Confused with referral and symptoms

[twinmummi]

I am looking for a little advice, please bear with me as it is a longish story!

I went to the doctors at the beginning of April this year as I had noticed a numb patch the size of my palm on my right wrist, I had also had a patch on my thigh last year...as soon as I told the GP he sent me for an MRI and said he needed to rule out MS, of course I was taken aback as I am a healthy 40 yr old woman.

So, I had an Mri of my cervical spine and head in May and was referred to a neurologist by the GP when he got the scan back as there were 'bright spots'. Fast forward to July, I received an appt, which was then cancelled.

Something else happened to me in this period, I have been getting blurred vision in my left eye after exercise and when I was on holiday in the heat, I went to the opticians and after a thorough check he told me I had something called pigment dispersal syndrome...he referred me to an ophthalmologist. I saw him last month and he stated it was not PDS and that my eyes were ok, it wasn't till the end of the appt I thought to tell him I had a neurologist appt, he called up my notes and said it may have something to do with this...he said the name of another syndrome that causes blurring and is also related to MS, as you can imagine this frightened me further!

I have been suffering with pain in my head and neck, I have a burning pain in my left shoulder blade with a pulling pain travelling down my left arm. My right arm is numb again at the wrist and my thumb and through my wrist is so tender. I feel like a total hypochondriac.

I posted in the MS help section here and some one advised me to get a copy of my MRI, I didn't even think or know I could do this!

After picking it up, there were a few things mentioned in the neck scan that got me thinking that maybe all the issues I have been having are to do with my neck rather than my brain. As extra info...I prolapsed L4 & 5 in 2013 and have had spinal injections for this, I suffer with pain and sciatica still from this.

Here are the results of the scans, I am thinking maybe I need an orthopaedic referral rather than neuro? Thanks for reading!

Head:

There are a few high signal foci noted mainly frontal lobes with high signal foci noted in the posterior left parietal lobe adjacent to the trig one of the left ventricle. They appear unchanged when compared to MRI of 2011. The differential include foci of demyelination or microangopathic ischaemic changes. The ventricles are normal in size.

Spine:

There is loss of physiological cervical lordosis. Degenerative change noted at c5/6 and c6/7 with that at 5/6 narrowing the right nerve root canal. Cervical spinal canal is adequate cervical cord is of normal thickness. There is no abnormality at the craniocervical junction.

[philnoir]

When a patient presents with multiple problems, a primary care doctor must decide which problem has the greatest potential for harm, and prioritize treatment to minimize that harm.

From the story you tell, perhaps your doctor believes that your neurological problems need to be addressed first and foremost.

However, there is no reason why your doctor cannot treat your pain.

Did you talk with him/her about this?

[Twinmummi123]

Hi thanks for your comments,

I definitely don't want surgery or was even thinking of it...the GP has referred me to the neuro but I was wondering if it would be best to ask for a referral to a consultant about my back as all my GP is offering is pain relief (Valium) I am paying to see an osteopath and have seen a physio but the pain is getting worse.

[philnoir]

Hello and welcome to the spine forum,

Although cervical disc disease may be causing some pain radiating pain in the arm or shoulder, looking to surgery to solve a pain problem is not a wise first step. Surgery should always be reserved as a final treatment when all conservative treatments have failed. Even then, surgery should be entered into with great caution.

Try treatment with physiotherapy for cervical symptoms. You may be pleasantly surprised.

On the other hand, I would pursue neurological answers to dizziness, blurred vision, and other symptoms.

Let your GP guide your treatment.

Best wishes.