Fibromyalgia Community

I went and saw my rheumy today. First let me say I think he is a wonderful doctor and he truly does listen to what I have to say. Today was only my second visit with him. The first visit he diagnosed my FM and gave me meds for that. Today, I showed him the 3 MRI's and an x-ray of the scoliosis, OA and bulging/herniated discs in my neck and back. He is sending me to a pain management clinic for steroid injections. He also thinks that my back is the reason why I keep falling. I have 6 herniated discs in my c-spine and one rubs my spinal cord a tad bit, I have 7 more bulging herniated discs in my t-spine with 2 impinging on the thecal sac and I have 5 more herniated discs in my l-spine with 2 pressing on the nerve roots that lead to the nerves in my legs. The only rant I have about my rheumy is that he pressed and poked on all of these areas and flared them up big time but yet didn't give me ANY pain medication as he wants to leave that up to pain management. The pain level in my neck and back is easily an 8 and I will be up all night because of it. I have already had an EMG of my upper body and it was negative now my rheumy wants my primary care Dr. to order an EMG of my lower body to check for nerve damage so I assume I will be referred to a neurologist for this. I have already seen 2 different spinal surgeons who say that surgery is not an option for me.

My main rant is that 6 different doctors have seen the MRI's for my c & t spine and 4 have seen the x-ray and MRI of my l spine all they have done is throw pills at me and when I return for a recheck and tell them the pills don't work for the pain they just told me they couldn't help me any more. I AM ANGRY THAT IT TOOK 3 YEARS AND 6 DOCTORS TO GET ANYONE TO TREAT ME FOR THIS! On top of all of the spinal pain and all of the pain caused by the falls, I have cartilage deformity in my knees which causes pain in my hips, knees and ankles and FM to boot. My trapezius muscles have been stiff and sore for over 3 years. They start out sore in the morning and get stiffer and stiffer as the day goes on. At one point I was on Flexeril 1 tab 3x's a day. My rheumy has had me take 1 Flexeril tab at bedtime...this does nothing to help these muscles relax so today he increased my dose to 2 Flexeril at bedtime. They don't make me drowsy either but this is all he will give me to help me sleep. The pain keeps me awake until anywhere between 3 and 5 am and then I can fall asleep only because I am utterly exhausted. I sleep from anywhere between 2-12 hours depending on pain and exhaustion and once I am up I will take 1 or 2 naps a day lasting 1-2 hours per nap. Since I use a CPAP machine he told me to ask my primary care for Provigil or Nuvigil to keep me awake during the day. I am afraid that with that medication I will NEVER sleep. I am hoping so much that the shots help with my back pain and reduces the number of falls I have. I also hope it reduces the number of migraines I get as my rheumy thinks the herniations are behind that too.

I am waiting for the clinic to call me and tell me when my appointment is. I am crossing fingers and toes in hopes that they can finally help reduce the awful pain in my back and neck. Does anyone else have experience with these shots? Can you give me a general idea of what to expect?