Syringomyelia???

[SCI-Nurse]

I would continue to pursue this medically. I can't remember if you have a good SCI doc- if you don't, I would try Hopkins or National Rehab in DC. Something is happening and they would be more likely to be able to figure it out than a GP (no offense...)

CKF

[alan]

I'll try.

Dr. Young, do you have any ideas? My CD apparently showed nothing.+

[alan]

What vitamins and minerals are manufactured by the body during sleep? The stress of the past week must have resulted in my body draining its supply of something. When I sleep, my body creates more, which is why I feel "normal" after sleep. That supply is used up while I'm awake, and the numbness begins again. The pattern yesterday was right leg tingling a lot mor than usual (I have no normal sensation in that leg or the others, just pain, but I can tell when the painful sensations change. Don't ask me how.) Then right arm, then left side leg to arm, then neck and face. Not as bad as when I went to ER - I could barely lift my arms then, whereas today I can use them enough to type, though even slower than usual. I'm getting some help, too.

The dilaudid-ativan IV did help with the skin-being-scraped-off feeling for a while. Never reached an oral dose that did that. For me, I felt really good after that - my skin wasn't ripping when I moved, it just felt very tight and hard, (plus the bones sticking out sensation, with the popping scapulas, but losing that scraping and ripping - Nirvana.) But that's coming back.

My doc is probably very sorry he a) ever took me on as a patient, and b) that he gave me his e-mail address. Poor guy.

[Wise Young]

What vitamins and minerals are manufactured by the body during sleep? The stress of the past week must have resulted in my body draining its supply of something. When I sleep, my body creates more, which is why I feel "normal" after sleep. That supply is used up while I'm awake, and the numbness begins again. The pattern yesterday was right leg tingling a lot mor than usual (I have no normal sensation in that leg or the others, just pain, but I can tell when the painful sensations change. Don't ask me how.) Then right arm, then left side leg to arm, then neck and face. Not as bad as when I went to ER - I could barely lift my arms then, whereas today I can use them enough to type, though even slower than usual. I'm getting some help, too.

The dilaudid-ativan IV did help with the skin-being-scraped-off feeling for a while. Never reached an oral dose that did that. For me, I felt really good after that - my skin wasn't ripping when I moved, it just felt very tight and hard, (plus the bones sticking out sensation, with the popping scapulas, but losing that scraping and ripping - Nirvana.) But that's coming back.

My doc is probably very sorry he a) ever took me on as a patient, and b) that he gave me his e-mail address. Poor guy.

I know what you mean but you need to substitute neurotransmitters and proteins for vitamins and minerals when you ask this question. By definition, the body does no manufacture vitamins or minerals. If we made vitamins, we would need to eat them. For example, vitamin C is a vitamin for human because we cannot make it but other animals can. Finally, we cannot make minerals.

Your question is a great one. Sleep does marvelous things for the brain. Many studies suggest that lack of sleep has significant deleterious effects on IQ, memory, emotional stability, and performance of intellectual tasks. The question is what does sleep do for you that is having a beneficial effect on your pain and whether a drug can reproduce and enhance that.

By the way, have you had a PET scan? I have seen several PET scans of people in Hong Kong (it is interesting that these scans are routinely ordered by doctors in Hong Kong) whereas it is less used in the United States (except as a research tool). In any case, it may be of interest to determine whether you have up- or downregulation of the D2 dopamine and other receptors.

Wise.

[alan]

I haven't had a PET scan. If one is covered, what should be scanned?

I'm feeling better today. Not numb and weak. We're trying oral dilaudid plus ativan.

[zilnh]

I am assuming a PET scan does not involve dogs and cats. What is it?

Thanks,
Liz

[SCI-Nurse]

You are correct- a PET scan does not involve dogs and cats. It is a Positron emission tomography (PET) is a nuclear medicine medical imaging technique which produces a three-dimensional image or map of functional processes in the body. (Wikepedia). In other words, it is similare to a CAT scan, but produces 3 dimensional images.
CKF