After many years in a very stressful job, 2 year ago I was offered early retirement at the age of 54 and jumped at the chance. Although I knew the pressure had affected my health it wasn’t until I retired and started living in our lovely home on the Mediterranean that I really felt bad and after 5 weeks of complete relaxation and no stess I had a complete breakdown.

It is all very complicated and confusing but to sum up, it seemed to be an anxiety based problem mixed with depression and I did go on 20mg of citalopram for 6 months. I had several setbacks but my health continued to improve and now I feel fine although it is difficult to know for sure as I am fortunate in having such a worry and stress free life. I did do a lot of travelling with my wife in January and found I often became very anxious when under stress but popping a 5 mg diazepam tablet always got me through it.

So what is the problem then ?

When all this started 2 years ago it started with a terrible feeling of tension in my neck. Although my health improved I was left with a very stiff neck where movement is reduced and painful on both sides. This is permanent and it makes no difference whether I feel relaxed, good, bad or whatever.

I have seen a doctor who has ruled out arthritis and the one good thing that has come out of all the tests I have had is that I am in very good health. So far I have been to an osteopath, physiotherapist, CBT counseller, hypnotist, dynamic massage therapist, sacro cranialist and an acupuncturist. Although the highly recommended acupuncturist told me he had seen this kind of thing many times before and was sure he could help all these therapies proved a waste of time and money.

Finally I saw a neurologist who told me he was 100% sure that I have depression and that rather than facing up to it, my mind is locking up my neck muscles. I had read about this in the very interesting book “Healing Back Pain” by John E Sarno which basically says that most back or neck pain (and many other illnesses) are mental and not physical.

The neurologist was very adamant that if I needed to go on a course of 40 mg of Citalopram for at least 2 years. He told me that taking the pills would definitely cure my acute stiff neck and not taking them would mean my depression would definitely get worse.

Whilst my neck really bothers me and I am concerned that it may get worse as I get older it seems drastic to me (not to mention a huge gamble) to go back on anti depressants for 2 years, particularly when the dose will be twice as high as the one I was on before and I wasn’t happy about the side effects then.

I do fully accept that the mind plays a major role in our physical health but I have had some really bad advise from health professionals in the past and am wondering if this is the case here. In the last 3 months I have not had the slightest feeling of anxiety or depression so it is hard to accept depression is causing my neck problem.

I would be very grateful for other people’s opinions or advise on this matter as I really don’t know where to turn to next.

I know that depression and anxiety can cause physical pain. I would talk to the Dr. and let him know your thoughts and concerns.

Depression can definitely bring all kinds of pains and symptoms. I would talk to my doctor about this. Good luck!

I have found that anxiety and depression can indeed cause neck and back pain. I get both, and i also get cracking joints in my neck as well (the joints crack and sometimes grind against each other).

Have you tried using heated pads to relax the neck area (I use an aromatherapy thing which is a specially shaped wheat bag thats fragranced with lavender and which you put around your shoulders)?

What about things like yoga (dont do the neck or head stands though) as that can be beneficial.

How many pillows do you sleep on? if you are sleeping at the wrong angle that can cause problems with your back and neck. What type of matress do you have? I use an orthopedic one.

Check your posture, bad posture will contribute to neck pain. Yoga can help to correct posture.

Have you tried doing neck exercises? it can strengthen the muscles in the neck.

Are you enjoying your retirement? or do you feel you have too much time on your hands now?

Do you have any hobbies? Something that you are really passionate about?

Do you have any problems with your jaw? I get TMJ on the right side and can often get neck pain on the right aslo (referred pain from my jaw joint). Also do you clench or grind your teeth? Again referred pain from the jaw area can cause neck pain. I grind my teeth at night and i clench during the day, i can do this subconsciously though, so i dont always realise im doing it. Check. If you feel your jaw area is tense or that you are indeed clenching try and relax your tongue, and your jaw will follow its example.

If you brux (grind) at night see your dentist. Dental issues can sometimes cause neck pain, oddly.

Hows your eyesight? If im having trouble seeing through my glasses cause i need a new prescription i will often hold my head at a funny angle and squint when im reading, this can cause my neck to ache.

Do you spend a lot of time on the pc? That can give me neck ache too if i dont watch my posture.

Youve probably checked most of these things, but i thought id mention them all the same.

This post has been edited by Moonlight_Magic: Jun 18 2008, 12:28 PM

I have talked to 3 different doctors and they can offer no help. One of them referred me to a beck specialist and it was he that suggested I read the book “Healing back pain” and seemed to think it is a mental problem. There really is nothing more I can do with regards with my doctor. I could understand if it was occasional neck pain but this is absolutely constant.

I tried a heatpad and even a magnet thing around my shoulders and neck excercises but they made no difference at all. I did suspect it may be something to do with sleep and have tried at least 6 different orthopaedic pillows but once again they made no difference. I only ever use one pillow. My mattress is not orthopaedic but it is a very good quality bed and mattress.

I had to laugh when you mentioned if I had too much time on my hands. I honestly don’t have a minute to spare and wonder how on earth I ever managed to do a full time job. There are many things I love doing and I hopefully when winter comes and this tiny village becomes a ghost town I may get more time to do them.

When I went to the osteopath he did improve my posture a great deal and on my last session told me it was definitely not my posture and that he also thought it was my brain telling my neck muscles to protect my spine but he had no idea why.

I don’t have any problem with my jaw, teeth grinding or eyesight. I did wonder about working on a PC. I was a computer network administrator so did spend a lot of time before but much less now. I was travelling this year for 3 months when I hardly touched a PC and yet is made no difference whatsoever so I don’t think it is that.

Thanks for you imput but the question that seems to remain is can it be possible that a neck or back pain can totally mask depression.

If it helps any, i get a lot of physical symptoms with my anxiety and depression including: fatigue, headaches, neck pain, TMJ, back pain, dizziness, earahces and stomach pain. They also tend to occur at times when consciously im not aware of feeling either stressed or depressed and seem to be in quite a good mood and relaxed.

However, sometimes i wonder if there isnt still an undercurrant of anxiety that im not consciously aware of still occuring. I may think im relaxed, but maybe im not as relaxed as i think i am. I will often still find myself worrying about my physical symptoms, and of course the more i worry the worse they get, even if im worrying subconsciously.

As a person who is prone to anxiety, relaxed for me may not be as relaxed as relaxed would be for someone who doesnt have an anxiety problem. Its all relative i think. I may well be less tense than usual, but that doesnt actually make me relaxed as such.

Also, focusing or thinking about my symptoms seems to amplify them, meaning i notice them more and the more i notice them the more i worry or focus on them and so the vicious cycle continues.

I dont know if any of that makes sense to you.

Are you prone to feeling anxious? It sounds like you have quite a lot going on around you even though you are retired.

If im anxious, the first place my anxiety will make itself at home in is my neck.

Also do you think you could possibly have a trapped or compressed nerve in the neck? as that may cause neck pain also. Did the drs mention anything about that?

I once had a trapped nerve in my back (sciatica) and it was agony. It resulted in reduced mobility and painful muscle spasms/contractions around the area.

Anxiety and depression can also cause painful muscle spasms as can a myriad of other disorders.

In regards to as to whether or not a painful neck can mask depression, possibly. As i said about anxiety above, sometimes maybe im not in as much of a good mood as i think i am. Ive had depression for so long that sometimes i can mask it, even from myself, by focusing on anything but how im really feeling. Sometimes you can be so fixated on how you think you should be feeling that you ignore and suppress your real feelings in the process. Your neck pain could be suppressed feelings or emotions trying to surface and get you to pay attention to them via physical pain. Its possible.

This post has been edited by Moonlight_Magic: Jun 18 2008, 03:22 PM

Nico :)

You and I have been in a similar position.

I had neck problems for such a long time. They were seemingly random. There was a pain in the right side of my neck. I also saw a neurologist and they found everything was 100%

When I returned to my doctor he told me that anxiety was the reason and he was 99% sure that's what it was.

Over the last six months I found it very hard to breathe on one side of my neck and related it to the breathing. Bad breathing from anxiety can cause the most horrific pain I have ever felt. My neck, face, shoulders were burning with my hands and feet. It was all anxiety. I was so very sure I was right in that it was neurological for a long time.

But since starting on an anti-depressant called Amitriptyline the neck pain is gone. It returns for a few hours, then I control my breathing and it fades away.

Anxiety is complicated. It is possible that you don't even know you're anxious. Work on it as much as possible.

This post has been edited by kirkwuk: Jun 20 2008, 12:45 PM

I know how easy it can be to be anxious without knowing it but I really think I am about as anxiety free as you can get living here. I know what you mean about worrying about your health and the whole thing spiralling out of control as that what happened at the beginning but as I said, the one thing that has come out of all this is that I am apparently in excellent physical health so I don’t worry about that any more.

I am sure it is nothing to do with a trapped nerve as there is no sharp pain at all.

From what the specialist told me and what I have read there is no doubt that I do have depression but it seems to me the risk of going on coming off anti depressants is greater than the discomfort in my neck.

Hi Kirkwuk
Your neck problem sounds so much worse than mine but on the plus side it made the decision to go on anti-depressants much easy and I am happy to hear how much they have helped you. In your situation I wouldn’t think twice about it but for me there is no problem with my breathing or anything other than a much reduced movement in my neck and pain if I try and turn my neck too far. When driving and looking behind for example is painful but the minute I move my neck straight again the pain goes away.

I see we're all in the 'same boat' with this neck pain issue. I have had neck pain for the best part of my adult life and have had whiplash, tmj, physical therapy, traction, heat treatment, on and on and nothing has ever resulted in remission. My bone doc finally said that I was so tense the muscles in my neck got as hard as a bone and the only thing that worked for any period of time was a nerve block. I think the longest it took the pain away was for a year and then some anxiety-provoking situation would set the whole thing in motion, so I just try to treat the symptoms and if it starts to make my fingers numb or I get to the point where my shoulder hurts to badly I can't sleep, off to the doc I go. I try to do this spairingly, as docs really don't like to inject these sore spots that often. A hot compress can do wonders!

Jackie

When I was diagnosed with mild depression, I wasn't feeling sad much, but had chronic fatigue and a lot of pains in my back and neck.

Ten years later, being on antidepressants and all, what finally did seem to help with all the pains was a combination of diet and exercise and dare I say some chiropractic help. (My doctor has since told me to stay away from chiropractors...) Anyhow, I've found certain foods, such as wheat, make my fatigue and pain flare up. Swimming is great. Yoga has been great. Chiro. helped me I'd say. If I could afford massages I'd be there often, but realistically I can't justify the expense yet.

Anyhow, swimming and yoga are safe, and you may benefit from checking out the potential of dietary influences. Just an opinion.

Like everyone here, I also suffer from neck pain. When I'm stressed, anxiety or having just a bad day my neck is in totally agony. I just get my husband to massage it to try to get rid of the pain and sometimes it doesn't work. Also I find having a hot shower and letting the water run on my neck works as well.

The difference between my problem and most of the people here it makes no difference whether I am relaxed, tense, tired or whatever, there is no pain, it is just a lack of movement in my neck. No amount of massage, chiro or even muscle relaxants will loosen it up.

The main point to my question is whether or not it is worth the risk of going on anti depressants for what appears to be a theory and may go away by itself.

Mayana for example seems to imply that the anti depressants where not that effective and that diet, exercise and physical manipulation where more effective. But according to the same theory, that the brain causes pain rather than face up to the underlying problem, if we do manage to cure our neck problems , all that will happen is a new pain will manifest itself elsewhere. It is apparently well documented that people who have sever back pain have had operations which have cured it only to find the pain moved elsewhere and the underlying problem was emotional.

I hate the side effects of anti depressants and some of the stories or withdrawals I find horrifying so unless I am 100% sure it is down to depression and there is no other way of loosening my neck up I would rather not go down that road. If the original reason for the depression was stress and that is removed then would not the depression and muscle tightness go away in time as happened to the neck specialist I went to ? On the other hand, will a sudden bereavement (for example) bring my depression out worse than ever because it is always there in the background ?

If the neurologist was right and it is 100% down to depression then I would expect the tightness in my neck would alter with my depression or anxiety level but it doesn't. The tightness is 100% constant.

My profession was computer network engineer and I found so often when there were serious I would check the internet forums and everyone would be putting forward the most complicated theories and solutions which never worked effectively. Then someone would mention some really stupid and simple solution which worked like a dream. I suppose that is what I am hoping for in posting to this forum.

Have you ever thought about using Elavil/Amitriptyline? It is an anti-depressant and painkiller together. It's up to you if you think using the anti-depressants is worth it to bypass the neck problems. I know I would rather be in pain than face my depression, my depression is bad.

Amitriptyline is an old brand of anti-depressant and the initial side-effects can be harsh on the body. To begin with it will knock you out and you may feel tired for a while. After the first week or so it will barely knock you out until you increase the dose. I am now on 175mg which is a high dose but I am hardly depressed at all. I get the odd "anxiety spike", but they last 2 minutes and once they go I am fine.

Just my 2 cents.

This post has been edited by kirkwuk: Jul 1 2008, 12:42 PM