Something Missing

[lamentinglaura]

I had a physiotherapy session yesterday and we're still no closer to determining the cause of the nerve pain in my right arm. We're doing some exercises geared toward the neck region but I'm not having any pain in my neck that radiates to the arm. It's just the arm itself. If I'm not feeling better by Thursday she's sending me back to my doctor. There's no way I'm going to be any better by then. Last night I was so upset that I had to take a sleeping pill to get to sleep. I still woke up in the middle of the night so I got up and frigged around the computer for awhile and then took another sleeping pill to try to get a few hours of rest. I'm awake again and panicking. I wish there was some way to make this fear vanish.

[gypsywomen]

is pain in one place or radiating up and down ,,thought you might have rheumatic pain

[lamentinglaura]

No, I was checked for arthritis and rheumatism. This pain started back in June. I couldn't reach behind into the back seat of the car, scratch my back, pull myself into a sitting position on the couch, or lean on my elbow in bed. I'd have excruciating pain that would travel from my shoulder to my wrist. When I was doing my regular daily activities I'd have no pain, the muscles weren't even sore. When I went to physio back then they couldn't really find a trigger point. It was put down to tendonitis and I was sent to an Orthopedist. He examined me for all of about 5 minutes .. no tests or anything ... and said I had inflamed rotator cuff tendons although I couldn't recall having done anything to cause this. He said to go back to physio therapy, take an anti-inflammatory, and see him in 3 months. I'm due to see him next month and my arm is worse. Now I'm getting pain that travels down the ulnar nerve and causes bad pain in my forearm, wrist, and hand. My upper arm muscles are all sore and feel weak and bruised. I have pain during regular activities. The physiotherapist said there is definite weakness in that arm and something neural going on. She thought perhaps that it's stemming from the neck but I have no pain there and my neck has never caused me any problems. I was a heavy smoker for years and from googling I've found out that a lung tumor can spread to nerves that control the arm and hand and cause a lot of pain. This really made me freak out. I had a chest x-ray in October that came out fine but information from google said that some tumors aren't picked up by regular x-rays because of their location high up in the lung. I asked my doctor for a CT scan that's going to be done on Jan.11th and I'm due to see the Orthopedist again on Jan. 13th. Meanwhile, no one seems to know what's going on and I won't be tested until the first of the year. My nerves are shot. I'm scared that I have something horrible.

[looking4answers]

Sorry you are feeling so bad.. I get those stupid pains all over.I had one in the middle of my back the other day lasted for days.. Thought I might be having heart issues and then remembered my doc saying no..Also get them in my neck even now im laying on my left leg and well its hurting. I think im going to go take a break and walk around a bit.. Anyway we all wish we could stop being afraid ,just keep trying and one day you will .. Michael

[Ddcoo]

Hi lamentinglaura, I thought you might like to know that there is someone else with exactly the same as you. Since about September I have been getting the same symptoms as you, but I haven't consulted anyone about mine, as my partner had the same thing, so I don't worry about it.
My pain starts in the joint in my shoulder, travels to the bicep muscle, then to the forearm and finally into the thumb and forefinger. On good days it might only be in the bicep muscle.

I can't lift my arm across my chest without supporting it and had other restricted movement, and was bad when trying to lift things.

During the day I hardly feel it, but if I sit with my laptop or similar sedentary things, then it really starts.

What I have done is to use an infra red lamp on my arm a couple of times a day for 15 mins and also rub in Ibuprofen gel on the arm, and it has improved the pain, although on lifting my arm above my head I can feel the pain in the bicep muscle still. I try to nurture the arm a bit and not put too much strain on it, but still use it as much as I can so that it doesn't seize. My partner had the same thing and he finally went to the doctors and had an injection of cortizone into his shoulder joint.

I have no idea what causes this discomfort, but I will just battle on with my own treatment and hope it will eventually get better. I do hope this helps you and please do not dwell on tumours.

[lamentinglaura]

Thanks for letting me know Ddcoo. It's comforting to know that I'm not the only one going through this stuff.