine to refer pain to the hips. Of course it could also be a hip issue or something else.

 

[tetonteri66]

If you like doing a bit of research, search for a dermatome map. It will indicate which spinal nerves innervate which areas of the body. You will see that it is almost like a road map that provides the physician with a level to start investigating if the patient complains of a nurab big toe, or a tingling in the little finger, for example.

I've known several people who thought they had bursitis of the hip and even had corisone injections for bursitis, only to find out that the disc between L4 and L5 had herniated.

The L5-S1 spinal nerve when compressed can radiate pain down through the groin area, the buttock, down the leg and into the outer edge of the foot. You can also develop pain in the piriformis muscle, which attaches over by the hip, stretches across the buttock over to the sacral area. When it is inflamed or irritated, it can put pressure on the sciatic nerve, which runs beneath it in most people, and right through it in a small percentage of people. This could be another source of hip pain.

 

[Baybreeze]

I guess it also depenRAB on where in your hip you're feeling the pain. I have it in what feels the front as well as the sides. If you imagine one's torso being chopped off at hip level (like where the tops of ones legs meet the torso), my pain radiates all through there inside. All across the hips and entire pelvic girdle. I also get sharp pain here & there that runs down the front of my left thigh down to my knee. I found mine was coming from L1/L2. Well, actually I do have a little arthritis in my actual hips, the pain I've been feeling is from my spine. I've even had some jolts of pain in my left hip area (in the front where it feels like the hip socket is) that I thought I might have had bone rubbing on bone. Sometimes I would take a step and get a sudden shock of intense pain inside there. It really felt like the hip joint, but it turned out to be nerve pain from my spine.