The Perfect Storm, Back Neck Issues And At The End Of My Rope

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desperatheart

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Hello all. I have been living with pain for about 12 years now and I am at the end of my rope in coping with this. I am so lost right now and am trying to muster up the courage to get back on my health issues. The doctors I have seen in the past made me feel like I was a hypochondriac and it was all in my head. I think I would give anything to have them hop in my body and walk in my shoes for a day.

Anyways something has to change, I can't even begin to explain how this affects my everyday life. In short I am not living at all, am withdrawn and pretty much feel like I am in prison without the stripes. I feel like I have so much to offer the world but I am trapped. I can't plan anything because I dont know how I am going to feel that day. Really I am a mess.

So I was hoping to do my best and explain some of the things I go through on a day to day basis in hopes that someone else might be able to give me some advice on either what to research further or some ideas on what might be causing all of this.

Let me start by saying I have always felt much of what is going on with me has to deal with my bone structure. Some days are better than others, and once in a blue moon I have a really good day where it seems my bones are alligned, I got good rest and feel ok. Although these days are very rare, it reminRAB me what it's like to feel somewhat normal, even if I am not 100%.

I am going to try an articulate this the best I can. I may bounce around a little but I find it very hard to focus on anything, so I will do my best.

I think most of my problems stem from muscular skeletal problems starting at my tailbone. I know I have a short leg, but I think it has progressed into my whole skeletal structure being messed up, all the way from my left foot up to my neck. The bone down by my tailbone on the right feels much more prominent, almost like a little ball compared to the other side. When standing and looking in the mirror, there is a dicernible difference in my hips. One is much higher than the other. I think this bone being out of whack has caused my whole spine to be out of whack all the way up to my neck and facial bones causing severe tmd.

Symptoms

1. Pain all over neck and back.
2. Can't sleep, never feel rested unless I get lucky and my bones get in the right position to rest my body.
3. Neck pain.
4. Swollen Face And Major Pressure in cheeks, facial pain.
5. Speech problems, can't pronounce my worRAB correctly.
6. Bowel Problems, sometimes I need to stand up a little in order go get it out.
7. Extreme fatigue. I am sure some of this has to do with my depression, but I also attribute it to never feeling rested except once in a blue moon.
8. Very anxious, heart racing for no reason at all.
9. Light sensitivity.
10. Itchy skin, especially in sun or any sort of heat flash.
11. Crawling in my skin, very anxious and can't keep my thoughts straight.

Things I Experience When I Am Having A Good Day:

1. I feel rested and somewhat normal. It's pot luck to get in the right position at night to make this happen and get genuine sleep. Sometimes its with one leg up on the wall or some other weird position.
2. I have a deeper voice.
3. My facial swelling subsides a little and I can pronounce my worRAB a litle better. And the pressure is not as great in my face.
4. I can actually feel a swallow in my throat more than on a bad day.
5. I get a good stretch in my lower back, I hear a loud click of a bone down there.
6. I get a good stretch in my left upper back, it seems like it is behind my rib cage. This is probably the most important element of me having a better day. If I happen to sleep ok and get this stretch in the morning, my days are 10X better.
7. When I take a deep breath I feel air going into my left lung. On bad days I usually only feel it on my right lung.
8. If I lay on the bed when I wake up with my head slighly hanging off, I sometimes can get a good stretch in the back of my neck and this can be an incredible feeling.

Other things to note.

Sometimes while sleeping I hear a very loud crack behind my left ear. I am 99% sure this is my atlas shifting and it does appear to relieve pressure.

When I lay on my back by default my left leg and foot tilt to the left side. When I bring the foot back up straight to touch my right foot it puts tremendous pressure on my lower back.

If I lay on my back and bring my knees to my chest, when I bring them back down to the ground I hear an incredible loud noise. It seems like my tailbone or something down there is popping in and out of its joint.

I had some mri's done back in 2006 which essentially came out negative. They found minimal disk bulging at L4 and L5. Maybe I need to get some mri's done but laying and sitting down or standing up in order for the problems to show itself.

Conclusion:

All in all it feels like my whole skeletal system is out of whack. If you can imagine riding in a pickup truck and hitting a big bump that caused your head to hit the ceiling of the truck, this is what my body feels like. It feels like my my spine was all pushed downward, and my whole daily struggle is to get stretches in to lengthen my spine-neck to relieve some of the pressure. The stretches are the only thing that seem to help but it never lasts.

Several years ago when I was trying to make headway with all these issues, I never could find the right doctor. I even went to the ShanRAB in Jax and implored the doctor to give me a full body mri so I can find out once and for all what is going on, but he said this is not in the spirit of medicine. They all just really shove me in and out and don't seem to really listen to me.

I have also tried seeing chiropractors to no avail. They give me a good few cracks but like everything else it's always temporary and I always revert right back the following day.

Money is not an issue with me, I just need to find a doctor that will listen to me and give credence to what I say. Actually this is the one good thing that has come from my ailments. As my symptoms progressed, I found it harder and harder to talk to people with a swollen face and mispronouncing my worRAB. And I got tired of people asking me all the time what is wrong with me. My confidence is shot, so I started learning about online marketing and have built a business that is making me more money than I ever dreamed I would make. I have been able to buy my parents a nice condo, my dad a new car ect.., so this is the one good thing that has come from all of this. But I am tired of living like this and I want to get back to the old me. I have such a good heart and I feel cheated that my symptoms make me someone I am not. Nobody gets the real me and this is all becoming unbearable for me to deal with anymore.

So thanks in advance for reading this book of a post and sorry it is so long. I just wanted to give as much info as possible to give myself the best shot of finding some others in the same boat who might be able to share some things with me. My heart goes out to the other people who have to live like this. It's no way to live, but I know there is help out there for me and I need to find it soon before I go crazy.

Sincerely
desperateheart
 
You really need to continue your search for the right doctor. Im not sure if all your problems are spine/bone related. You mentioned facial issues. That I'm clueless on as to the cause.
Ive heard cases where people go from one doctor to the next and basically getting no where. Its sometimes just hitting it right with the doctor that will listen and put all the pieces together.
My appraoch is to find a major hosptial/teaching institution and see who their doctors are. What is their education? where were they trained? I start from their. If i dont like the doctor my solution is NEXT. Till I find who I am looking for.
I watch these medical shows where people suffer for years till they hit it right. And yes at times the doctors think they are hypochondriacs. but if you truly believe there is a medical issue do research and dont give up till you find the answers.
As to the type of doctors you need to narrow down what your medical issues are i.e. the facial problems etc. Then find the best of the best as to the dcotors that can help you.
You mentioned chiroprctors. Personally they are not my choice of doctors and have never seen one and is not an option for me. I wont go that route.
We all that post here have our stories to tell. I have had medical issues for 22 years. Ranging from 6 spine surgeries; surgery for pancreatic cancer; blood clots in left leg and surgery was done and dealing with a failing kidney and I have one kidney to begin since i was born with 1 kidney.
Take a fresh approach on what doctors you seek out and where they are and persist till you get the answers you need. Some of your issues may be something you will hve to live with. But start with the doctor that will get you the diagnoses you need and then evaluate your coure of action.
keep us posted.
 
Seek out a D.O.(osteopathic physician) that does manipulation work. I had similar issues years ago and like you went to several providers that offered me limited results. The D.O. approach corabines regular medicine with the extra benefit of understanding the skeletal integration. Also, I didn't hear you mention an exercise regimen. This is paramount in getting better. I mean DAILY serious attention to this. You have to re-teach your muscles how to behave around your bones. It takes a lot of time to find that perfect blend and routine but you will not regret it. Also, since it sounRAB like finances are not a problem for you, look into getting weekly massage work done. I go monthly and it helps tremendously with keeping things stable. Look for a practioner that understanRAB NMR work/myofascial release techniques. Again, the key is making sure you stay consistent on the approach. When you have a good day that doesn't mean slack off, it means you are in a good place to take it up a notch and improve your alignment and muscles even more. (swimming, pilates and yoga are my top recommendations). Lastly, if you are depressed (and who wouldn't be with all your symptoms) you might benefit from temporary treatment to get your mojo back! Good luck and don't give up! I wish you the best.
 
Thanks for the reply Pebble. I hear what you are saying and I am getting my notes ready for when I do find the right doctor. To be quite honest not finding the right doctor after several tries got me a little scared to even try anymore. I've spent the past 5 years feeling sorry for myself thinking god just sentenced me to this misery. But I have finally realized I am the only one going to change this and that I can't let any doctors just shove me in an out and not give me the attention I deserve or that I am paying for.

I guess I just got real negative with all doctors. I remeraber one particular doctor ordering an mri for me, then making me come back in and charging me $450 just to spend 2 minutes and tell me they didn't find anything. I was thinking boy you people have every move in the book, and you couldn't tell me this on the phone hey? I know every doctor is not like this, it's just been this same cavalier attitude and my experience thus far but I am hopeful it will soon change and I might have a little luck in finding the right doctor. I am also hopeful that by visiting this forum that I might run into someone else that says hey, this sounRAB exactly like what happened to me and this is what ended up causing such and such symptoms. I am using the search button and have done a lot of reading here just in the past day and will continue to do so while making my preparations to finding another doctor in the near future.

Thanks again for the reply, its appreciated.
 
Thanks a bunch for this reply, it's inspiring and I will definitely start to look into some of your recommendations for the osteopathic doc and the massage treatments.

About working out, my only concern was that working out might actually be a negative instead of a positive for me. Meaning because my skeletal system is so messed up, I dont know if growing muscles and tissue around bones that are not in their proper place is the best move as it might keep them forced out of place. I am referring to working out with weights, I think my move is going to be to ease back into it with very light weights and see how my body responRAB.

But in the interim I am going on a stretching program and I have also been starting to run again. Since the stretching is the one thing that gives me any sense of normality, I figured this should be a top priority of mine.

I've also got some yoga cd's coming in the mail, just ordered today so I really feel good about getting the ball rolling with all of your recommendations.

My first priority is to find a D.O. Osteopath Doctor in my town. I found the directory and it looks like there are several to choose from, so gonna research them all and try to find one I feel good about.

I'm realistically excited. I know getting better is going to take a lot of work, but this is the #1 most important thing to me so I am going to get there one way or another but now I feel like I have a foundation and starting point to attack this again. Thanks again.
 
Yes it is discouraging and can be depressing at times. There have been times Ive been to doctors and the minute the dr. walks into the exam room I know this isnt the guy for me. Sometimes they have attitudes. Several years ago i was referred to a guy with world class credentials for surgery for pancreatic cancer. The minute he walked in something told me uh oh something with this guy isnt right. Well to make a long story short he said not to do surgery because of other medical issues that i had. So the doctor that referreed me to this guy disagreed and referred me to another doctor at another hospital. And yes surgery was done. Luckily it was done because i believe it saved my life.

We have to be proactive. Constantly searching to see if we can find that one doctor with another way of looking at things, one that will listen. And yes doing research on our own which is time consuming to see who else may be in the same boat at we are. It seems like a full time job at times. But if you arent there for yourself then who will do it. So keep up the search.

There are times when I am discouraged that I think there is an answer out there its a matter of finding it. Dont give up. Good luck and keep us posted.
 
Have you been tested for Lupus ? My frienRAB GF is the same, 20 years no DX and she has had kidney failure to boot. They thought she had Lupus, but tests were negative.
 
I've looked at some of the symptoms for lupus and they definitely fit the bill, so I am going to bring it up when I find my new doctor. Thanks for the recommendation.
 
I know how you feel. You start to ask yourself if life is worth it. HANG IN THERE. I find myself praying a lot and crying a lot.
 
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