Hi doctor, I am a 31 year old female. For the past one year, I am suffering from heaviness of head and neck stiffness. Even though I am living my normal life, sometimes the heaviness of head becomes extreme. I feel it is spinning even at the slightest movement of neck and it is accompanied by bowel movements. I feel that I may faint and the feeling subsides only after passing the stool. It is only normal stool in most cases. Initially, this incident used to happen on daily basis especially during the office hours. Now, it is happening at the rate of one to two times per week. I did MRI of brain, and cervical spine and also had an echocardiogram. Everything came out to be normal except detection of mild scoliosis of neck. In the morning when I wake up I do not feel so bad, but as the day progresses my stiffness of neck and heavy headedness increases. Orthopedician told me that I am facing cervical vertigo while the neurologist said it as posture problems and GP diagnosed it as phobic disorder. Am I suffering from any gastrointestinal disorder? Sometimes, I have lower abdomen pain and it usually goes away in a day or two, but there is no loss of appetite. Can cervical arthritis cause gas problems? Is it possible for intestinal gas to hit the brain? In such cases when bowel is not passed at right time can patient die? Do I have cervical spondylosis? Cracking sound is heard when I move my head too much and head spins too. Sometimes, it seems balance is losing from ground. Cervical spine MRI shows with convexity to the right a small central posterior disc bulge at C5-C6 indenting the thecal sac. There is no cord compression or central canal stenosis. While at home I do not feel so bad but in confined space of office my head starts to spin, back of head feels tight and I feel my motion is restricted. Please help.
Hi. According to the history and information given by you, my answers are as follows: It does not look like you have a gastrointestinal disorder. But, better is to get an ultrasonography of your abdomen and rule it out. In cervical spine you have only a small disc. So, it is just the start of arthritis and it does not cause gas problems. Intestinal gas does not hit the brain. If the bowel is not passed for so many days then there is a chance of infection and patient can die. But, two to three days does not matter. You have only early cervical spondylosis and it seems that you have vertigo. So, you need to be treated for vertigo. Also, you will need core, shoulder and neck strengthening exercises to support your head. So that you will not get vertigo due to cervical spine problems. You should just visit doctor and take tablets for vertigo and then start physiotherapy initially for a period of three weeks. Revert back after three weeks to a spine surgeon online -->