I’m delighted and I’m furious: neck problem finally diagnosed and getting treatment

Maddyone
I could cry for you, and I’m bloody lived for what you’ve gone through 😡

How great that you are finally getting to the root of the problem and hopefully getting it resolved! Good luck.

I’m so glad you’ve finally got this sorted. Did they ever say exactly what is was or give you a specific diagnosis?

Sadly I don't think this is unusual now in the NHS.

I am glad that at long last things are happening in a good way and hope that you will get a good result and be free of pain very soon.

What is the condition?

I'm absolutely horrified, and yet sadly not really surprised,that all these experts don't have a holistic overview of what might have been the cause. It seems like a huge waste of resources time and money for both you and the NHS.. Surely one of those specialists could have seen further than their own specialism.. I hope you will be pain free soon

So pleased for you that after years of pain you have finally got the answers and soon to have the treatment.

Despite my long post, I’ve given quite a potted version. So yes, I have stenosis of the spine in the neck area. It’s age related and very common. It means that my spine has narrowed and is pressing on the nerve in my spinal cord which is causing the pain in my hand.

I'm pleased you've got it sorted, Maddy. I understand your frustration that it took so long, but fingers crossed (no pun intended!) you will be better very soon.

Isn't it frustrating. I do feel bad for you, and can tell you that here is Canada there is much the same runaround.

My older sister was suffering from pain and numbness in her fingers and up her arm. It took months of to and fro to figure out that they suspected her neck instead of her arm, and more months to get on a wait list for a scan. The scan was cancelled a few times at the last minute.

The finally deduced the pain was from degenerating discs in her neck, and it was too far gone to do anything. So now she lives with the pain. Thankfully here, CBD is legal, and she gets pills that help relieve pain and allow her to sleep. Conventional pain killers really upset her stomach and bowels.

I do hope you get relief from the shot they will give. Do you know what sort of shot it is, and what it is proposed to do? I'm assuming a steroid injection to relieve inflammation?

Spitting feathers maddyone, I hope the injection sorts it out at long last.

What a hard experience for you maddyone, you have my sympathy, pain is so debilitating. I looked up to see how many hospitals do spinal surgery, and apparently there are only 40 in the whole of England, which is probably why there was such reluctance to refer you, as exploring other avenues first is gatekeeping the potential demand on services. The only way access would improve is a very significant investment in expanding or opening more centres of excellence I presume. I know that’s no consolation of course, and am glad you now have a way forward.

I read your post maddyone and no it was not boring.

The two things that occurred to me was firstly just how much NHS money was wasted with these stupid protocols about who can speak to who and what hoops you have to jump through before what really needs to be done is done.

The second is that they then wonder why people decide, if they can possibly afford it, to go privately.

DH and I both went through similar run ins, I with casrpsl ttunnel problems, he with a trapped nerve. In his case we went privstely becuse of the psin he was in. I stuck with the NHS and it took months of tests that both GP and consultant could see no need for in my case, because my need for the op was so obvious before it was finally approved.

I am so happy for you!
You will feel like a new woman when you receive the treatment.
It’s frightening how much pain your body learns to tolerate and the damaging effect lots of drugs can have on you.

I had a year of severe pain due to a renal problem, I was on 15 pills a day and still going to work somehow, I finally had surgery got off all the pills and felt and looked like a different person.

You must be so relieved.

maddyone, I feel for you. After fracturing two vertebrae and walking about for six months, not knowing I had done this. My GP said he didn't think there was anything seriously wrong! My R.A consultant spotted them on a whole body scan I had, along with two stress fractures in my foot! Eventually I had surgery to repair the fractures.
Unfortunately a nerve was damaged during the procedure and I needed even more intervention. I have never known pain like it, it was more painful than the fractures themselves, so I can totally empathise with your pain (and frustration).

Onwards and upwards! 💐

Unfortunately this merry-go-round is not only distressing for the patient but wastes NHS money, as you go back and forth down one dead end after another.

It particularly irks me that your GP would not refer to spinal consultant without you first going to see a physio. This really is such nonsense, and can be dangerous - diagnosis first, physio second (if it is relevant).

I read it and feel for you, maddyone

This kind of thing goes on all the time and that the waiting lists are in fact far worse than we are told.

I thought I was on a waiting list for a knee replacement but when I chased it up, was told I wasn't on the list because I'd seen a nurse, not a consultant (she led me to believe she was a doctor) and hadn't put me on ths list because I'd declined to have the operation. Untrue. She lied.
A friend heard nothing about the same operation, when she chased it up she was told they'd taken her off the list and sent her a letter telling her to self-refer to physiotherapy. She never received a letter.

Even the nurse practitioner at our surgery says she hears about this all the time, people finding out they have never been put on waiting lists.
In the meanwhile, they boast that the waiting lists are shorter here than in other areas.

I hope all goes well now you have managed to see the right person but it should never have taken this long!

It particularly irks me that your GP would not refer to spinal consultant without you first going to see a physio. This really is such nonsense, and can be dangerous - diagnosis first, physio second (if it is relevant)

Yes, that is shocking!

Luckygirl3

Unfortunately this merry-go-round is not only distressing for the patient but wastes NHS money, as you go back and forth down one dead end after another.

It particularly irks me that your GP would not refer to spinal consultant without you first going to see a physio. This really is such nonsense, and can be dangerous - diagnosis first, physio second (if it is relevant).

It’s not that simple though Luckygirl13, is it? If a specialist service like spinal surgery was subject to all referrals GPs thought might be for them it would be completely flooded with people, many of whom would not be in need of a spinal surgeon’s help. It has always been a gate-kept service for that reason, but now the NHS is so under resourced the demand is not being met, the referral processes have slowed down, and patients who do genuinely need the specialist service, like maddyone have to wait far longer than they should.

Maddyone your post was informative, not at all boring but I’m so sorry you had to go through so much and for so long to receive a diagnosis and the prospect of a cure.

So sorry you experienced this Maddyone, but this is a prime example of everything that is wrong with the NHS. It needs investment, but it also needs a complete overhaul from the top down, for services to be streamlined and for communication between departments to be improved. There is so much time wasting and duplication. I speak as someone who has worked for the NHS.

Maddyone - I am sorry you have had such a long wait in pain to get what you need.
I think the NHS is currently designed to put you off persisting in trying to resolve your health issues. I asked for an appointment in June last year for digestive issues. I got a telephone consultation with a pharmacist who prescribed blood tests and gaviscon. I was told the tests were clear so nothing wrong with me. I said my symptoms were still bad. It was another wait for a GP phone call and another prescription. After a third prescription and little improvement I was told I needed to book a routine appointment on line. I finally saw a GP in September, three months after I asked to see a doctor. He referred me to hospital.

I'm pleased you persevered and finally found a light at the end of the tunnel. What a frustrating experience.

So pleased you finally have a diognosis! You have gone through so much and been very stoical during a very distressing few years . Pain is emotionally and physically exhausting. I wish you well with your treatment and hope you get your life back ASAP. 💐

I slipped on stairs and suffered from a very painful back. After several weeks I saw a GP who didn’t explore the injury but referred me directly to a physio. The physio ran her fingers along my spine and suggested I needed to see an orthopaedic surgeon urgently. Fortunately we had health insurance since an x-ray showed one vertebra in two pieces. I saw an interventionist radiotherapist who injected super glue under pressure - instant relief but only because we could pay to be seen quickly. Still don’t know whether walking around for six weeks with an unstable fracture was risky but suspect it was