Brief Answer: Hi, Pruritis and Back issues need separation Detailed Answer: Hi there. Thanks for coming to HealthCareMagic. I see that you have 2 major issues at the moment. 1) Severe rash 2) Back issues for which you are taking medications. Lets address the back issues first. It may very well be that you are allergic to the tramadol, which is flaring up an existing allergy. Until this can be addressed by your doctor, I would stick to TOPICAL Hydrocortisone as well as oral medications like Diphenhydramine (Benadryl) and Cetrizine (Zircet). I don't know if they will get rid of your symptoms all together, but they should help. If it becomes unbearable, you will need to get admitted for stringer therapy via and IV line. 2) Back pain. It looks like if we could cut back on the NEED for meds, then we could get a better outcome. I see that you have compression of some spinal discs and a generalized breakdown of the discs (Dejenerative Disc Disease, DJD). What made you get the scan that showed these findings, what kind of back pain or symptoms have you been having? Or were they picked up by accident when you were scanning for something else? The symptoms that you may or may not be having will help us put togther a plan off action that should help you decrease your dependence on the tramadol. I look forward to your reply. Thanks for coming to HCM. Take Care, Vin

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Brief Answer: Good point, but the symptoms are atypical. Detailed Answer: I agree that the spinal issues could be causing a problem in the dermatomal distributions you have mentioned. The thing is, itching (pruritis) is not a symptom we associate with compression of the spinal nerves. That's why i wanted to try and separate the issues. That having been said, compression of these spinal nerves COULD theoretically cause such irritation that you would get shingles (which is an outbreak of the chickenpox virus in your spinal nerves). The fusion in the neck sounds like the right way to go in this case. Id there any way you could upload your MRI reports so i could see exactly what levels of the neck are affected and how bad the DJD is? As far as Gabapentin and Lyrica being downers, EXACTLY! Gabapentin and lyrica fool the brain into thinking that they are a natural neuroinhibitory molecule called Gamma Amino Butyric Acid (GABA). The nervous system then tells the nerves that are irritated to quiet down a bit. THe side effects of GABApentin are a bit of fatigue, drowsiness and shakiness at first. But over time your brain SHOULD be able to compensate for that. Lyrica has even less of a side effect profile. Have you given these meds a try? They might actually do you some good, at least for short term relief. So, to round up. 1) the link between your pruritis and spinal issues is a possibility, but remote, though one problem MAY be exacerbating the other (spinal issue making the pruritis worse). 2) Could you upload your MRI so we can go over is and discuss your doctors desire to fuse 2 cervical segments? 3) Have you tried Lyrica or Gabapentin? Would you be willing to try them again? I look forward to you reply. Take care. Vin

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Brief Answer: Unfortunatley nothing came through. Detailed Answer: You can call out customer care guys if you need help uploading. Whatever you can get me i'll take. What about the gabapentin and such? Any ideas there?

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Brief Answer: Am in India, trained at Monomouth, then in Denver Detailed Answer: Hey, so I went through your scans, img 0001 through 0009. My God man your neck! You need decompression and stabilization! Your cord is lighting up on T2 imaging on MRI. That means that the spinal cord in your neck is inflamed. And the bones at C2 and C3 are unstable. That means that every time you move your neck, it's irritating your cord. I think you might have had some sort of trauma there in the past. Very lightly in highliter, someone has marked Whiplash. Have you been in an accident like that? When did it happen? Now, have I ever seen itching and pruritis come from a cord compression?? NO. But I do believe that the irritation of the spinal cord is exacerbating a probably very low level chickenpox outbreak. Let me explain, getting chicken pox is pretty common in childhood (if you never got it, set me straight). We tend to think that after we suffer from it that one time (or maybe those two times), the virus is gone and never going to bother us again. That's not exactly true. Your immune system, beats it back into the one system that it can't eliminate it from.. the nervous system. Think of the virus as being caged inside the nervous system from the time you get over the Pox. The reason I telling you all this is that, i think the irritation of your spinal cord from the instability of the C2 and C3 regions is uncaging the nerves and basically giving the virus free reign to irritate you. Hence the itching and the dermatitis. We call this the 'Shingles' and it happens rarely. But I think this might be the issue for you here. you are describing to me what would be a very diffuse outbreak of it. There are ways of treating it, the topical hydrocortisone will help with the symptoms and steroid pills would help over all. But you need to address the cause! The neck! Find a good spine surgeon who you are comfy with, audition a few and when you find the guy you like, get your cervical spine stabilized. I so wish I could help. I do this kind of thing. But I moved back to India two years ago. So I'm not much good to you. I'm so sorry about that. If you want me to find you a few names of good people in and around Long Branch and Eatontown, I can. I still know a few people back there from my Residency. Also, there is a third drug that you may consider discussing with your doctor. In the bad old days before Lyrica, they used to put people on a med called 'Carbamezipine' for patients who didn't respond well to Gabby. I've never used it on a patient myself, cause Lyrica or surgery usually works well enough. But you may consider calling your doctor and seeing if a short trial of the drug helps control your symptoms until you get you spine dealt with through surgery. I used to live at Eatoncrest apartments off of Pinebrook Ave. There was a delhi behind that place that rocked! Plus I loved Long branch and we used to run out of Mounmouth across the road and jump into the water for a swim right after office hours. It was wild. I miss that place. I hope Pier village is still a nice place to hang out. My chief resident used to live there. Anyways. Lemme know what you think. I may not be able to operate on you, but I can act as a soundingboard when you see your doctors. Vin

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