Cervical radiculopathy. Help.

[TravellingIncognito]

I had a few days of muscle pain in shoulder blade. I knew it was muscular as moving my chin to my chest pulled the muscle causing the pain to increase. Yesterday morning it started referring to my right arm, particularly my armpit, and elbow, by afternoon the pain was ferocious.

Gravity makes it intolerable, standing up the armpit and elbow pain go off the scale, I can just make it to the toilet and back, otherwise confined to bed where with ibuprofen gel and heat it calms down. Spoke to GP yesterday morning but then it was manageable so the phone call was arranged re something else, so didn't dwell on it. Any ideas, I've been using phone more than usual for last month, furiously typing due to being newly hooked on Duolingo. Could it be that?

Any ideas what this is? Sound familiar to anyone? Any thoughts on how to treat it would be hugely appreciated.

Ended up in A and E and it's cervical radiculopathy. Anyone who has had this how long did it take for the agonising pain to subside without painkillers? Also did you go on either amitriptyline or gabapentin quite fast and if so how long till this helped? Any input much appreciated it's so bad I'm currently bed bound.

Hopefully bump

*hopeful

Ouch OP that sounds awful. Bumping for you x

Yes, I have had this for 7 years, first right side then left. Have you had an MRI? I believe most people get better in time, herniated discs can shrink back. Mine was bone spurs and I have had 2 surgeries so far.

I’m so glad you now know what it is - I really hope the pain relief options available to you work quickly and effectively.

I wonder if MN would let you edit your thread title to include the words cervical radiculopathy - might get more of other peoples experiences that way?

I had horrific shoulder, armpit, neck and elbow pain down one side at the start of the year. Woke up one day in just horrible pain, almost immobile. Took about two months to completely go. Doesn’t sound like yours because the gravity thing wasn’t an issue for me. My main things were almost complete loss of mobility, and any slight jerky movements caused huge shooting pain. It was really awful. I would google before trying as it may be contra-indicated for cervical radiculopathy, but I spent hours each day doing different stretches.

I have a few yoga props and a Pilates roller, and would just get into a stretch that felt comfortable then try to really relax. So it wasn’t a painful stretch, more a very gentle slow release. But like I say, do google cause that might be really bad advice for you.

Incidentally, I too was doing a shit load of Duolingo at the time 😳 Topped the diamond league and had swollen arthritic thumb joint to show for it.

I hope it gets better soon.

Thank you Mumzoo and JeepSlee. I’m waiting for more info from NHS on whether I need mri. A and E doc said I should have one based on x ray, he was concerned re doing physio without more info on exactly what the neck is up to, and said would put on report for GP. Then talked to physician’s assistant at gp next day, who said it wasn’t clear from report that I needed one and I need to wait 6 weeks going by NICE guidelines then see how I am. I’m going to try and get appt with my regular gp tomorrow. No idea why there’s been this mix up when dr in A and E was emphatic about mri. No idea why he didn’t put request in himself. Frustrating.

I’m not sure how you ask mumsnet to change my post title but it’s a good idea. Will try.

I guessed what you had just reading the title. It's horrific, I had the gravity thing after my latest episode and was lying flat for weeks. Still nave numb fingers, weakness and dexterity issues. I really hope yours resolves without surgery, my latest compression was just below my cervical fusion and this is quite a common complication. I had morphine 4 hourly for weeks and would not wish this on anyone.

I'm not in uk so not sure how helpful this is.
Amiltryptaline helped after a couple of days. I had to be really careful about lifting anything -- limited to 5 kilos. I found an office chair helped as my back was well supported and I didn't need to twist.
I had an mri and was referred to a neurologist. I had physio a few times a week to rebuild muscle strength. The thing that really worked was a nerve block injection.
I'm 6 months on and now have no pain but it was awful. Hope you feel better soon.
I did mine by reaching for a basketball... so innocuous for so much pain!

Thanks so much for your replies and support. It makes a real difference as does hearing from others who got back to a place of no pain. Who knew your own arm could become your worst enemy.

Its the worst pain ever!

Amiltryptaline was great for over night, office chair was the only comfortable thing I could sit in during the day.

Ended up on Pregabalin, which was quite possibly worse than the pain... the side effects were horrible... but it did resolve quite quickly once I was on that... not sure if that was the medication or if it was just improving anyway.

One other thing -- using a heat pack on my neck bought some relief to my shoulder. Could be worth a try?

@TravellingIncognito how are you doing now? Any relief?

Hi Mumzoo,

Thanks for asking. A very, very slow improvement, still fairly bed bound, although often out of pain when medicated and lying down can now walk around for 5 mins rather than 30 seconds before pain kicks in. I am also, horizontal, needing less meds.

I'm curious when others first tried amitriptyline? Trying to decide whether to wait another week. It's been nearly two weeks or take them now. Gp said people usually wait but it's upto me. My reservation is I have stomach issues and know these drugs may well exacerbate them.

"@TravellingIncognito" how are things now? I hope you have some relief. Did you try the amitriptyline? Thinking of you and fingers crossed.