Thursday, February 7, 2013
Muscle spasms, both physical and intellectual
So, at 50 years of age, my body has decided to further betray me. A few days ago I was home, working on the computer when I realized I had a client coming to my office across town in 45 minutes. No big deal when I'm already showered, shaved and dressed. As it turned out, I was none of those. As soon as I turned and stood up quickly, I felt it...the muscles on the left side of my back, my left shoulder and the left side of my neck all spasmed and cramped. So, there I was, 45 minutes later (I got there on time, showered and shaved no less) hypnotizing a client while being unable to turn my head and look her in the eyes (we call this Less Than Ideal). There was a time when I took Non-Steroidal Anti-Inflammatory Drugs (NSAIDS) for this sort of thing. Of course, that was before my ulcer made NSAIDS (like ibuprofen) a no-no for me. So, I've been taking Flexeril, a muscle relaxant, for the past few days. It's great. It relaxes my muscles (convenient for a muscle relaxant) which does help with the pain...and turns me into a blabbering idiot who can barely string together a coherent sentence. Did I mention that I make my living with words? I haven't taken any today and can feel the muscles tightening again and I'm losing range of motion in my neck. So, that's it for me today, I think. Off to my pharmaceutically induced idiocy until this thing gets better (insert sound of grumbling).
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I feel your pain as I have the same thing going on, though my Doc thinks it's a pinched nerve. He prescribed Gabapentin for me for Neuropathy. It's one of those drugs that takes a couple of weeks or so to take effect, so I've still got the arm, shoulder and neck pain. (Have you ever noticed that a drug that takes a while to start working, but the side effects start immediately?)
ReplyDeleteMy treatment is through the VA as I have other issues that they are addressing. They have me set up for an EMG next month. That's where they stick a bunch of thin needles into your muscle and measure the electrical current as you flex the muscle.
I'm about used to needles, having given myself weekly shots for the last seven months as well as bi-monthly lab work, but it still sounds very painful.