Neck/Shoulder pain - becoming unbearable

rz82

Neck/Shoulder pain – becoming unbearable

Hi all,

I am 34 male, slightly overweight. I have been having neck and shoulder pain mostly on the left side but it sometimes radiates to below my arms and even to the center of my back. At times I also felt the pain on the right hand side. I took the below xrays and the respective reports:

https://s30.postimg.org/b5aovj1a9/xray4.jpg
https://s30.postimg.org/4iamb6gtt/xray_report_1.jpg
https://s24.postimg.org/6dnamaeed/xray_report_2.jpg

For some odd reason my doctor doesn’t want me to do any physiotherapy and instead prescribed me anti depressants to relieve my muscle spams. I don’t want to take anti depressants….any idea what I can do to help me recover without becoming dependent on these medications?

Thanks

[Deleted User]

Hi rz82
Welcome to the forum and thank you for telling us your story.We all have some of arthritis and understand what you are going through,Everyone on the forum is sympathetic and friendly,you get some replys.
All the best Christine

frogmorton

When my neck is really bad I take everything (at the correct does of course! I can).

If it's amitriptyline the doc prescribed a lot of us take that to relax our muscles, including me. If it's at night only it isn't at anti-depressant dose .

I also use a wheatbag/or ice carefully.

I initially slept on bed (no pillow - they are bad and make your spine out of alignment) and now have a shaped memory foam one with a dent for your head so your spine is aligned.

Head weigh so much don't they our poor necks are under so much strain.

There for when mine kicks off I rest a fair bit too.

Sending much sympathy

Toni x

stickywicket

Hi and welcome but I'm afraid none of us have any training in reading x-rays. (I can't even read my own )

Frogmorton is right, as usual. The same med can be used as an anti-depressant or a pain-killer depending on the dosage.

I think, idf your doc doesn't want you to exercise your neck, he might feel that some of your pain is coming from nerve damage and won't want to risk any more being caused.

I'm not big on taking drugs but sometimes they are necessary. One thing to bear in mind, though, is that 'recovery' is not an option. We feel better some days and worse others but trying to get rid of the pain completely is a lost cause.

Might it help to have another chat with your GP?

[Deleted User]

Hi,

Welcome to the forum from me too. Neck pain is really debilitating, here is a link to a Factsheet written by Arthritis Care.
The website for AC is www.arthritiscare.org

https://arthritiscare.org.uk/assets/000/001/117/Download_Osteoarthritis_of_the_Neck_Factsheet_original.pdf?1441983383

I hope you get some relief soon, I find warmth, rest and meds are the best combination when my neck is being a nuisence

Take care
Yvonne x

andyswarbs

Many people with RA suffer from shoulder and neck problems. I do. Mostly going down my right arm which has very limited movement. I have found Bikram yoga immensely helpful. The warm room helps get my muscles moving, and the gently daily stretch (I go 5 times a week) has removed almost all the pain.

Before I started yoga I simply could not sleep because of the pain in my right arm and into my shoulder, whether I lay on my back or either side. All that problem has gone.

I cannot recommend doing the bikram yoga enough for RA. When I first went, amongst other major challenges, I needed two people to help me to the floor and back up again. Now I am able to get to and from the floor by myself!

Slosh

You have lots of good advice already but here's mine
Don't put an ice pack on your neck as it can cause faints
Make sure you sit in chairs that have a high back so it supports your neck, and arms at the correct height so you can rest your arms on them as this takes the weight of your arms off your shoulders.

I would be wary of yoga (or anything else) until you have got the go ahead from your GP.

There is some evidence that acupuncture can help (see the Arthritis Research site)

bubbles

Hi there and welcome, good to meet you .

I can sympathise, along with other friends on the forum, with your symptoms and subsequent problems they cause.
Cerivcal lordosis is a normal curvature of the spine, which seems to be reduced and therefore is leading to your muscle pain etc.
From looking at your x rays, with old nursing eyes, I cannot see evidence of overgrowth of bone, or osteophytosis, bone spurs etc, which is good, believe me, as I have them and they are not nice at all.
I would not worry about taking antidepressants, in smaller doses, as Toni says, they are often given to reduce muscle pain at night, in modest doses. I have taken them for a long time, both amitryp and another, for the effects of long term pain, that can in itself be quite depressing. I have to agree with Toni, when things are bad, any medication that helps, is taken.

Good advice has already been given and physio does not work for everyone. Adequate pain relief and maybe some alternative creams or lotions like arnica gel can help

Take care Aidan

rz82

Hello again - thanks all for your comments and help.

I am starting to accept my condition and try to live with pain. I am simply not ready to take any antidepressants. For instance this week I had two wonderful days with very few pains in my neck but suddenly yesterday I moved a bit awkwardly to look behind me and the stabbing pain in my neck resurfaced again. I am noticing that I cannot lift anything else the pain will come back...even not so heavy loads.

Again, my doctor told me that physiotherapy will make me worse...dont know what else to try. The same doctor told me that painkillers such as NAPROREX and CATAFLAM can cause stomach ulcers too!!!

mellman01

My necks so bad now I cant function with Nortriptyline, yes there are side effects but sometimes you have no other choice, I've tried everything going and the tricyclics are the only things that work, oddly it does next to nothing for my knee arthritis and the chronic neuropathic pain linked to both, OK I could take strong pain killers but there's an addiction risk so I try and limit the use of them.

bubbles

I did go to the physio's, on many an occasion, but They had to give up on the neck exercises, as the pain and dizziness was terrible.

I understand about the medication concerns, but, they do have their place and life would be intolerable without them, certainly for myself and many others who share the forum.

Yes, there are side effects from things like naproxen and ibuprofen, they can cause stomach problems, these can be overcome with necessary drugs like omeproazole or ranitidine. There is a whole plethora of pain relief, sometimes it is a case of try them and see. Even trying anti depressants to see if they give any help.

They are worth bearing in mind, don't write them all off, they do have their place. Take care Aidan

dreamdaisy

Many medications overlap in the conditions they treat, for example I take injected methotrexate to deal with my psoriatic arthritis which is also used to treat cancer: the difference is I take a miniscule dose for the arthritis compared to the very large quantities for a cancer. It controls my PsA but does nothing to alleviate the pain - for that I need 30/500 cocodamol to dull the sharper edges.

We always have a choice when it comes to taking medications but for me my life is hard enough and I cannot justify making it harder by not taking the meth etc. The meds don't repair the joint damage nor reduce the pain but they certainly make things easier to bear and, without a doubt, my arthritic decline has been slowed. DD

stremlett

Hello there

I saw my GP this week and she prescribed amitriptyline. She moved her chair round so that you was looking straight at me and said "when you get home you will Google this medicine and see it is an antidepressant. That may annoy you or upset you but in fact I do not think you are depressed and that is not why I'm prescribing it. It is a muscle relaxant and alters nerve response and should improve the quality of your sleep". I trusted what she said and I have seen some improvement immediately. So it may be worth giving it a go you know! I hope you feel better soon :-)

Suex

rz82

Thank you all for your feedback.

By any chance do any of you experience eye twitching? I have it a lot in my right eye....never had it so much!

Again, doctor said its stress related...

elnafinn

Hi rz82

Eye twitching can be cause by stress, as your doctor suggests, fatigue and caffeine.

1.Relax. Try to eliminate stress in your daily life.
2.Limit caffeine.
3.Rest. ...
4.Apply warm compresses to the twitching eye and gently massage the eyelid with your fingers.
5.Try over-the-counter oral or topical (eye drop) antihistamines to slow the eyelid muscle contractions.

Elna

daffy2

By any chance do any of you experience eye twitching? I have it a lot in my right eye....never had it so much!

I have bouts of this, often seemingly at random - ie not related to unusual/increased stress - but boy does it create stress sometimes!
I've learnt that the best thing I can do is try and distract myself. other wise I find I'm clenching my jaw - which does not help. While it's happening I also try and avoid things like cold winds or bright sunshine which tend to increase the problem, presumably by irritating the eyes anyway.

Iris

Hi there,
I have the same symptoms as you and I do sympathise as the pain is debilitating. I have been diagnosed with early stages of OA. I have been prescribed Zacin cream to rub in to the affected areas. I am on day 2 and my rheumatologist told me that the pain should subside in about 3 weeks. Unlike you though I am to receive physiotherapy. I am also going to stop eating foods that aggravate inflammation and start taking vit D, turmeric and omega 3.
I hope you find some relief soon.
Take care
Iris

rz82

Dear all

Thanks so much for taking time to reply.

I have a bit of a news: I managed to control my neck pain by buying a new pillow which is specially designed to support the neck. The pain has went down drastically and I am starting to think that it was the whole cause of the problem!

Unfortunately the eye twitching is becoming so frequent that I am getting used to it...always on the right side!

Iris

Hi,
That's great to hear! I've read that neck pain can be caused by something as simple as the wrong type of pillow or too many pillows. I'm glad you have found some relief.
Regards
Iris