First, while we all understand being in pain is difficult, you have to calm down because yelling at any doctors usually winds up with you getting dismissed.
Who went over the MRI report with you? One thing that often happens is people get their hands on the report, start searching terms on the internet and start jumping to conclusions about
what those terms mean in regard to themsrlves. An MRI or CT report lists anatomical findings, and many of the things you read on them sound scary, but are a part of what they see. Doesn't mean that the things are serious, or even the cause of pain.
DDD is a term used to describe a naturally occurring aging of the hydration of the discs as you get older. The discs do not have their own hydration system, so over decades, they very slowly loose some of the hydration. Similar to a jelly donut. At first, it is soft and squishy, but if you leave it out on the counter , the jelly is slowly going to dry out. This process occurs over decades, unless you are really hard on your back, and most of the population will have some amount of DDD showing in any imaging report or MRI report. Unless it says moderate to severe, it isn't usually considered a problem.
While a herniation isn't a good thing, it really depends on three things, the size and direction of the herniation, and whether or not there is contact with the nerve roots or spinal cord that determines whether or not a herniation is serious or not.
The word stenosis simply means narrowing. In the spine, it can mean a narrowing of the foramen, where the nerves exit at each level of the spine, or the spinal cord canal. Three things determine whether or not stenosis is a problem . The
location and degree of the narrowing, and whether or not the nerve roots or cord are being compressed. You can have stenosis but no nerve or cord compression, just as you can have a herniation without it touching the nerves or cord.
Bulging discs are a common finding , and all it really means is that jelly doughnut is out pouches a bit. Most "bulges" are what are called broad based, meaning that one side is sitting slightly outside it's normal margins. Bulging can appear due to position,and muscle spasms as well.
The straightening of the cervical lordotic curve can also be because of muscle spasms, but like all of the other conditions, the degree and severity of it is what matters.
Unfortunately, all medications have side effects, most going away in a few weeks once your body adjusts to them. It is very important that you clarify which medications you are supposed to be taking and which you should be discontinuing.
Typically, when you see a new doctor, you should discontinue meds prescient by other doctors for the same condition, and it appears that you are taking the meds given to you preciously, along with adding the new ones. You are taking similar meds used to treat the same type of pain, which can easily result in accidental overdose, and/ or severe side effects. Call your new pm office and find out which you should be taking and which ones to discontinue asap.
Also, medications like gabapentin, cymbalta, baclofen also need time and many times dosage adjustments to get the benefit of them. Do not adjust dosages on your own, let your doctor's guide you.
Mrs123, I made some paragraphs in your post to make it easier to read. Thanks. Susie
Post Edited By Moderator (straydog) : 1/3/2016 11:46:17 AM (GMT-7)