shaking, jerking and the spine

[opsomyo]

Hi,
I have had neck/back pain since a young child. I am 31 now. I had whiplash from being startled by a spider in June. I started doing Yoga which helped until Sept. when I started having severe muscle cramps in my legs and feet. My hand began to "wobble" back and forth when I would set down a drink etc. Since, my muscles jerk, including the ones in my neck, making my head jerk. The tremor then began in my other hand, mostly in one finger. My arms started hurting like I hit my funny bone and now I am having cramping in my hand. My thyroid, potassium etc was checked. I had an MRI of my head and one of my neck. The cervical mri showed a hernated disc pressing into the spinal cord. I was sent to physical therapy for a month, I am halfway through and feel worse than before, I now am having cramping in my neck and back. Do you think the disc could be causing the shaking and jerking? Since to me it seems to be progressing, would you recommend I get an opinion from a back specialist, I am currently seeing a neurologist. I am a student scheduled to start classes in two weeks and am wondering if I will have to have surgery, I am thinking I should drop my classes, especially since I am in this much pain. I don't see the doctor until too late to ask him but am wondering what you forsee medically likely to happen in the near future.
Thank You
Jennifer

[YankeeBeckham]

Hi Jennifer,
Its really difficult to make any kind of prognosis without seeing you directly. If it helps you to decide, I'm a full time student and I also have chronic pain problems, so going to school can be done, but it can be difficult at times, too. It takes a lot of flexibility and patience to figure out how you can best manage. Herniated discs can be very painful and problematic, so I suppose they could account for your symptoms, but I'm no expert on the matter. You may want to consider seeing a neurosurgeon who specializes in treating spine problems. The decision to have surgery or not is a big one that you need to make with the help of your doctor. Conservative therapy is usually the first step, as you're doing now with your physical therapy, and surgery such as a fusion is usually considered if the conservative therapy fails. I would recommend talking to your doctor to discuss whether he thinks surgery is right for you. Good luck and keep us posted!

[Dr. Joshua]

Doctor Sinuhe has answered your question here:
http://askdoctorjoshua.com/2007/01/14/whiplash-injury-symptoms/

[opsomyo]

Thank you for the input. It is hard to sit around waiting for answers when you feel crappy. The back/neck pain comes and goes, sometimes it is untolerable but mostly just annoying. The pains I have now change daily, but I can deal with that if i must. The problem that bothers me the most is the tremor and jerking. The more I do, the more I shake, jerk and twitch. I hate that feeling. Now, when I smile, one of my cheeks trembles, the other pulls down into my neck. I am also having blurred vision that last 8+ hours.
The neuro said he didnt see any spinal cord damage, that is why he sent me to physical therapy. He seems to think it is all form the herniated disc.
I have other symptoms that he thinks are stress ( ihave a dughter with Opsoclonus Myoclonus Syndrome from a neuroblastoma that was removed six years ago, the other has Tourrette's). I started having nightterrors and nightsweats 3 years ago. Also, My lymph nodes tend to swell and hurt. I also recently became lactose intolerant. All of these things are probably not related but I wonder if the disc is a red herring. Since my daughters both have movement disorders, I associate these symptoms as neurological, not really related to the disc.
I have had tons of tests though. At first I was having cramping in my chest so my cholesterol (138) was checked along with my thyroid. They tested me for everything from syphilis to b vitamins, glucose, calcium. I had a complete metabolic profile, cbc, hormones, arthritis. I also had an eeg, emg, 3 mris-head, cervical spin, and thoracic spine. According to the tests, I am very healthy aside from all these crazy problems.
Thanks again, That is the extent of what I can type for now.
Jen