Guest guest Posted January 14, 2010 Report Share Posted January 14, 2010 Rhiannon, About the " belly breathing. " Just some info I learned. After my severe injury, I had speech therapy for six months. ONe thing she taught me is " diaphragmatic breathing, " and that is when you breathe in such a way that your abdomen rises and falls with each breath. This is actually the proper way to breathe. So, just thought i'd mention that for what it is, or is not, worth. I strongly urge you to have the chest pains checked out with a cardiologist. There are some heart issues that can accompany various problems that also accompany Chiari. It would be good to rule out, the heart thing! About the test for MS, inparadise and others can surely tell you more than I can about this. But what I learned about the testing for MS is that there are 3 tests that they go through to dx MS. They are: an LP to rule out Lyme and infection and such; an SSEP to see if the sx are coming from the peripheral or central nervous systems, and a brain MRI which looks for typical MS lesions (they fall in a certain pattern). I also remember reading that MS actually cannot be determined for certain until after a patient passes and an autopsy is done, but there might be new information on that tidbit of info by now. I just mention all of this because you have MS in your family and you mention having one test done and MS was ruled out. I might question that " ruling out. " But I wish would see this and comment on it as I trust her input much more than mine! I'm so sorry about your situation and pain. No one should have to live in such agony and pain 24/7! Sadly, that is the case of most everyone here, and my prayers are for you (us) all! Virginia > > Hi everyone. Please bear with me as I may get all out of whack here, but I have a bunch of questions...and I'm not sure they will end up in any sort of order. So, hopefully I don't mess up all your minds trying to sort mine out so I can hopefully get a few answers. > > 1. Does anyone get chest pains? These are very sharp and kind of burning pains. It's not heartburn. I feel the same pain in my back at times too, though not when I feel it in my chest. > > 2. Is it weird that I breathe more with my abdomen than I do with my chest? I've been paying closer attention to the way things are with me and I've noticed that I'm a belly breather. Does anyone else think this may be a problem, something I should maybe worry about and discuss with my NS? > > 3. Does anyone ever feel like their body is solidifying? Right now all my joints and muscles from the waist up feel like they're freezing in place. I'm stiff, and it's painful. Heat isn't helping and there's not enough ice around to ice myself from the waist up. It's hard to move. Just typing this makes me want to cry because my fingers hurt so bad. But I have to ask these questions. I have to know if anyone else ever feels any of these things I feel. I have no sensitive pressure areas, so fibromyalgia is not the problem, though a rheumatologist tried to say that is what's wrong. My NS didn't think that was it either. Does MS cause this kind of stiffness and pain? I have a family history (though small) of MS. I also have hypothyroidism (an autoimmune disorder). These both put me at risk of developing MS. I've been tested and that test was negative (though I think that neurologist just wanted to appease me and get me out of his hair. plus, it wasn't the > best of ways to test for MS, so I'm still concerned). > > Great, I lost the other questions I had. I hate having such a bad memory. Wow, I'm glad I type fast or this message would have broken my stiff fingers. Lol. > > Thanks to anyone that can give me any insight. > Niccy > > > > > > Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted January 14, 2010 Report Share Posted January 14, 2010 I was going to respond to your email last night but I will try here. And I know what you forgot to ask the group since it was in my email. But let me try some of your q's below too. I don't feel very coherent yet today, so I might be all over the place and not get out how I want to say something. 1. For Chest pains you might consider is what was just posted by someone...the rib cage. And especially Costochondritis which is mostly felt in the front and in the bottom of the sternum. (where mine started thru to back only, and now my entire bottom of rib cage, May be a 6 inch band all around...can't say exactly. When I researched my pain I also found DISH correlating to the costochondritis that my Cardiologist dx'd for me. Look this up, see if it MIGHT fit. Look up Diffuse Idiopathic Skeletal Hyperostosis. Only my blood work doesn't show this. My PCP had done plain x-rays I requested last year and I have complete spine osteophytes that are long and protruding. He just said my spine was older than I was. 2. Maybe you need plain x-rays and Rheumatologist to look at them, or someone who can read them for autoimmune disorders such as DISH, or Ankylosing Spondylitis if you also have lumbar problems as I do. (I have my full spine x-rays and I think they look horrible in osteophytes, but I have no specialist to read them. Which specialist would? A rheumatologist who knows DISH and AS. You could have dislocated a rib. Are your Sed Rate and other labs normal? 3. To rule out MS properly you need a lumbar puncture. ..an LP is the final test for this. inParadise would know best though. AND, what you forgot to ask was if TC can be viewed on any test cause I said it could not unless you had the kind you were born with... Also, I wanted to answer your Q in the email to me, I do not think one could necessarily get a thoracic spine Syrinx in 3 mos since your last MRIs. I don't know. I would consider something else as the cause. Did all this chest pain start in the past 3 months? What are your other Dx? Did you already have surgery for your CM? Note, I am not yet Dx'd for my mid-thoracic pain since starting in Jan'2005 actually. I'm searching just like you. > > Hi everyone. Please bear with me as I may get all out of whack here, but I have a bunch of questions...and I'm not sure they will end up in any sort of order. So, hopefully I don't mess up all your minds trying to sort mine out so I can hopefully get a few answers. > > 1. Does anyone get chest pains? These are very sharp and kind of burning pains. It's not heartburn. I feel the same pain in my back at times too, though not when I feel it in my chest. > > 2. Is it weird that I breathe more with my abdomen than I do with my chest? I've been paying closer attention to the way things are with me and I've noticed that I'm a belly breather. Does anyone else think this may be a problem, something I should maybe worry about and discuss with my NS? > > 3. Does anyone ever feel like their body is solidifying? Right now all my joints and muscles from the waist up feel like they're freezing in place. I'm stiff, and it's painful. Heat isn't helping and there's not enough ice around to ice myself from the waist up. It's hard to move. Just typing this makes me want to cry because my fingers hurt so bad. But I have to ask these questions. I have to know if anyone else ever feels any of these things I feel. I have no sensitive pressure areas, so fibromyalgia is not the problem, though a rheumatologist tried to say that is what's wrong. My NS didn't think that was it either. Does MS cause this kind of stiffness and pain? I have a family history (though small) of MS. I also have hypothyroidism (an autoimmune disorder). These both put me at risk of developing MS. I've been tested and that test was negative (though I think that neurologist just wanted to appease me and get me out of his hair. plus, it wasn't the > best of ways to test for MS, so I'm still concerned). > > Great, I lost the other questions I had. I hate having such a bad memory. Wow, I'm glad I type fast or this message would have broken my stiff fingers. Lol. > > Thanks to anyone that can give me any insight. > Niccy > > > > > > Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted January 14, 2010 Report Share Posted January 14, 2010 One point here mentioned by on " if TC can be seen on an MRI. " From what I've learned, there can be ways that tethered cord can be " deduced " from a couple of MRI views. One is the length of the brainstem at the top of the cord. If it is lower than " normal, " it is then called elongated. This indicates the tethered cord at the lumbar area is pulling the cord down, which moves the brainstem further down, obviously. The other thought not mentioned here yet that I remember is something Dr. B told me. That one can have a prone-position MRI (lying face down in the MRI) and a TC might be indicated through this. The reason this can help is because the cord normally floats up in the spinal canal (either toward the patient's back or belly, depending on the position in the MRI) when it is not tethered. When you have a prone-position MRI, the cord would be held in place by a tethered cord, and not allowed to float up. I might be describing this poorly. Do not imagine the cord floating up toward the head...I am meaning that it floats up toward the top of the MRI machine, toward the patient's spine, or toward the abdomen, if you can imagine that, depending on the position of the patient in the MRI. So, that's just some thoughts about if a TC can be ascertained through an MRI. Virginia > > AND, what you forgot to ask was if TC can be viewed on any test cause I said it could not unless you had the kind you were born with... > >> > > > Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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