Hi all, i have not been diagnosed yet but i am having the VEP test this monday and a neck MRI on wednesday. The head MRI showed multiple lesions, i just wondered if anyone on here would be able to answer a question about my right shoulder pain. After being in agony for 3 weeks before xmas and also before my MRI findings the doctor gave me a steroid injection as painkillers were not touching the agony i was in. After about 4 days my pain eased considerably, for the last 2 weeks i am now in agony on and off. I went back to the GP just after the pain re-occured who said i must have pulled a muscle. Surely the pain would be constant if i had pulled the muscle? Best example i can give as to what i mean is that last night i got hardly any sleep as every move woke me up, after getting up this morning at about 9.30 the pain completely went away but returned around 1. Am i going mad or could this be related to something going on in my head because this pain also makes my right arm very weak in comparison to my left.
In my experience, MS can do pretty much anything so it could be behind your shoulder pain. I woke up in agony during the night once - it felt like my wrist was broken. I was diagnosed with tendonitis the next day, but there was absolutely no reason for me to actually have tendonitis. Tendonitis should take weeks to heal; mine went in a few days. A similar thing happened with my shoulder: diagnosed with frozen shoulder, but it got better in about three months - much quicker than a frozen shoulder should. Were these things my MS? I don’t know for sure, but it seems rather likely!
You could ask for a referral to a neurophysiotherapist. They are experts in musculoskeletal problems caused by neurological conditions and are the best people to get to the bottom of your pain. Your GP can refer you.
You could also ask to try a different kind of painkiller. If the things you have had before don’t work, then the GP can try a different class of meds, e.g. instead of anti-inflammatories, try neuropathic painkillers.
Whatever you do, don’t just put up with it. It’s a sad fact these days that those who ask (sometimes loudly) are those who get.
Thanks for your quick reply, i will definately ask about a different type of painkiller. I don’t mind a certain amount of pain but my god the lack of sleep is making me angry.
i really hope you find something soon that will work for the pain, i know daytime pain is bad enough but when your sleep is disrupted with pain its just awful.
i also have left shoulder problems but always put it down to doing too much. i also had the steroid injection but it caused me to have nerve pain throughout that one side of my body, it was very scary and it happened again when i had a dental appt where they injected the left side of my mouth, i am terrified now of having injections on that left side. im ok with blood tests because i think the needle doesnt in very far whereas with the others they do put the needle in quite deep.
i really hope you get some relief soon and of course you’re definitely not going mad!