Expert: Dr. Timothy K. Durnin - 5/31/2010

Question
Hi

I have suffered with chronic neck and right shoulder pain for years. Im 36, and as far as I know there was no trauma.

Every night when i go to bed it's achey but not bad, i wake in the morning and from the right side of where my neck meets my skull all the way through my neck and right shoulder is stiff and sore... sometimes unmovable and siezed up. It takes a lot of massage and painkillers to numb it enough to carry on my day. After a bad attack it can take days to get it to calm down to a dull ache again.

I have tried exercise, rest, posture correction and changing lifestyle (i work on computers and tried taking a few weeks off but little change)i also tried multiple pillow positions and now have a special neck pillow which used to help a bit, but not much. I cannot look to my right without moving my body some days. When being massaged i noticed a sore spot about half way down my back on the right side of my spine, about level with my lowest rib.

After years of this coming and going in intensity i had a breakdown a year ago, and have been on very low dose antidepressants. I have recently stopped taking them (on advice due to my depression easing up) and now even though i don't feel depressed or anxious particularly, my pain is back with a vengeance.

For the last cpl years i have also had sporadic eye problems, I was given glasses to use at the computer even tho i didnt really need them, to help avoid eyestrain or if my eyes felt bad that day. My neck and shoulder are bad at the moment and i feel a bit dizzy, and when i look all the way to the left or right my head spins a bit, it feels like i am crossing my eyes, similar faint feeling.

My depression was confusing, as it came from nowhere and I never worked out the reason for it. I was not traumatised, and didnt have a particularly stressful life, i was in pain regularly but i was happy and fine before i had the breakdown. I wondered if it was hormonal, as I used to have stomach problems that appeared to be hormone related and i cannot take contraceptives as they make me sick for weeks.

My doctor insists that my pain is stress related, but i dont feel stressed, and the pain doesn't seem to relate to stressful incidents that often.

I am always tired, and sleep often doesn't help much with that, and my muscles tend to shake when i do anything very strenuous that isn't usual, ie holding a baby for 10 minutes makes my arms shake and feel weak.
I also jiggle my legs almost constantly when im sitting down, but again, which Im told is a nervous thing, but as I dont feel stressed or nervous I'm not sure whether there is any link with that.

Please help me with any ideas you have, I'm positive that with my fairly healthy lifestyle and good diet I shouldn't feel like this at 36!

Thankyou so much for reading this.

Emma Peters

Answer
Hi Emma,

Did you have a MRI of the neck? I need to know this since this should have been the first test ordered. Regular X-ray will not show all the soft tissue and discs that may be displaced. My email is drtimothydurnin@comcast.net, please e-mail me your response and I will personally help you.

Thank you,
Dr Timothy Durnin