Has anyone heard of this happening with PCa? Don has had bad head pain and neck pain for over five weeks. Today, in Emerge for the second day in a row (and pain controlled by dilaudid), the very efficient neuro said none of the tests showed anything significant other than the known small mets in the occipital area of the spine. The "only other thing" she could think of was cancer cells in the spinal fluid and we are awaiting the results of this. The prognosis for this is terrible. I know it is very rare but I'm scared stiff. Certainly headaches are a symptom, but these are usually accompanied by nausea and various problems in other body functions. If the test comes out negative, she will order an MRI. I'm feeling really sick but Don says he feels just fine otherwise and seems to be smiling a lot. I've asked him to stay away from forums for a while and, since he's busy at work, he won't see this and know how concerned I am.

Two years ago, I was getting muscle pain, chest pains, fatigue where I could barely walk. When I got shortness of breath, we went to the ER. The doctor really suspected a heart attack. But after two days of tests (stress tests, blood tests, etc.), they eliminated the scary stuff. I had recently started Lipitor and I suspected this was a SE of the drug. I stopped Lipitor. It took 3-4 weeks, but all resolved.

 

Could this be a SE of your medication(s)? Look carefully. Look at the timing

 

Mel

Post Edited (compiler) : 6/17/2014 9:50:23 PM (GMT-6)

Thank you, for thinking of me among all you are dealing with. Part of me is still sorting out my feelings about my departure plans. I want to do what is right in my decision, and I don't want it to be for selfish reasons.

This neuro, was an egotist par excellent, wearing cowboy type clothes (including the hat/boots), and as he was administering the tap, he kept jerking his hands around, bragging about his rodeo skills, etc.

As a nurse, my wife was horrified, and told him a couple of times, to stop moving around so much. He ended up twisting the big needle deep into the wrong spot, and kept twisting it around. I was 20 on the 1-10 pain scale, if possible, and everything went white before my eyes, hurt so bad I burst into tears from the pain. It was as if my entire body was a rotten tooth, and a dentist drilled right into it, best analogy I can come up with. They were looking for early signs of MS. So that was my first and last spinal tap. I would have to be put under if I absolutely had to have one, seriously.

I am so glad that Don was spared that extra pain from his, he is and has suffered enough. For obvious reason, I am very sensitive to anyone here that is dealing with any kind of chronic pain. I rarely get headaches, perhaps once or twice a year, so I would not like having constant pain in my head as you describe with him. Sounds horrid.

As far as Dilaudid, I think its one of the best pain meds on the planet, when administered in a hospital setting via an IV, but when my oncologist had me try it (before we went to Fentanyl) in pill form, I found it to be way weaker and not every effective. I was surprised at how different it was. Those on morphine pills often report that same thing, as compared to IV Morphine.

If for some reason, I am gone before you get any definitive results, please e-mail me an update if you possibly have time, I really want to know how he's faring.

David

MLN...
Keeping you guys in thoughts and prayers for some type of resolution and reduction of pain. I can tell you are beyond nervous about this. Will keep you in prayers for that as well.

David,
Did you look up what Tall Allen posted about paraneoplastic syndrome?
It has quite a few of your symptoms.

Thanks for posting the info, Tall Allen. As usual, I learn some new each time.