trapped nerve ? or something more sinister

hi all
was wondering if anyone can help me. i have had a sore and stiff neck which started about four months ago while having chemo. i put it down to being in bed a lot due to 2 infections. 1 month ago a dull ache started to go down my left arm (mascectomy side). 2 weeks ago my thumb started with pins and needles. in this last month i have been to gp 3 times for different drugs because nothing was giving me any relief. i am now on tramadol and naproxen and still no relief from pain. i will have physio next week and started accupuncture today. is this a trapped nerve or could it be a tumour pressing on a nerve. i cannot find any lumps but i mentioned the pain to bcn and she is organising a bone scan. has anyone else had this . surely some drug would have worked by now or am i being a wuss.

Hi babybelle…

I am just surprised reading the above that your GP didnt go for scans first to eliminate anything ‘nasty’. It certainly sounds like a trapped nerve - but the reason needs to be found for this. If the bone scan doesnt reveal anything I would be pressing for an MRI of the area. I have extensive bone mets so of course my mind turns in that direction when I have such problems but there can of course be many more innocent explanations. I don’t think you are being a wuss at all. I hope you get answers and some relief soon.

dawnhc
xxx

hi dawn
im glad you popped up coz i know your history and figured if anyone can help you can. who would i press for an mri…my gp or my onc…if the bone scan is negative. thanks in advance
karen

Hi

I have the same problem right now and my GP says it is a trapped nerve however I mentioned it to my oncologist last week and am having a spine scan this week. Meantime I have had a shed load of painkillers followed by a bout of codeine induced sickness and am now paying to see an osteopath who has helped the pain and tingling somewhat. I had 3 sessions of physio including being strapped, having traction and also acupuncture, none of which made any difference so I cut my losses and booked the osteopath - money well spent!

Good luck …

acupunture in your bad arm doesn’t sound like a good idea at all to me to me … suggest you read the lymphoedema section and ask bahons2 what she thinks
love FB xx

I had a tweaked nerve years back following surgery for an ovarian problem … basically what happened was when I was in theatre they pulled my head back a little too far when they put the tub down my throat. My problem was on and off for months - started of with a sort of crackle which shot up the back of my head then my arm would be very sore - I would occassionally find that my little finger would twitch uncontrolably for a while… my arm would be next to useless for about 5-7 days then it would improve and I would be back to normal until the next time.

About 2 years ago the problem came back but not so severe, although I also developed midl frozen shoulder and chronic tennis elbow at the same time - I saw a physio who advise the best treatment would be accupuncture … I had 5 sessions and cannot believe how successful it was.

Good luck with getting the problem resolved and I hope your scan comes back clear.

Babybelle…

I am assuming that once you have had the bonescan you will have an appointment to see your oncologist. Obviously it depends on the results but then might be the moment to ask if he doesnt suggest it. Given that you are her2 pos and had lymph node involvement I would be careful about going down any other routes such as physio or acupuncture until you have explored this further - or at least check with your oncologist first. Is the physio being organised through your onc unit or thru the GP?

Dawn

hi everyone
thanks very much for your feedback…i will take on board what you say about accupuncture

hi dawn
it was my gp who suggested physio and didnt seem at all interested or worried the cancer might return and so just went ahead with physio referral. i am on rads at the moment and am starting herceptin 18th july but i have no onc. appt. at the mo. i have emailed bcn today to see if i am supposed to have one.

Hi Babybelle - you are NOT a wuss!

I’ve just seen this thread - gosh, there are a lot of us with shoulder, arm and neck pain, aren’t there? BC - the disease that just keeps on giving.

Acupuncture on your bad arm is, as Fizbiz rightly says, a total no-no. Despite what many a health care professional will tell you, there is a very real risk of triggering lymphoedema with the use of needles and any break in the continuity of the skin can also introduce an infection that your compromised lymphatic/immune system may not be able to cope with.

(My probs - similar to yours - started during rads (4 years ago). Searing pain from neck to fingers and shoulder muscles in spasm. I’ve had trouble ever since and despite loads of NHS and private physio still can’t turn my head freely - in either direction. I do exercises every day to try to improve this.

I was told my troubles were, variously, nerve pain, torn rotator cuff, muscle spasm, referred pain, (ie from somewhere else in my body) tennis elbow and the last straw was when the NHS physio told me I was imagining it!)

Babybelle - if you can keep taking the anti-inflammatories, I think they help (I was on hi-strength diclofenac and co-codamol). I found a ‘hot’ water bottle filled with cool or chilled water helped a bit with my shoulder. If you have the go-ahead from your onc, physio might well help - the treatment that did my shoulder and arm most good was Low Level Laser Therapy, but I had to go private for that.

All the best

S

hi s
i have some nerve pain tablets now…gabapaten…it seems to be working a bit. i have had the all clear from my bone scan and i went to see onc on friday and she is sending me for an mri to see where the pain is coming from. she then said if we can rule out cancer she will refer me to a pain specialist. so at least something good has come out of this. i did ask her about accupuncture and she said go ahead…thats fine. but having read a few negative comments now i dont think i will go back. i will still try physio on thursday tho. mamy thanks for your reply
karen

Glad to hear you are getting somewhere, babybelle. Would like to learn more about gabapaten (as I still get flare ups of pain four years down the line). Is that the generic name?

My onc (perhaps we share the same one?) suggested acupuncture to me as well. When I pointed out that needles were contraindicated in an ‘at risk’ arm, she shrugged and said ‘well, they’re only TINY needles’ - as if that made a difference!

While I hugely respect oncologists’ and surgeons’ views on cancer and its treatments, they are taught little, if anything, about lymphoedema and how to try to prevent it. They tend to assume that it is the sterility of their needles that is being questioned when it is the actual puncturing of the skin that presents the bigger hazard.

S

Hi Babybelle

like you had problems through chemo etc. initially diagnosed as cording and treated with anti inflamatories. However when i started rads developed the full monty (nerve pain, pins and needles and loss of function of two fingers which was diagnosed as a trapped nerve). gabapentin was suggested but I wasn’t keen and managed on diclofenac plus panadol (maximum doses) until the physio started to kick in. The physio at my oncology centre does something called connective tissue stretching which seems to be working with the trapped nerve (am not on any painkillers and full strength in the fingers now but still have the odd bit of pins and needles) so it might be worth discussing this the physio on Thurs (might also be worth asking at your oncology centre if they have a specialist physio).

Having talked to a friend who is a pain specialist with an interest in shoulder pain he says that shoulder pain post breast surgery is more common than you think. so you are definitely not a wuss.

Lv Crispy

Lv Crispy