Hi to everyone here. Glad to have found this site. My symptoms started when I was still 1 month pregnant. I am now approaching 4 months. It all started with a neck discomfort in the left side and mild pain in my left throat. After a week of observation, I visit an ENT and he said the problem may be due to acid reflux because of my pregnancy. My symptoms persisted and I visited another 2 ENT’s and I received the same diagnosis. I can’t demand for a thorough check up because it would mean involving x-rays,radiation, medications that are no good for the growing life inside me. Though I don’t have ES diagnosis yet, I am hoping some of you here can relate to my symptoms and can suggest ways to sooth my discomfort.
Until now, I have episodes of bad days. My symptoms can be described as mildly painful but somehow bearable. The only thing that really disturbed me is the annoying discomfort when I swallow saliva or when I turned my neck. Other symptoms are: Mild ear pain in the left, Mild neck pain near my carotid artery, excessive salivation (idk if it’s because I’m preg),pain in my shoulder and head. Also, I am suffering from sleeplessness because of the anxiety this could be Eagle’s.
I will appreciate any suggestion from you even temporary remedies to relieve my symptoms and live normally for the remaining +-6 months of my pregnancy. I worry a lot because this is a rare disease and based on my research online, no single doctor/ENT in my country specializes in this kind of disease. God help me.
Your symptoms sound like those of many other people on this site. I'm so sorry you're experiencing the full range of symptoms for ES at a time when you can't get checked to see if that's the cause of your pain. Being pregnant makes treatment w/ medication difficult. You can try ice or heat on your neck or alternate ice & heat - 15-20 min of ice then 15-20 min. of heat, 3-4x/day. It may take some experimentation on your part to find what works best for you. Some people on this site are using essential oils for pain relief although I'm not sure I'd use those when I was pregnant, but that's only because I don't know much about essential oil use.
Typically the doctors who are familiar with ES and do ES surgery are not ES specialists. Usually they are ENTs or skull based surgeons who are familiar with ES and know what to do to help remedy the symptoms (i.e. surgery). The reason you see no doctors listed on the Doctor List from the Philippines may be due to the fact that no one on this site from your country has reported about a doctor he/she has seen who does the surgery.
It might be good for you to make an appointment w/ an ENT to discuss your symptoms. Go armed with all the information you can about Eagle Syndrome including links to websites with medical articles about it. (Check the Research Info tab at the top of the page for some good articles). You can even share this forum with whoever you see. Perhaps you will find that there are doctors there who are familiar with this syndrome and who can help you when the time is right for you.
I will pray for you to have a healthy, happy pregnancy, Grace, and for you to find a safe way to treat your pain.
Your symptoms sound like those of many other people on this site. I'm so sorry you're experiencing the full range of symptoms for ES at a time when you can't get checked to see if that's the cause of your pain. Being pregnant makes treatment w/ medication difficult. You can try ice or heat on your neck or alternate ice & heat - 15-20 min of ice then 15-20 min. of heat, 3-4x/day. It may take some experimentation on your part to find what works best for you. Some people on this site are using essential oils for pain relief although I'm not sure I'd use those when I was pregnant, but that's only because I don't know much about essential oil use.
Typically the doctors who are familiar with ES and do ES surgery are not ES specialists. Usually they are ENTs or skull based surgeons who are familiar with ES and know what to do to help remedy the symptoms (i.e. surgery). The reason you see no doctors listed on the Doctor List from the Philippines may be due to the fact that no one on this site from your country has reported about a doctor he/she has seen who does the surgery.
It might be good for you to make an appointment w/ an ENT to discuss your symptoms. Go armed with all the information you can about Eagle Syndrome including links to websites with medical articles about it. (Check the Research Info tab at the top of the page for some good articles). You can even share this forum with whoever you see. Perhaps you will find that there are doctors there who are familiar with this syndrome and who can help you when the time is right for you.
I will pray for you to have a healthy, happy pregnancy, Grace, and for you to find a safe way to treat your pain.
:)
Thank you so much for all the suggestions Isaiah 40:31. I worry a lot about my symptoms and I even keep my mind distracted so it won’t affect my pregnancy. Knowing you will include me in your prayers really comforted my anxious state right now. Thanks so much.
I think someone tried a TENS machine and found that helped- it might help with the neck and shoulder pain. If you can have a massage then the more you keep those muscles in your neck and shoulder loose it might lessen the pain. I know I've always had more muscle knots on the worst ES side- the physio I saw recommended one of those spikey massage balls. You could try something like gentle yoga to help relax the muscles and it might help the anxiety too?
Hi! My symtoms started 4 months after I had my baby....I use essential oils for my pain relief and occasionally OPIODS...but you can't use Opiods when pregnant....You can use peppermint while pregnant as it helps me abit....You will get the acid reflux diagnoses until ur done being pregnant....I was diagnosed with that too....As well as a hundred different other things...And none of them were true....Unfortunataly with this condition its super super super rare and too get a diagnoses may take you years and over 20 doctors.....Its been over a year and a half now and IM STILL trying to find a doctor who can properly diagnose me. Ive seen 3 ENT, 2 Endocrionolgist, 1 Neurologist, 1 Allergy specialist, and over 15 GPS....Totally close too over 60 doctors appoints ......Im finally getting somewhere as I know what I have as my CT scan showed Eagles Syndrome, and I can feel the bone under my tonsil now...I can also feel it under my chin area by my throat..super super painful...I have ear pain and back of my skull hurts too...You should have a CT scan with Contrast as soon as you have your baby to get proper diagnoses...That will tell you if you truly have ES. And you need to find a ES doctor or a doctor who has seen it before...If you are just seeing regular ENT's who have never seen it before you might not get a diagnoses...Where are you from?? There is a list of doctors you can see...I would choose one of them, since these doctors seen ES..
I have used Essential oils, chiropractor, and noticed Massage helped out.I also started doing research on how to reduce the inflammtion in the body and started cooking with herbs like CUmin and Tumeric. It has helped as well. However, when I became pg my symptoms were very very mild compared to the constant flare ups I was having. Good luck!! Make sure you listen to your body, its very important