Kickas.org Forums Ankylosing Spondylitis General Discussion #1 AS Web Support Group Had a bone scan

Apparently, no inflammation in my spine, but OA in my right shoulder near the ACL. It sure hurts. And my SIs hurt off and on daily. I will ask for a copy of the report.

So, off the MTX, stay on pred, add another NSAID, see him in 3 months.

He finally prescribed a muscle relaxant for me and I think that has been helping a lot. Even though my rheumy won't dx with Fibromyalgia, my orthopedist says I have it and the PT talks about it.

I wonder how this will affect my disability hearing on the 20th.

Micki,
I have not had good luck with X-ray showing how much I hurt. I often hear them say, that there is no visible reason why I am in such pain. Then when I get an X-ray that does show it, there is no action put into play!!
hang in there please.

Thanks, Lon. Yep, I'm hanging in there. I have to say this has been a good week, so I think the flexeril at night and new PT is helping. We'll see how I do getting up in the morning next week when school starts.

do you think no inflammation showed up in the spine because of the antiinflammatory drugs you are on? like when i had the NBS done, my SI wasn't inflamed because it had just been shot up with cortisone not too long before.

sounds like the muscle relaxants are helpful. if you don't like the side effects of flexeril, there are newer muscle relaxants that might be better in that regard. i like zanaflex cause it only zonks me out for an hour or two, whereas flexeril zonked me out for a day or two. skelaxin is another newer one. but if you like flexeril, then that's good.

and lots of reasons for muscle spasms. joint inflammation, spinal nerve compression, etc. so the fact that they help, doesn't really rule anything in or out. in case you were wondering, not sure if you were.

and though i've been dx'ed with undiff spondy by one rheumy and inflammatory arthritis by another, still even after that, a physiatrist was still talking about myofascial pain in the same report that she mentions the undiff spondy. my chiro thinks this myofascial pain dx has been part of what hindered me getting a real dx. but that's all water under the bridge.

whether you have fibro or not, i think the important thing is finding what works at reducing pain and increasing functionality.

though of course a disability hearing makes that last statement less true. then i guess it really does matter what the dx is.

good luck with everything

Sue,
I don't know why no inflammation showed up in my spine. I also don't know if 'spine' included the si joints. I had a cortisone shot in my shoulder for tendonitis, but the scan, still showed OA and I assume inflammation. They also took a couple of xrays on my shoulder.

And, yeah, I'm a little concerned about things being ruled in or out and that affecting my hearing.

I'm using the flexeril at night and it made me groggy for a few days, but now I don't notice any side effects, thank goodness.

Thanks.

Keep watching for side effect's on the Flexeril. I took it for a long time before it gave me restless leg syndrome and then all over restless body syndrome. I had to go off of it and it wasn't fun. I sure liked it at the beginning. There are a lot of people with no side effect's but a few day's of grogginess. Just saying'.

I have OA left from two shoulder surgeries as well but the rest is A.S. You might want a 2nd opinion. I found out year's ago that getting 2nd opinion's are tricky though because a lot of Dr.s in the same field and metropolitan area seem to know each other and golf together and will back each other's diagnose. Oh the thing's I have learned in the course of my life.

Hope you are getting some good relief though.

Pea

Thanks for the input, Pea. I will continue to monitor for side effects.

What kind of surgeries did you have on your shoulder? I've never had any work done on either shoulder. I do have an orthopedist on my team, so I will send the xrays to him.

I had two rotator cuff surgeries in '92 and '93. Tore almost to the bone just from overworking it. It grew back abnormal both times and it is 23% disabled meaning I can't lift, push, pull, etc. etc. over ten lbs. All around it, I mean the whole shoulder is scar tissue which pull's on my neck and set's up bad trigger points. Miserable all of the time from it. I was one of the 3% the Dr. said that it happen's too. Other's have had it and no problem. I don't know what I could have done differently though.
Pea