Warning - absolute novel of a post. If you have chronic pain or experience with it, read on. If not, you might want to run away now:)
In my teens I developed an issue with my shoulder which became a problem with my riding – I dropped it, causing me to tip down to the left, which in turn caused my elbow to pop out, etc – I would also build more muscle on that side, and with overuse it would have a burning, gnawing pain, and the skin on my shoulder and upper back would go numb and tingly.
At 17 I also developed a lower back injury that was horribly chronic. I got x-rays which showed a slight curvature in my spine, but it was deemed to be not an issue. Doctors suggested I put a lift in my shoe to help the dropped shoulder, or gave me Celebrex, or just joked that I was too young for these sorts of problems. I had to stop riding, which was devastating. I worked to ride, and if I couldn’t work I couldn’t ride.
Fast forward about five years, and gradually, it got better. I would wake up mornings and not notice it, my posture improved, I thought it was gone. I thought that maybe stopping riding caused the muscles to go away, and I had straightened back up. It didn’t droop as noticeably, and would only hurt when I worked really hard. In short, things were good, and I was able to start riding again.
Unfortunately, the shoulder started up with a vengeance again last year and over the next six months it crept back to the point that it’s now ten times worse than it ever was. Sitting, walking, basically anything but laying flat triggers it, I drop it forward and down, causing me to drop my neck, and I now have neck pain constantly with grinding and popping and terrible pain. It feels like a struggle to hold my head up.
The shoulder pain itself is centered equidistant between my shoulder blade and spine, and at its best is a burning, nagging, exhausting pain, and at its worse feels like a red-hot gnawing. When I’m lying on the ground trying to hysterically describe it to my mom, I say things like – a wolverine is in my shoulder and eating its way out – or – someone is digging under my shoulder blade with a red hot spoon, over and over. That’s me trying to be as descriptive as possible:)
I’ve developed grinding noises under the shoulder blade itself, and when I touch the area along my spine up to my neck, it’s like an electric shock, whooshing feeling. Sometimes I’ll feel circulation rush back into the area with little pinpricks. Recently it’s affecting my left arm as well – I can no longer hold contact in the rein when I ride, and if I try to hold a whip it flops around and I eventually drop it. Coffee cups, plates, things like that, I’ve been dropping and spilling more. Trying to do things with my left hand feels like when I was a little kid – kind of clumsy and not very coordinated. Riding is awful – I can’t hold a steady outside rein to the right, and I have a weird, stiff, braced position through my upper body.
Advil does absolutely nothing - doesn’t touch it.
I guess I’m just looking to see if anyone has anything similar, or any suggestions on where to start with diagnosis. I’m exhausted. I’ve been to local GPs, and they don’t really have anything to tell me - rest it, sit up straight, take some meds. I’m very analytical, and I think I overwhelm them with detailed descriptions of when/why/how this happens. My sister, who’s a nurse, thinks I have fibromyalgia, but I don’t seem to fit all the symptoms. Anyone who has ideas, experiences, anything at all, I really appreciate your feedback.
