posted
I have had problems with my neck (bulging discs, a slipped vertebrae) for a few years.
I tried physical therapy (again for the third time) and two weeks ago I had sudden acute pain, and its not going away
neurologist ordered MRI and it came back:
A 0.4-cm left lateral disk herniation is suspected at C3 -- C4. This abuts the exiting nerve root. There is also neural foraminal narrowing at this level which is believed to be due to posterior osteophyte formation.
At C5 -- C6 intervertebral disk is bulging. This narrows the ventral subarachnoid space and causes mild mass effect on the ventral aspect of the cord, to a greater degree than on previous.
from what I am told if its herniated it needs surgery. i think the last mRI it was already herniated, because it doesn't say the C3-4 one is worse than last year, only says the C5-6 is worse.
i am also having weird symptoms the last week or so, severe dizziness where I cant even get up for a few minutes without the whole room spinning. my vision is spinning, when i turn my head everything spins and keeps spinning after I keep my head still. even rolling over in bed with my eyes closed makes me dizzy. and nausea and headache with upright position
i dont know if these new symptoms are from my neck. my blood pressure is also very low 100/60 to 90/50, but usually LBP just makes me lightheaded and wiped out, not dizzy
the neuro is stumped says the disc and radiculopathy, weakness all down my right side and even the claudication go together, but the dizziness, nausea and vision is a whole nother system. might be a migraine syndrome
LLMD says these new symptoms are not from the lyme, not to blame everything on the lyme, I have been on tx since aug, and the abx are penetrating every tissue in the body, so I cant get worse all of a sudden on tx. i am on rifampin, doxy, and biaxin for bart, lyme, babs. he upped my dose of doxy (symptoms were before the dose increase) and I will be ading artemesia too.
Posts: 615 | From maryland | Registered: Oct 2007
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Tincup
Honored Contributor (10K+ posts)
Member # 5829
posted
I have over 3/4 of my dics buldging or bad.
I wouldn't be too quick to do anything radical... but I am not a doctor.
Sometimes my back/neck hurts... sometimes is is fine.
1: Eur Neurol. 1993;33(2):149-51.
Incidence of nervous system Borrelia burgdorferi infection in patients with lumboradicular syndrome.
Schmutzhard E, Mohsenipour I, Stanek G. Department of Neurology, University Hospital Innsbruck, Austria.
We investigated 103 consecutive patients primarily admitted to our Department of Neurosurgery (36 women, age: median 44, range 21-79; 67 men, age: 47, range 19-77) suffering from low back pain radiating into one or both legs.
Neurological examination combined with computer tomography and lumbar myelography revealed lumbar-disc herniation in 74, vertebrostenosis in 10 and relapsed disc herniation in 9 patients.
In 9 patients the diagnosis of pseudoradicular syndrome was established without definite neuroradiological morphological evidence.
Two patients were diagnosed as having polyneuropathy, and 1 patient suffered from a nervus ischiadicus lesion due to a gluteal abscess.
CSF of all patients was examined according to a fixed routine schedule (cells, protein, sugar, immunoglobulins, IgG index).
Antibodies to Borrelia burgdorferi were found in the serum and CSF of 5.8%, and in the serum alone of 2% of patients.
Intrathecally produced specific antibodies were detected in 3 patients (2.9%) with neuroradiological evidence of disc or spinal-canal disease, indicating the coexistence of previous CNS infection by B. burgdorferi with lumbar-disc herniation.
None of the patients showed CSF pleocytosis; thus, in no case was acute radiculitis due to B. burgdorferi infection diagnosed.
Tincup
Honored Contributor (10K+ posts)
Member # 5829
posted
Joint Bone Spine. 2004 Sep;71(5):433-7. Links
Sciatica, disk herniation, and neuroborreliosis. A report of four cases.Dupeyron A, Lecocq J, Jaulhac B, Isner-Horobeti ME, Vautravers P, Cohen-Solal J, Sordet C, Kuntz JL.
Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation Unit, Strasbourg Teaching Hospitals, Avenue Moli�re, 67098 Strasbourg cedex, France.
We report four cases of sciatica in patients with same-level disk herniation confirmed by computed tomography and a final diagnosis of acute radiculitis caused by Borrelia burgdorferi, with a favorable response to ceftriaxone therapy.
The neurological manifestations of Lyme disease are protean, and a potential contribution of concomitant disk disease to sciatica can lead to diagnostic wanderings.
Disk lesions and infectious conditions that can cause sciatica are discussed.
Whether a favorable response to antibiotic therapy should be taken as proof of B. burgdorferi radiculitis deserves discussion.
In practice, in a patient with clinical manifestations suggesting disk-related nerve root pain and residing or having traveled to an endemic area, B. burgdorferi infection should be looked for, as both etiologies can coexist.
Tincup
Honored Contributor (10K+ posts)
Member # 5829
posted
Neurology. 1997 Feb;48(2):520-3.
Subarachnoid hemorrhage in a patient with Lyme disease.Chehrenama M, Zagardo MT, Koski CL. Department of Neurology, University of Maryland, Baltimore, MD 21201, USA.
Neuroborreliosis can cause a wide variety of seemingly unrelated neurologic abnormalities.
Although the epidemiology, etiology, and pathology of this infection have been well documented, the pathogenesis and diagnosis continue to be problematic.
In the current study we report a case of Lyme disease in which subarachnoid hemorrhage was the presenting feature of a patient with polyradiculoneuropathy and encephalopathy.
Magnetic resonance imaging of the spine demonstrated diffuse pial and meningeal enhancement with more focal nodular areas of involvement.
Division of Clinical Sciences, New York Chiropractic College, Glen Head.
A 29-year-old male tennis player was examined for neck pain, limited mobility, and right elbow pain.
The patient was treated for cervical facet syndrome by chiropractic manipulative therapy (CMT) for a period of 6 weeks.
After this time the patient had a relapse of cervical pain, spinal myofascitis, dermatitis and migratory arthropathy.
Several specialists were consulted throughout the case including a rheumatologist, and a tentative diagnosis of psoriatic arthritis and fibromyalgia was made.
A follow-up blood evaluation led to a new diagnosis of Lyme disease.
cantgiveupyet
Frequent Contributor (1K+ posts)
Member # 8165
posted
This brings back memories.
When this all started for me, the neurologist I went to see ordered up a MRI and It came back with severe herniation in my cervical spine.
I went to three neurosurgeons, One said surgery right away, but couldnt promise that the symptoms i was having were from the neck.
I was dizzy, sensitive to light, wrist pain, leg weakness, frequent urination. I was so scared, i would be paralyzed.
Neurosurgeon number three, one of the top in my area, couldnt figure out why a MRI was ordered for my symptoms, he felt they were endocrine in nature.
How neurosurgeon number three explained it to me was, that at some point, i will need the operation, but clinically I was not presenting with symptoms from the herniation.
He also said I had a wide spinal column allowing for the disc, and the radiologist was just reporting on what he saw, and didnt have the clinical picture of me the patient.
I would suggest getting three opinions from the best nuerosurgeons in your area.
Right now Im having some odd symptoms, that I was wondering if they might possibly be my neck.
-------------------- "Say it straight simple and with a smile."
"Thus the task is, not so much to see what no one has seen yet, But to think what nobody has thought yet, About what everybody sees."
-Schopenhauer
pos babs, bart, igenex WB igm/igg Posts: 3156 | From Lyme limbo | Registered: Oct 2005
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posted
whether or not the lyme contributed to my neck injury is not really relevant at this point. i am on treatment for the lyme, but getting rid of lyme is not going to make my disc un-herniate.
i hurt my neck in a car accident back in 95, so that could have been the beginning. then the arthritis from the lyme probably finished me in.
but this most recent injury definitely happened at physical therapy. she was working on my neck, and suddenly i got numbness down my arm, and severe pain in my neck, and it has hurt ever since.
i dont know why i have the dizziness and nausea, or if its related. maybe vertebral artery?
but either way the disc is causinng severe intractable pain, loss of function, and I am probably going to need surgery
Posts: 615 | From maryland | Registered: Oct 2007
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posted
I have a friend that was supposed to get surgery for a herniated disc in his neck. He went to a holistic doc and did something called Colchicine treatments. He told me that his neck is no longer in need of surgery. This friend has been battling lyme for 23 years.
Posts: 413 | From nj | Registered: Nov 2005
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Tincup
Honored Contributor (10K+ posts)
Member # 5829
posted
Hey roro...
You said.. " i am on treatment for the lyme, but getting rid of lyme is not going to make my disc un-herniate."
I am not sure that is the case in all of the spine involvements... especially with infections.
As I said mine do not cause pain right now... and many people with bad herniated discs live a lifetime not knowing they even have a problem.
I just worry that folks having spinal surgery may have more problems than they started with... and will end up in more pain that can't be undone.
As we know.. the keets love scar tissue... so adding that to the neck/spine problem might be worse??
The one abstract also said..
"We report four cases of sciatica in patients with same-level **disk herniation** confirmed by computed tomography and a final diagnosis of acute radiculitis caused by Borrelia burgdorferi, with a favorable response to ceftriaxone therapy."
It is certainly up to you. I just am trying to be sure you have all the facts before letting non-LLMD's talk you into surgery... because I care and have been through this.
posted
thanks TC, i didn't realize their pain actually went away with treatment.
my LLMD is saying its not the lyme tho, so even if that is whats causing the pain, the most I can do is just wait and see if the pain goes away with tx
Posts: 615 | From maryland | Registered: Oct 2007
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posted
Neck (c6) and back (t8) suddenly became problemmatic last year after 44 years of no problems whatsoever (and I have been a distance runner doe 30 of those years)and just before testing positive for lyme.
I am in my 7th month of treatment and back is going absolutely ape!@#$. Neck is fair.
Then there is my shoulder, which is anther issue...torn rotator cuff. This one looks more straightforward in MRI, I just wish I knew who to trust. LLMD who earlier poo-pooed back surgery (ok good) says I should go ahead with shoulder arthro.
Who to trust?
LM
Posts: 212 | From Eastern CA | Registered: Apr 2007
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