Medical Questions > Conditions and Diseases > Pain Management Forum

Treating undiagnosed pain

Must Read
Chronic pain affects more than 70 million Americans. But what is pain? And how can pain management help relieve different types of pain? Basic facts here....
How does the nervous system work to register pain? And what are the major causes of acute and chronic pain? Plus, who's at risk of pain here....
Acute and chronic pain manifest different symptoms. Learn the difference here and know when to seek medical help for pain....
User Profile
My son has had pain in his bones for over 6 months. It started in his arms and hand and then spread throughout his whole body. He now has chronic and severe pain in all of his bones and starting last month his joints. He has had several tests and no one can figure out what is wrong. The neurologist took an MRI of his Thalamus and said he was fine. The bone scan show a slight activity in the clavicle and sternum region but Ortho said it was nothing. He has had extensive blood work to check for sed rates and the rheumatologist says they are OK. The PT doctor says he doesn't think it is chronic pain disorder but to try PT anyway. All that did was escalate his pain faster and now it is not going back down. He is living with it between an 8 and 10 at all times now even while sleeping(which he rarely does do to pain). He has recently started having chest pains and I am afraid the pain will cause him to have a heart attack. Does anyone have any ideas? Please we are desperate for some help.


Did you find this post helpful?
First Helper User Profile DoctorQuestion
|

User Profile
replied July 31st, 2009
Pain Management Answer A7001
I hear you having 2 questions: what is the source of your son's pain and what can be done? For the first question, I would say that you have described a reasonably extensive workup. The source seems not to be structural because it is on both sides and crosses multiple dermatomes. You didn't describe any trauma that preceeded the onset nor that your son has any identified chronic diseases or unusual birth conditions.


You have not described weight loss or loss of appetite, night sweats, fever, or other systemic symptoms sometimes associated with cancer or immune system disorders. I might re-scan the area in the clavicle after a month or so to see if it changed (osteosarcoma with a paraneoplastic pain syndrome). Get a vitamin D level. Your second question, of how to treat the pain now, is easier. Your son is taking a reasonable dose of gabapentin, a medicine that is pretty good for pain felt to be neuropathic in nature (no tissue damage but the nerves are sending false pain signals). The next 2 medications I would consider are dexamethasone and methadone, effective for tissue damage, organ distension, inflammatory, and neuropathic pain types. A doctor who works with these medicines frequently should prescribe them to stay safe and also be effective.


Keep pressing for a diagnosis but treat your son's pain aggressively in the meantime.


|
Did you find this post helpful?
DISCLAIMER: "Ask a Doctor" questions are answered by certified physicians and other medical professionals. For more information about experts participating in the "Ask a Doctor" Network, please visit our medical experts page. You may also visit our Pain Management , for moderated patient to patient support and information.

The information provided on eHealth Forum is designed to improve, not replace, the relationship between a patient and his/her own physician. Personal consultation(s) with a qualified medical professional is the proper means for diagnosing any medical condition.