resilient

My problem began in October of 2014. I turned towards my left while sitting, heard a pop and could not stand upright without severe pain. Pain was running down my right leg. (I had had similar but minor issues to this but it would last 1-2 days and then improve. ) This pain continued for 5 days and I went to the doctor. They did an x-ray and found spondylolisthesis and assumed disc herniation. I was put on steroids and symptoms improved slightly but alternated between both legs. I had a follow up study at orthopedics and they did x-rays with me lying down in multiple positions. They found sacral arthritic changes but nothing else.

I would work for another 8 months with pain in low back, legs and feet.

I finally went to a physiatrist in June 2015 and he did MRI and films which are included. Prior to seeing him a child who weighed over 100lbs ran up to me and fell on my left shoulder. I had neck and face pain for several weeks but improved after . I learned how to work on my knees to eliminate abnormal foot sensation which included numbness between 2nd and third toes and pain in my back.

I had PT over the summer and stopped in December 2015. My pain appeared to get slightly better but then increased to my entire mid to low back in Nov. 2015. I sought out the opinion of both a neurosurgeon and orthopedic specialist in 2016 (tests included bone scan and EMG which showed some mild changes in muscle function in my right and left leg and on the bone scan there were some signs of increased inflammation in my sacrum). They said no surgery needed.

I had epidural steroid injection in low back in Jan. 2016 without much relief.

I started having dizziness with loss of balance and shoes and socks felt so painful. I had consult with ENT and neurologist as well as PT who deals with balance disorders. The balance problems resolved over a 2.5 month period. I started having burning in feet and tingling along with the numbness in between 2nd and third toe. Symptoms increased with my menstrual cycle. Back pain would sear up my spine from buttocks to head and also shoot down my legs.

I started walking more and took the summer off. I read Sarno and went to Dr. Gwadz in NJ. I was gradually able to increase my walking without back pain shooting down legs and up spine.

I started full time work in August but had an intern who was helping me. I had difficulty sitting in a chair due to sciatica.

Over the period of several months, the numbness between the toes of my right foot disappeared and I was doing more and walking more frequently. However, still having set-backs with menstrual cycle.

In November my intern left and my feet were very painful as I started to do more. I was still having parasthesias in feet but was gradually able to increase sitting time in a chair. Started noticing increased vibration sense in feet and had pain shooting into pelvic area but back pain and range of motion continued to improve. Numbness in toes came back but changed location to between 1st and 2nd toes on both feet.

In December, started PT again and he mobilized low back and started exercise program. Little toe on left numb after treatments. One day after standing for prolonged time, I felt strong heartbeat in back for about 1 hour and then started to only feel vibration in feet the next day. It gradually increased until for several days you could tap my malleolus and all I felt was vibration in my feet.

I started having an increase in strange twitching/sensations in my head on the left (above the ear) and these strange cold feelings/shivers that ran from my neck to midback or down my leg. The vibration in my feet increased with neck flexion. My hands were also falling asleep more and so my primary care did a MRI of my C-spine which showed arthritic changes as well as some disc bulging and some changes in my odontoid process which may have been congenital. The vibration in my feet started to increase with vibrating sounds such as a fan, heater, etc.

I had a hysterectomy about 4 weeks ago because the neurosurgeon thought that it may be sitting on or close to some nerves. I also had pelvic pain, frequent need to urinate and constipation as well as bleeding.

I have had strange sensations in both legs and my feet were awful initially. I also appear to have some weakness in my right leg as well as pain in my posterior thigh and hip which increases with prolonged standing or sitting. The most bothersome is the vibration in my feet which increases with standing and sometimes with sitting. My feet also feel like they are falling asleep while sitting. The other thing that occurs at times is an intense burning sensation in my feet especially when standing upright or sitting. I am so tired of all of the pain and can no longer find a comfortable position to relax. I feel like I should be able to deal with this since I am a PT but I don't know what to do.

I have been working with a TMS counselor via phone and she is wonderful but my progress has been slow. I do have some anger which stems from some childhood issues and I know that I give too much and don't take enough time for myself. I had OCD as a child and some strange TMS dizziness when I got married. Additionally, this started when my daughter, our first child, left for college. I felt sad and it changed our family dynamics. I currently live with my husband and son and they are getting tired of me being sick and in pain all the time. I have been confused about whether this was a tissue problem or TMS. I think that the fibroid was not helping things but I am also anxious and so many of my symptoms above seem to be related to TMS. I would love to hear from others who have some advice for me.