[biobabe]

I was just wondering if anyone would be able to shed some insight on my situation of undiagnosed nerve pain in both legs?

I experience:
-burning in my hamstrings/ glute area which radiates down the back of my thighs
-a buzzing sensation in my feet
-sharp stabbing pains in my hips, hamstrings, and other leg muscles
-muscle spasms throughout the entire legs and feet which feel like elastics snapping
-muscle twitching (fasciculations) especially in my toes and feet
-a sensation of extreme leg muscle tightness like saran-wrap around the muscles which is brought on with movement and makes me feel weak
-painfully hot burning feet and hands and alternatively, cold, blue feet and toes
-tingling in my muscles
-muscle cramping in my feet, calves, and thighs
-I also get a strange sensation of cool water trickling down my leg muscles (especially the hamstring) and near my pelvis into my buttock region

My symptoms worsen with activity, and I am hardly able to do any at all, at the moment. In the past, I have had good periods for a while where I very slowly build up my muscles and am able to do yoga and walk around, but then, all of a sudden, I'll do a bit more than usual and it's back to not being able to walk around again without extreme leg muscle tightness and pain for about four days. Then I have to very slowly add in walking, and often have repeated leg flare ups where I am unable to return to my previous state and can hardly move around. It seems that my situation is worsening, however, and it is harder to stay in a less-pain phase.

I have been experiencing these symptoms for many years. It began with extreme leg antzyness (the burning)-almost to the point of pain- in high school, which, at first could be relieved with exercise, but is now worsened with it.

Currently, I have had a MRI on my spine, nerve conduction testing, vascular testing, an MRI-A, a lumbar MRI, and compartment syndrome testing, all of which have not shown any issues. I am just waiting for the results of an MRI on my pelvis/ hamstrings which I just recently had. My doctors believe my sciatic nerves may be getting compressed somehow.

Sound familiar to anyone? Have any ideas? Please feel free to give me a shout!

Thanks!

[Leesa]

Sure sounds like sciatica to me. This can be caused by a number of things, including discs which are pushing on the nerve, spinal stenosis, spondylolisthesis (vertebra slips forward over the other), trauma (wreck, falls), piriformis syndrome (hard to diagnose and not seen on MRI), tumors, plus a number of other things.

The symptoms you describe are EXACTLY the symptoms I've had for 26 years and I DO have sciatica. Mine has been caused by discs and bad surgery. I had 2 OPEN surgeries to repair herniated discs, and each one failed. Plus after these surgeries, the discs above and below the surgery site failed - this is called the "domino effect" and doctors don't tell you about that usually.

But I take medications to STOP the symptoms, and it has been VERY effective -- I no longer have the burning, stabbing, water running, etc. I take Toopamax 400mg per day, and Lyrica 150mg per day. This has totally removed all the symptoms for me. And it took 26 years to find a combination of meds that worked!!!

I hope and pray that you find some relief for this!!! And I pray you do NOT need surgery as surgery just begets surgery. Do EVERY CONSERVATIVE METHOD that there is before you resort to surgery or you'll be sorry, just like I am and like many many others are. Recent studies have shown that people who have had surgery have NO BETTER RESULTS than those who have had physical therapy!!!! I've done loads of research on this, so I'm not just blowiing smoke. LOL

Best of luck and when you get your MRI results, post them here, and we can help you decipher them. God bless. Hugs, Lee

[biobabe]

Wow! Thank-you for your lovely insight Lee!

Yes. I have heard sciatica can have a number of causes. I guess the trick is finding which one I have, eh?

I don't have any low back pain that I can detect and the spinal/ lumbar MRIs were clean, so I wonder if my pain is due to one of the other causes? My doctors don't seem to think piriformis syndrome is my issue, either. I also haven't experienced any traumas/ falls since I was 6 yrs old and in a car accident (which didn't result in anything serious that we know of). My doctors seem to think the issue may be in the pelvic/ hamstring area, so hopefully the MRI there will show something. If not, do you know of the other potential causes? I have heard bone spurs can be an issue sometimes.

Sorry to hear you have these symptoms too and that you've had such a hard time with surgery. I can't even imagine how frustrating that is for you! I am glad to hear that you have finally found a combo of medications that work for you, though. That is great!! But 26 years in the waiting, oh my goodness! I have tried Lyrica in the past but it didn't seem to have any effect. I think I am going to ask my doctors to try a different nerve pain medication.

Yes. I am definitely trying the more conventional methods first. So far, I have tried:
-dry needling
-Active Release Therapy (ART) or deep tissue massage plus stretching
-myofascial release

These therapies sometimes help, but the pain always comes back eventually with more movement.

Currently, I am trying trigger point therapy (neuromuscular therapy). I had it done for the first time a few days ago. I noticed in the list under your post that you have tried it as well? So far, I have been having a hard time recovering from it. It seems to have brought on foot spasms and quite a bit of soreness. During the session, it was also quite painful. Did you find this?

I will try to get a copy of my MRI. Not really sure how to go about this yet, but I'll see what I can do.

Thanks again!

[Leesa]

To get a copy of your MRI report, just go to the X-ray department of the hospital and ask for a copy of it. They HAVE to give it to you as you are ENTITLED to it. Also if you want copies of your MRI, you can get them too, but you have to pay for them -- they're usually about $5 per copy, and theres usually about 5-7 copies, so if you're willing to pay that much, you can get them. You ARE entitled to them, so don't let them hassle you. If they ask you "what doc are you going to" just tell them these are for YOU!! Some hospitals like to hassle patients, but by LAW these are YOURS (if you pay for them that is. LOL)

Trigger point therapy? No, I didn't have any foot spasms -- this just didn't work for me at all. No injection of any type worked for me at all.

The reason the Lyrica didn't work is probably because it wasn't used in conjunction with another medication. It didn't work for me either UNTIL my doc had me use it WITH Opana -- and then it worked GREAT!!! Now, I'm having very good pain relief!! Plus I take Topamax too, which is much like Lyrica so between the 3 of them, I'm well covered.

Keep me posted, will you on what happens? I'd really like to know. You can post here, or private message me, but I'd really like to keep abreast on what happens. God bless and take care! Hugs, Lee

[biobabe]

Hi Lee,

Thanks again for the info. I think I am going to get my dad to help wheel me in and get a copy of my report, at least, if not the actual pictures.

I'll have to mention the option of combining medications and trying new medications to my doctor. What does the Topamax help you with? Muscle spasms?

Also, are you familiar with the causes of sciatica that are not back related, other than piriformis syndrome?

Thanks again! I'll try to keep you posted, for sure.

[Leesa]

The Topamax helps with the burning/tingling/water running down the leg feeliing.

Other causes of sciatica are: bulging or herniated discs; spinal stenosis; spondylolisthesis (where one vertebra slips forward over the other); trauma such as wrecks or falls; tumors, diseased joint; plus several others that weren't listed on the site I got this from. LOL

You can get BOTH the copy of the report (for free) and the films themselves if you want.

Best of luck & keep me posted. Hugs, Lee

[biobabe]

Thanks for the info. Lee!

I will keep you posted, for sure!

Cheers!