May have medical explanation for weird issues and pain

[saltlife4shore]

Have you gotten a CT Scan?

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[ShadowsPapa]

Have you gotten a CT Scan?

I've had multiple MRIs and CT scans - both types - in the past two years. The neurologist wanted to rule out anything physical going on before he saw me a year ago February.

The ENT has done the same twice in the last year to 18 months to watch for some sort of thing in eustachian tubes but he says that's totally unchanged in 3 years and says that means it's been there for decades. So ENTs and neurologists have both had tests done.
Everything always comes up clear.

 

[saltlife4shore]

So no signs of active lesions, inflammation, or myelin loss. All good signs then.

 

[Yallaen]

Ok, now that gets me wondering...
I have an L5/S1 protruding disc. It's caused intermittent pain, sometimes up to the 5 level on 1-10 scale. Past couple years, it's gotten a bit worse. MRI shows arthritis in L3-L5. So I'm aware of THAT pain. I also have kidney stones...and am aware of THAT pain and debacle (thanks, Dad...)

But 2 days ago I started having this deep, sharp pain in my left mid-buttock/hip area. I did NOT injure it, run into anything, strain anything. It comes and goes, and sometimes hits the 6 or 7 pain level and causes me to welp and have to stop moving. But what you described sounds exactly like what I've got. I've noticed that it is traveling down the left leg as well. I did get the shingles shot last November. Gonna have to keep an eye on this one as well....

 

[ShadowsPapa]

Ok, now that gets me wondering...
I have an L5/S1 protruding disc. It's caused intermittent pain, sometimes up to the 5 level on 1-10 scale. Past couple years, it's gotten a bit worse. MRI shows arthritis in L3-L5. So I'm aware of THAT pain. I also have kidney stones...and am aware of THAT pain and debacle (thanks, Dad...)

But 2 days ago I started having this deep, sharp pain in my left mid-buttock/hip area. I did NOT injure it, run into anything, strain anything. It comes and goes, and sometimes hits the 6 or 7 pain level and causes me to welp and have to stop moving. But what you described sounds exactly like what I've got. I've noticed that it is traveling down the left leg as well. I did get the shingles shot last November. Gonna have to keep an eye on this one as well....

Mine started about 20 months ago or so. Actually the very first "symptom" started before that. I describe it as "my hair hurts" (one doctor understood exactly what I meant by that). If I wasn't wearing a hat a gentle breeze would blow my hair and hurt like hell - but ONLY on the right side. Never crossed over, it was like there was a border exactly in the middle. If I put on a hat it hurt like crazy putting the hat on, but then once it was on I was ok. Sleeping at night - lay down on the pillow and as soon as my hair hit the pillow it hurt like crazy - until I was fully down. If I rolled over the left side was fine, no pain, but roll back I'd go through it again laying my head back down in the pillow. That came and went - would stick with me for days or a few weeks, then go away for a short time. Then about 20 months ago it was back with a vengeance but that time the right side of my face felt numb and part of my cheek tingled. ONLY the right side. Doctor and neurologist both said it made perfect sense as they showed me that one nerve bundle took care of that whole area and a little bit more, but only the right half. They did scans, found nothing, tried a drug that made things worse in that it caused my sinuses to totally plug and my teeth on my right side to hurt. I stopped taking it and those symptoms went away. The drug had zero impact on the scalp and face.
The scalp and face thing came and went, once it was on the left side and the right was fine but I notice when that cleared up on the left, the right was back, then it sort of left and now there's always just a little sensitivity in the scalp and the cheek doesn't feel quite right, but no tingle, etc. sort of like it went away about 90% or so.
Then my wife noticed I seemed to be in more pain in my back and side - trouble sleeping, hard to get up out of a chair, etc. and insisted I go in - the doc looked at my records from the other stuff and pretty much decided it was the shingles inside on the nerve bundles with no rash. He showed me where the pain would be if it was my back - wrong place, wrong path - but I DO have a spine with too much curve in the lower half due to decades of lifting heavy stuff, bending over fenders, all that weight of the heavy car parts, whatever, has left to too much curve and pinched discs. So there's some nerve issues with that, too, but this is the wrong place and wrong path of pain according to the doctor.
We'll see, I guess.

 

[b-roc]

There's some pretty "medically aware" people on this forum.
The kicker about this sort is that there is no sign at all on the skin. Not a rash, not a sore anywhere, nothing unusual to see as any sign something is going on. Zero sores or blisters, not even a bump or something that looks like a bug bite. Suddenly, there's the pain. In this case it started in the back on the left side, but according to the doctor, too high, wrong place for the back or pinched nerve. Then it started travelling along a line around my side to the front, the worst is my side now.
Last year when I went to a neurologist as recommended by another doctor, he pointed out the spots that were supplied by some nerve that impacted the head and face - when he started pushing and poking to show what the areas were - he nailed it as far as where I was feeling pain and numbness.

I suspect what he was doing was related to " dermatome" patterns?

He was definitely following the dermatome pattern (you can think of a dermatome as follows (I will describe it for the body since the head gets more complicated) ... the nerves supplying the body start from the spinal cord ... branches from the spinal cord exit between the bones of your spine (vertebrae) each one of these branches wraps from the back to your front ... if you painted each ne with a single color, then you would see something that looks like those dermatome pictures)

I am sending you a direct message with more detailed information if you want it

Regarding my earlier comment about gabapentin during the acute phase to potentially decrease the risk of postherpetic neuralgia ... it looks like the jury is still out (https://scholar.google.com/scholar?...in+decrease+risk+postherpetic+neuralgia&btnG=)

but the most recent study in mayo's journal is promising "Premedication With Gabapentin Significantly Reduces the Risk of Postherpetic Neuralgia in Patients With Neuropathy"
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0025619618308875

 

[legacy_etu]

Man, this is such a bummer to read. So sorry to hear about what your dealing with. On a side note I did acupuncture for my bad back pain and regular headaches after seeing a chiropractor for years. After 4 visits I was great and haven't been back since. It was $75 per visit out of pocket. For the cost it was totally worth the try. I'm not suggesting it will help for your issues but it might be worth a consult with one . My guy was very straight forward on the initial consult of what he thought he could help with and what he couldn't. It was quite refreshing actually.

Feel better man.

 

[FairFrank]

Man, this is such a bummer to read. So sorry to hear about what your dealing with. On a side note I did acupuncture for my bad back pain and regular headaches after seeing a chiropractor for years. After 4 visits I was great and haven't been back since. It was $75 per visit out of pocket. For the cost it was totally worth the try. I'm not suggesting it will help for your issues but it might be worth a consult with one . My guy was very straight forward on the initial consult of what he thought he could help with and what he couldn't. It was quite refreshing actually.

Feel better man.

True. As usual, acupuncture is helpful, but effectiveness over time is different for all. Doing exercises is another way(if it's possible due to situation and problems) or good recliner/lift chair for back and neck support while sitting/lying. Source
ShadowsPapa, take care and all the best!

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