6 replies to this topic

[brianmc]

On 8/25/2011 I fell off of a fertilizing machine. It caught fire which raised my adrealin levels to the max. After putting out the fire I tried to upright the machine (440 lbs.) and somehow did it. I then felt an extremely painful spasm at the base of my skull which caused me to fall back on my rear. I layed down and rubbud it until the spasm subsided. I was in a kind of shock and I could not stop shaking.

I went home from work and was fine for about 9 days. I then fell asleep in my reclined and when I awoke I could not move a muscle and my breathing was limited. My wife sat me up and I was able to move after a few minutes. We went the hospital and they did a ct scan to check for a stroke.It came back negative so we went home. About 5 days later I took 2 vicoden over a 6 hour period and was fine restingon my porch.My wife woke me and I was still fine. About an hour later she came out to find me paralized and my speech was very slurred. She called 911 and they said I overdosed on the 2 vicoden.(No way I did). They did a ct scan on my neck which came back negative and labeled me a drug abuser. I then went for an MRI 3 days later and it came back negative. I see my primary DR. tomorrow, he has been on vacation and I am afraid he will go by the hospital report and join the ranks of those that don't believe me, even though my wife backed me up.

Sorry for the lenght of this but I felt like I should include as much info as I felt you may need.
Anyway, I am petrified as I have never had any sort of this thing happen before and with the findings negative, no one believes me. I am afraid this could become permanent because the 2nd episode wa worse than the 1st.

I get a little dizzy at times and my memory is slightly off. I had a glass of wine the other night and 30 minutes later I fell asleep in my chair and I felt lethargic. I can normally have 3 glasses and not feel like that. It was not normal.
Now I do not take anything for my neck and back pain and no more wine,(I miss a glass with supper) out of fear of a repeat episode.

I don't know what to do. I am afraid to return to work but if I don't I will lose my position in work. I have never been so afraid of anything in my life like I am now.
Thhank you

[Tetracyclone]

They should test again for vertebral damage in the neck, until they find something. It is normal for doctors to assume the patient did something wrong or is making it up when they cannot find the cause. Do not give up and do not take "no problem" for an answer. Try a neurologist. OK, a different neurologist.

Edited by Tetracyclone, 19 September 2011 - 04:02 PM.

[tomsov]

I have no idea what to tell you except doctors are not the smartest people. For the first two months i was in the hospital they labeled me an alcholic. My parents made it a point to make the phycologist lady feel like a little bitch for doing that by making her cry. two weeks into rehab i got my toxicology report back 0.064. Still they called me an alcholic. don't let them call you a drug addict. f*@kem figure out what is wrong and don't make them prove to you that they are right. Some doctors are great people some of them are not. a doctor that passes there test with an A+ is the same as a doctor that passes with a D. good luck

[Soryfam]

I would insist that they do more tests-- these are serious symptoms. I'd also file a worker's comp incident report as it this most likely resulted from the fertiler incident. They love to label you a drug abuser if they can't figure out what is causing your symptoms/pain. I wish you luck. These things can be so discouraging.

Sandy

[wheeliebear75]

Really? TWO Vicodin in a 6hr period & you got labeled "drug user"? No DRUG ABUSERS would most likely have taken a lot more than JUST 2!

2nd opinion! 3rd opinion?

Legs going numb, & trouble breathing could be something to do with the spinal cord or even just discs that became swollen or are compressing on the cord. The SPEECH SLURRING? THAT I'm not so sure about.....yes if the Vicodin made you drowsy that could explain it....but....unless you hit your head I'm not 100% sure how that would tie into the back/neck problems.

[brianmc]

Thank you everyone for your feedback. I don't think I hit my head,just intense pain at base of skull at the neck. I see my primary today. Already have a w/c case open.still sore but not another paralasis again. I don't expect much, just a lot of tests that show nothing. How can something that paralizes your entire body not show something on these tests?
Thanks again
Brian

[The Black Sheep]

This actually sounds very much like my case, but it left me paralyzed long term. I had an extremely painful spot between my shoulders after jumping on a trampoline. I can't explain the type of pain, really, but the more I jumped and strained, the more it came from one very narrow spot.

5 days later I had a blazing head ache and the same pain. I took 2 asprin and took a nap. I woke up after about an hour because I had trouble breathing and when I tried to stand up, my legs and belly were like noodles. I had a CT scan and MRI, both of which came back negative. I was diagnosed with hysterical paralysis for a lack of better answers.

My diagnosis finally came 3 weeks later for Transverse Myelitis, which is caused by swelling in the spinal cord. It's not necessarily brought on by a fall or break of the cord. A few years back I belonged to a forum for people with TM and the onset was somewhat similar, but the long term prognosis varied. Some people were paralyzed for a few hours, which frequently recurred. For others it was a long term "thing", like mine. The spasming muscles were also something I tried massaging away a few hours before my paralysis came.

I have no idea if any of this is helpful, but it may be worth mentioning if you see another doctor or if you want to research it further.