10/12/2004

Prognosis of Arachnoiditis - WrongDiagnosis.com

Prognosis of Arachnoiditis - WrongDiagnosis.com

Another interesting site that I have spent some time on. The above link will bring you to the page where I will be quoting from but rather then have a long post here I will just use snippets.

Prognosis for Arachnoiditis: There is no cure for arachnoiditis. For the majority of patients, arachnoiditis is a disabling disease causing intractable pain and neurological deficits. As the disease progresses, some symptoms may increase and become permanent. Few people with this disorder are able to continue working. In some cases, progressive paraplegia may occur.


As stated, there is no cure for this and so far out of all the people that I have spoken with about ARC very few have been able to continue to work. Those that do seem to be either self employed and thus can tailor their work to their physical needs or they have jobs where they have the ability to work around the ARC. In my case I will most likely (99.99% sure) never be able to return to my previous position(s) as they all required the heavy lifting or long periods of standing/sitting and none of them certainly would be ok with the use of prescribed narcotics which I spend a good amount of time on.


forgetfulness: A lot of people experience memory lapses. Some memory problems are serious, and others are not. People who have serious changes in their memory, personality, and behavior may suffer from a form of brain disease called dementia. Dementia seriously affects a person's ability to carry out daily activities. Alzheimer's disease is one of many types of dementia.


While I do not think I fall all the way into this category I do believe that it has affected me. Maybe not in the sense that I can not remember t all but more likely a combination of the pain and meds that cause me to space out. I would add this to the list of reasons I have imposed self limits on my driving car. Since I can longer predict when my back may flair up or I might "space out" I do not drive much and usually I only drive to drop off and pick up my son from school.

There are many other issues the site deals with but they are going to vary from case to case. Some ARC patients are or will suffer from Cauda Equina Syndrome where the person has difficulty in either holding their bowels/bladder or has difficulty determining when they need to use the restroom. I do not have this symptom, at lest I do not think so and I was not diagnosed with it, however I do have occasion where a need to use the restroom sneaks up on me or there are times when it feels like I need to but do not really have to. This is one that I keep track of and my be a psychological reason that I do not venture far from home.

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