Neuralgic Amyotrophy occurring with Rheumatoid Arthritis?

Neuralgic Amyotrophy occurring with Rheumatoid Arthritis?

http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_qa3867/is_1_127/ai_n32054345/

This is a link to an article called “Neuralgic amyotrophy due to rheumatoid arthritis or etanercept: causal association or coincidence”. Among other things, it suggests that NA may be more prevalent than generally thought.

Strength update and more- or less

The last time I could do push-ups. . .

Well, that would have been towards the end of last September. Since then, I seem to have been stuck on being able to do 3-4 at any one time. At the same time, I have seen a decrease in my ability to stand for more than an hour or two without lower back and upper leg muscles feeling so weak, I have to sit.

This reminds me of a time before either of my known flares, so this goes back to maybe the 1997/98 time span. I also remember noticing my upper legs tremor a bit in that time after exertion. This has me wondering if my legs and back were early signs of NA flare at that point, since this pre-dates my hand issue by close to three years. But I also have a memory of a time in that general time period where my job had changed and I noticed a slight pain (compared to what followed a few years later) in my upper right arm. I remember noticing that arm pain and even telling my employer at the time. But the pain went away, so it never was officially part of my medical history.

I had other neck and shoulder pain episodes in my earlier days- none of which were ever reported to doctors since I had no insurance at the time, and they were not workman’s comp issues at the time either. I guess I am just wondering how and when this all really started. It may well be I have had mini-flares most of my life. All of these mini-flares have taken a toll on me since they seem to be additive in nature, and I have reached a point of diminishing returns.

My current “weak” period is at five months long, and counting. I am not sure why I bother counting it actually since there have only been three or four weeks of more or less normal strength over the last four years. I guess it is safe to say that I have recovered all from my 2006 episode that I will ever recover- and that is not saying much. At times I still feel as if I am still growing weaker as time goes on.

More Social Security Disability stuff- I am approved

Now I know it can be done on a more personal level. When I had my phone interview at the time I applied, the caseworker asked me if I would like to set up auto-deposit for when and if I was approved. He suggested that it might be a quicker way to find out my approval status than waiting for the letter in the mail. Well, it was true that it was faster. I assumed my bank must have made a mistake until I looked up the transaction and discovered it was a direct deposit from the Social Security.

What I suggested a ways back is true. As it turned out, I have more than one thing going on that has impacted more than one limb. But the important thing is that what I have limits my ability to have a sustainable gainful employment. What I also want to say relates to attorney input, or even to those folks out there who help you in the application process. I would suggest it is worthwhile to attempt to do this on your own. I am not sure I see any way that anyone could have helped me do this any easier than it turned out, and I had a case that spanned more than 10 years with two workman’s comp cases thrown into the mix.

It takes a bit of organization, and it takes good record keeping all along the journey your illness or injury may take you. Keep copies of all your doctor records along with dates and who did what, when. Keep all reports. Turn it all in when you apply. Be truthful and complete in all answers. Be patient. I made my claim on July 10, 2010. I had my Social Security doctor exam on 12/2/2010. Money went into my bank account on 02/17/2011.

Usefulness of Nerve Conduction Studies in Neuralgic Amyotrophy?

I have seen studies suggesting similar things before. this study suggests that the usefulness of nerve conduction testing may be questionable for NA because some of the lesions may be at the nerve roots and not at the plexus sites. This could be why my nerve conduction tests were not really that much of a help to me. My insurance covered them back then. Not now.

http://journals.lww.com/ajpmr/Abstract/2009/11000/Sensory_Nerve_Conduction_Studies_in_Neuralgic.9.aspx

Social Security Disability with Neuralgic Amyotrophy

http://www.injury-and-disability.com/2010/11/parsonage-turner-syndrome-and-social-security-disability-benefits.html

This site suggests that a NA sufferer successfully negotiated the rigors of the Social Security Disability system to be granted disability status. Originally they were declined, but an ALJ Judge decided the combination of impairments with the side effects of required drugs created a disability.

More tremor and twitching comments

A while back, I had noticed that my tremor had returned to particularly my right hand. This was especially noticed while holding a cup of coffee, or even later at rest after setting down the cup. Red flag, I know- at rest tremor can usually mean Parkinson’s and that does concern me. And, I have to admit, the possibility I have MS still is a concern too. So many overlapping symptoms, how do you pick what is right, or what to ignore? Is there a doctor in the house? Seriously, if there is and you would like to add your comments- or email me?

You might ask why I do not ask my own doctor, and if that concerns you- I will say “been there, done that, where is my t-shirt? “ Doctors I have run in to either do not know much about this, or are not willing to say what they really think once a test comes back. Besides that, the days of my good insurance coverage are done. My current insurance is poor to say the least, but I have to have something, don’t I?

Back to the tremor, this seems to come and go just like the twitches and- well, I was going to say my strength, but recently my strength has failed to return as it had been. I must be lazy. You know, I was just on a site NeuroTalk Support Groups where I noticed a MS sufferer talking of fatigue that got worse at the end of the day, or worse when stressed and made others suggest that she was lazy. I have gotten that too, from doctors. This is another reason I seem to not value what they think about my condition at this point. Anyway, as I was saying about tremor, it has come and gone.

First, I thought that Propranolol was helping, but no matter how I increased the dose, tremor would still break through. Then, when I dropped that I thought it had been zapped by magnesium. That worked at first and also seemed to increase my strength. Now that has stopped also. What now? Well, a couple of weeks ago during my tremor increase; I noticed pain at the side of my neck. I thought, here we go again. I thought of breaking into my prednisone stash but it is limited. I decided to first try DHEA (see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dehydroepiandrosterone). So far, I have seen the pain in my neck disappear first, and rapidly following my hand tremor. Why? Who knows? It is probably only a coincidence. But my arms also shake less when I use them. None of it makes any sense.