Spasticity or Relapse????

[jkp79]

Ok. So my back has been hurting between my shoulder blades really bad. Sometimes it is numb and tingly other times it burns worse than any sun burn I have ever had. But it always hurts. It has been this way for about 2 months. Dr prescribed nuerontin for nerve pain. I assumed at this point it was spacticity but my nuero never gives anything a name. She has upped my dosage of nueronting 2xs. I am now taking 1600 mg a day. I went in for a check up on Monday and now she thinks we need to do an MRI of the T spine to check for new "active" lesions, which by the way don't know what "active" means.

So now I am awaiting my MRI appointment (Monday next week) and not sure if I should be hoping for a lesion which might take to steroid treatment, but mean another relapse and possible a dx of progressive since I was just dx in Feb; or hope for spaciticity which may never ease.

Any thoughts or suggestions on this?

[rdmc]

Do you take an anti-spasticity med? Neurontin doesn't do squat for spasticity. If you haven't tried one of the anti-spasticity meds, might be a good experiment to try a low dose of one and see if you get any relief.

[sunshine008]

hi

i'm brand new at this also, yet i find that even when i'm not flaring up i'll still be a bit tight.

I find stretching each morning is very helpful to relieve it ontop of whatever meds the doc prescribes for you. right now for me just doing the stretching alone is working.

active to me means there are old lesions of which the flare ups from past have occured, and active ones mean that their just that activated, you can actually see those ones on the mri for me they usually show up bright on the pics.

i went online some time ago and researched diff stretches because i too have major back issues and i found some great ones to do.

good luck with mri

and i'm not an expert, like i said i'm new yet just because you may have some new lesions i dont' think and the other's will correct me if i'm wrong that they would dx you progressive already. I would think it takes a bit of time after initial diagnosis to watch the progression in order to dx that.

I was dx'd about a mos half ago, and have had a really bad flare up that followed and we found tons of lesions on my brain stem and cervical spine. yet i'm still relapse remitting.

[jkp79]

I have only been prescribed the nuerontin and of course my wonderfull copaxone.

As for stretching I do try to do that as often as I can however right now I work full time and am the mother of 8 month old twins so you can do the math on my time restraints.

What are some of the spasticity meds? Maybe I can suggest them to my nuero.

[rdmc]

I have only been prescribed the nuerontin and of course my wonderfull copaxone.

As for stretching I do try to do that as often as I can however right now I work full time and am the mother of 8 month old twins so you can do the math on my time restraints.

What are some of the spasticity meds? Maybe I can suggest them to my nuero.

There are a couple: Zanaflex (Tizanidine) and Baclofen. Some people also use a drug from the Benzodiazepene family for spasms (Klonopin, Valium, etc.) But your neuro is more like to start with either the Zanaflex or Baclofen. Make sure you have him start at a small dosage because they can make you very sleepy. Zanaflex normal dose is 4 mg, but it does come in 2 mg pills as well...Baclofen, they usually start you out at 5 or 10 mg. Just allow for the fact that they might make you sleepy when you try the first one.

[jumpinjiminy]

Hi jk, once you mentioned the 8 mo old twins, a memory flashed through my mind. When my son was an infant, I had the same pain. I'd seen 5 chiros and as many massage therapists to try and work it out. None of them could do it. What finally worked as to roll on a tennis ball against the wall. It hurt worse for the next couple of days, but after that never came back. They just couldn't find 'the' spot that was nagging me.

It was from cuddling and feeding my son, the long hours of cradling him and looking down overworked that area of my back. It was fatigued and tense all the time, never getting a break.

Always a possibility . . .

[salamandertom]

I have that - right about my bra line. Mine will sometimes stretch around to my chest too. VERY painful. MS hug. YUCK. I am sorry you are dealing with it too. We do both neurotin and baclofen. I take 1200 gabapentin and 60 mg of baclofen. Still hurts - alot - but much better than before. I mean, some days are really bad but some are managable.

GOOD LUCK. It stinks, ALOT. HUGS

[jkp79]

Thanks to all for your suggestions and support. I will speak to my nuero about all of this at my next appointment. In the mean time I will try the tennis ball. I will try anything at this point.

Thanks again.

[jkp79]

Results

Ok, so Nuero called yesterday and left a message no active lesions in the T spine. Now my question is if it is not an active lesion causing the pain; is there anything I can do about it? Do I have to live with this the rest of my life?

The gabapentin/nuerontin does lessen the pain but the nuero keeps upping the script because after about a month the pain is almost as bad as when I started the meds. So then if that's the case is nuerontin the best med for me? Is it nerve pain? Is it spacticity? How do you know the difference and what am I supposed to do?

I don't think I can keep going like this, and bless his heart my dear hubby thinks that all I really need is more rest. He said when things slow down after the 4th of July I should just stay on the couch for a couple of weekends. Sweet and I know his heart is in the right place but I don't think sleep is the answer.

Can anyone give me a clue?