2 months post accident, new to forum
Posted: Mon Apr 30, 2007 8:23 pm
I would like to intro myself to you all. I am (GASP!) almost 50 and on Feb 20th I was rear-ended by two trucks, in quick succession. I got whiplash and what the neurologist is testing for is a brachial injury. Have had an MRI done on the shoulder girdle and both shoulder arm joints, but haven't spoken with the doctor yet. This Friday I go for the EMG. I know, maybe late, but better late than never. When in the ER both arms were starting to give me problems, the right was weak and uncoordinated, and the left was the same, plus there was numbness all the way to the fingers. The right arm within a few weeks pretty much regained all its mobility but the left continued to be a problem. I was in PT already for a pelvic problem, which strangely enough resembles this issue as well when it all started. I had a devil of a time getting it dx'ed but finally it came and was Piriformis Syndrome. Very similiar to BPI. So we switched gears to treat the whiplash within a week of the accident.Which is getting better, more ROM but still dizzy when looking down etc.
So now, I just have really the left arm and shoulder. I haven't been able to talk to anyone who has personally exp. this so you guys are going to get all my questions about what I am going through.
My symtoms.
My present condition is the left shoulder is hiked up about 2 inches higher than the right, I have very little bicep control, fine finger movements are decreased, hand is weak, and the shoulder blade and top of shoulder is numb. I also can't lift the arm past the level of the shoulders sideways, and can't rotate the arm past palm forward. I also get burning pain under the left shoulder blade and pains across the back from shoulder to shoulder. I've also got some muscle tightening going on in the neck big time and this is causing some facial and dental pain at times.
But most of this I can deal with, however, there is something that happens that comes on that is really, really bad. I call it an attack, because this is what it feels like. The scenario is like this,
I look down or whatever, (it was really bad after the 2 hour MRI last week) and I'll feel a muscle pull in my neck. Then it will go down the shoulder and the arm will start to feel odd. I get an ill feeling like I'm about to throw up, which passes quickly, and then if I don't take a painkiller, within 15 minutes I am feeling like I'm being compressed right up to the eyeballs. Everything just hurts like a triple whammy flu, and I just want to die. My throat closes up and I start rasping while I breath, the teeth hurt, the side of my face, the arm aches, the fingers go totally senseless they are so weak, and the neck and shoulders tighten up. I take vicaden and within a short time the pain and all subside, but it leaves me with a spaced out feeling. This really only started happening in the last few weeks and its got my PT concerned. We haven't actually started treating the BPI but just the whiplash end of the injury at this time. I'm sure some of this is whiplash related, but the other pain stuff, geeze whiz, these attacks are so random, if I go somewhere in the car, the act of driving has brought them on.
I need some hope I guess. I am also having bouts of depression and want to simply cry my eyes out at times. Very disturbing.
Wendy
So now, I just have really the left arm and shoulder. I haven't been able to talk to anyone who has personally exp. this so you guys are going to get all my questions about what I am going through.
My symtoms.
My present condition is the left shoulder is hiked up about 2 inches higher than the right, I have very little bicep control, fine finger movements are decreased, hand is weak, and the shoulder blade and top of shoulder is numb. I also can't lift the arm past the level of the shoulders sideways, and can't rotate the arm past palm forward. I also get burning pain under the left shoulder blade and pains across the back from shoulder to shoulder. I've also got some muscle tightening going on in the neck big time and this is causing some facial and dental pain at times.
But most of this I can deal with, however, there is something that happens that comes on that is really, really bad. I call it an attack, because this is what it feels like. The scenario is like this,
I look down or whatever, (it was really bad after the 2 hour MRI last week) and I'll feel a muscle pull in my neck. Then it will go down the shoulder and the arm will start to feel odd. I get an ill feeling like I'm about to throw up, which passes quickly, and then if I don't take a painkiller, within 15 minutes I am feeling like I'm being compressed right up to the eyeballs. Everything just hurts like a triple whammy flu, and I just want to die. My throat closes up and I start rasping while I breath, the teeth hurt, the side of my face, the arm aches, the fingers go totally senseless they are so weak, and the neck and shoulders tighten up. I take vicaden and within a short time the pain and all subside, but it leaves me with a spaced out feeling. This really only started happening in the last few weeks and its got my PT concerned. We haven't actually started treating the BPI but just the whiplash end of the injury at this time. I'm sure some of this is whiplash related, but the other pain stuff, geeze whiz, these attacks are so random, if I go somewhere in the car, the act of driving has brought them on.
I need some hope I guess. I am also having bouts of depression and want to simply cry my eyes out at times. Very disturbing.
Wendy