Hi doctor,
I am having symptoms that exist with the following. Muscles pull against each other in my neck and lower spine. I have tension running up my head from the neck and down my left arm. I have horrible pain in the flanks and sciatica down both legs and lower back.
The doctor prescribed Gabapentin 300 mg, Baclofen 10 mg daily, Tramadol 50 mg two to eight times a day, and iron supplements. Furomiside 20 mg a day. Tizanidine one to three at night.
The following MRI report on my neck.
MRI cervical spine findings,
Sagittal T1W and T2W and T2W spin echo and T2 W gradient echo images were obtained.
- The sagittal images show normal alignment, but there is some loss of the normal cervical lordosis, and the vertebral bodies all look normal. There is no abnormal signal in the cervical cord.
- At C5-C6, there is a minor loss of disk height and disc bulges posteriorly. There is a minor canal narrowing here, but the cord is not compressed. There is also some narrowing on the left C6 exit foramen, and there may be very early compression of the exiting nerve root. The right C6 exit foramen looks normal.
At all other levels, normal appearances are demonstrated.
Conclusion.
There is a broad-based bulge of C5 and C6, which I suspect slightly compresses the left C6 nerve root. No cause is demonstrated for the right-sided symptoms, however.
My Lower back image results are as follows.
MRI spinal Lumbarsacral.
Technique routine multiplanar, multisequence imaging of the lumbar spine, including a sagittal STIR sequence.
- Comparison made with the previous study; there is a previous left laminotomy and microdiscectomy at L4L5, and a broad left L5 transverse process articulates with the S1 segment alar.
- Normal vertebrae body heights and alignments, at L4L5, there is a disc height loss and posterior broad discus protrusion. This is prominent on the right and left paracentral aspects; on the right side, the bulging is no different from the previous, causing mild right L5 neural impingements at the lateral recess. The disc bulging at the left paracentral aspect abuts the left L5 nerve, and there is also no difference to previous no perineural fibrosis.
- There is minor disc dehydration at the other lumber levels but no focal neural impingement. The pars interarticularis is intact. Normal terminal cord and cauda equina.
Conclusion.
- No significant interval change of the broad posterior disc bulging at L4L5 prominence at the right paracentral aspect causing mild impingement of the right L5 nerve in the lateral recess disc abuts the left L5 nerve at the lateral recess.
So my question is, what does all this mean, and what are my options, cause I am in horrible pain every single solitary day, and this has been going on well over the last two years with the lower back.