United Brachial Plexus Network, Inc.

Hi there,

I spent some time in Saudi as a secretary. What part you in. It sounds like Brachial neuritis. There is a good site on it under emedicine. The good news is that brachial neuritis tends to sort itself out after a few months or several months sometimes.

PS. You didn't have a tetanus vaccination over there by any chance...I know I did for no real reason only they are big into them, it didn't cause my injury but since I have heard of brachial neuritis being a side effect albeit very rare of tetanus vaccinations.

Hi Wendy, I have something very similar to what you have, ( I think ). In early April I woke up with severe pain in my neck and shoulder area. I thought that I slept wrong and had a pinched nerve. This went on for about seven days. I called my doctor and asked him to give some pain meds. He did and the pain started to go away. Then I started to have some tingeling and numbness in my right arm and now I cannot lift my right arm. However I am in no pain. I went to a Medical Neurology Dr. and he said that he was 100% certin that I had Brachial Neuritis. He was very honest with me and said that there is really nothing that can be done. He said that he has seen this case once before but the cure is time. It can take several months to 3 years. So I still cannot lift my right arm. He wants me to go and get a couple of sesions of physical therapy so they can show me what kind of movements and exercises to do so the muscles that are being effected will not get worse. He did say that this is caused by inflamination on the nerves. That's all I know and it aint much. For now I'm just going to wait it out for awhile. Hope this helps and if anyone can shed some light on this it would be of great help. Steve

Hello Wendy
I think others have hit the nail on the head with their posts. If you will read through the "winged scapula" posts, you will find a link to a website by Steven Fromm which is very informative about the causes and possible treatments of Parsonage-Turner Syndrome (ie Brachial Neuritis).
I think it is the best to date for info on this condition.
Do you know if you have scapular winging?
This is a difficult condition to diagnose and treat, there is no denying it and as others have said, because and injured nerve takes a long time to heal, unfortunately you may be dealing with this for months or even years.
You may need an EMG/NCV by a skilled neurologist to make a complete diagnosis.
Good luck to you. I wish you all the best.

I had this infection around 1982 and the neurologist, after confirming nerve signal blockage with an electro miogram test, put me on some sort of steroid to reduce the inflamation but indicated that some loss of function in the arm may still occur. he indicated that early treatment to reduce the inflamation is crucial, ie. the longer you wait more damage occurs. I was left with a couple of muscle groups in the rotator cuff with partially blocked signal, that control back handed motion, but other muscle groups picked up the slack partially over the past 20 years. the reason I am searcing the net is that the dr said potentially 25% of the cases would re-occur. mine did last week and I am waiting to see the dr right now. Mine was an outright infection/viral, not caused from any trauma, unless routine excercize could be considered as trauma. good luck

All - please be on the lookout for the fact that you may have had a rib float and be trapping the brachial plexus nerves.

my story is very similar - slept wrong and should was a little uncoftable. over 2-3 days, it turned into horrible pain that could not be explained by the MDs I saw. Got lots of medication, which dulled pain but did not resolve the issue. Luckily, I saw an excellent physical therapist, who immediately diagnosed me with a floating rib and moved it off. Within 3 hours, I felt back to normal - it was amazing!! Please follow up on this is you're having pain.

Hi Everyone and greetings from the deserts of Saudi Arabia. I badly need your help and your input. I am living over here as an expat and have been living in excruciating pain for the past 3 months. I have been diagnosed with a brachial plexus viral infection - its a dx of exclusion. I have just been released from hosp after 7 weeks of undergoing a series of tests which were all negative - MRI's, nerve conductions, bone scans etc. I am on a number of medications including Topamax, Neurontin etc but unfortunately in this country they don't provide any effective pain medications as an out-patient. My pain is getting worse - pain and numbness, tingling and pins and needles in my first two fingers, can't raise my arm above my head, etc etc. The medical expertise isn't that great over here, but 4 neurologist/neurosurgeons are in agreement that this is what I have. They tell me that this virus can last for months. Has anyone else heard of this????? I am losing hope of this pain ever getting any better - my muscles are starting to atrophy, I haven't worked for 3 months ( I'm a medical secretary ) and I'm scared to death. I am also hearing statements from my doctor like - "well, I can't see where your pain is coming from so I don't know how to treat it". HELP!!!!! Any suggestions of what I can do to help myself? Other that getting out of this country - that is really not a financial option at this point unfortunately. Sorry if I am rattling on.............