How many have chronic neck pain?

[DoubleDose]

Just a question for all those out there, both the non-treaters who currently have HCV, and those who have treated, either successfully and have SVR'ed, or who have relapsed.  How many of you have been bothered by periodic stiff neck, pains in the neck and shoulders, and related pains or numbness in the neck, shoulder, and arms.  I have really noticed an increase in this problem since becoming SVR, and think that it may be connected to both the former HCV infection, which often provokes joint problems, and also to all the interferon that I did over the years.  For me, the neck issues are the most disconcerting of any of my post-tx problems, and really detract from my quality of life.  

So I would appreciate hearing from forum members as to whether you have NOT had any of these problems, or if you have, how would you describe them.  How frequent, how severe, and how widespread in physical location.  Also, please mention if you have or have not treated in the past, and if you are now SVR.  I am curious as to whether the SVR's have more joint problems, or the same as everyone else.

Thanks for any comments.  

DoubleDose

[copyman]

I have not tx'd yet and have the neck and joint paint. also numbness and tingling in my hands mostly in bed at night. I believe this has to do with just having HCV and nothing to do with tx'ing. As you have posted in the past about HCV having way more affect on the body then just the liver, i totally agree with you. I think doctors will soon realize that this is not just a liver disease.

[DoubleDose]

Thanks for the detailed response.  My problems bear a lot of similarity to yours, and I think you would be surprised if you explored Thoracic Outlet Syndrome (TOS), in light of your problems in the shoulder girdle and nerve/ blood supply outlet areas.  I have also found, through MRI's, X-Rays, Neurological testing that I have TOS, mainly due to cervical ribs that interfere with the thoracic outlet, especially when arms are elevated, or doing overhead tasks.  There are many things (bony structures, fibrosing muscle tissue, enlarged first rib, cervical ribs, etc.) that can crowd the thoracic outlet, and cause many of the problems associated with using the arms in front of the body of or overhead.

I think my problems were probable more 'latent' or not always apparent before tx, and that the tx, for a variety of reasons, really exacerbated the TOS, and the cervical stenosis issues, etc.  Lots of these issues are common in the population, but most people don't have severe symptoms.  Somehow, we are now left with extreme symptoms for any or all of our underlying abnormalities.  

Do investigate TOS online, and you will find a variety of sites and medical articles addressing this syndrome, and the damage it can do.  You may need to do regular exercises for TOS, and also avoud doing things that severly irritate the thoracic outlet.  Some people undergo surgery for extreme cases of TOS, since it can ultimately almost cripple a person over decades, if not addressed early on.  The real problem though is: what did the tx do to us that brings out these problems in such an exaggerated way???

Thanks for your interest.

DoubleDose

[jmjm530]

No neck pain here, however my mother has been suffering from neck pain and the kind of neck and shoulder stiffness and occasional numbess mentioned for many years. She does not have HCV. I do have lower back problems, however (muscular not nerve related), but then again so does my mother, and other members of my immediate family plus a number of friends my age. As mentioned, many of these problems are very common in the general population.

Janann, my brother who doesn't have HCV has also had numerous muscular issues, including night pain and has seen numerous doctors. So far no solution. Hope things work out for you as sometimes the solutions can be elusive with time often the best (and most overlooked) healer.

-- Jim

[jmjm530]

Re the lower back pain -- I had it prior to treatment but it was then resolved for many years until about a month after I stopped treating. Although it's impossible to know for sure my guess is that the relapse was caused either by the inactivity during treatment and/or muscular degeneration from the interferon. Or perhaps a combination.

I'm now almost two years post treatment and only in the last couple of months have I seen an improvement,  although only 70-80% of where my back was prior to tx. The long recovery time leads me to believe that the interferon might have played a factor, but the noticeable progress in recent weeks leads me to believe that it will be correctable with physical therapy and time.

[DoubleDose]

I appreciate your feedback on this issue.  I also wanted to keep the thread active, so that we can get more feedback from the forum members.  I would also include chronic back and spinal problems in general to my question.  I would love to see how many with HCV have NOT had either chronic back, neck, thoracic, or related problems during their active HCV infection, or after their tx'es.  I would be willing to bet that the number of problem cases would be significantly above that of the general population, for the same age groups.  I would also love to see a large study looking at this issue.

As we know, many rheumatologists now routinely look for HCV when a new patient complains of arthritic, or skeletal problems.  This leads me to believe that these problems must be highly correlated to HCV.  I would bet we would also find that tx might add a few more problem cases to the overall percentages.  Here again, where are the studies, and who is asking these questions?  My neck would like some answers.  

DoubleDose

[jmjm530]

I"m a big believer in Ockham's razor, i.e. the simpliest answer is often the right answer.

In the case of HCV, if you didn't have a sympton pre-treatment -- and develop it during treatment or post treatment. Or if a pre-existing condition gets worse on treatment, or after treatment -- then in most probablity it's the treatment that caused the problem and not the HCV.

This is not to say that extra-hepatic symptons don't exist, I'm sure they do -- but so do tx-related symptons that often last beyond treatment -- and ironically in some cases they are the same. Take the metabolic syndrome for example. HCV supposedly makes it worse. But then again, so does interferon.