Hi Everyone. I am on this board for a dear friend of mine. She in her mid 50's, active, healthy, doesn't smoke or drink and never has had any major illnesses. One morning she was grocery shopping when suddenly her left leg went numb and over the next several hours she became numb from the waist down and from the waist up, she described it as Novocaine wearing off. That was three months ago. At first the docs said she had Transverse Myelitis but her MRI's, EMG, EEG, blood work, etc. are all normal. She says the only thing it could be, based on her research, is that she had a spinal cord infarction. I would think an MRI would be able to prove or disprove that. From what I've read, it seems like she has small fiber neuropathy. Now she has feeling on the soles and heels of her feet but has no spatial awareness of her lower legs and feet. My friend has trained herself to walk 2 miles a day without looking at her feet and swims and snorkels daily. She lives in Hawaii. Awesome! Even so, not moving for even 10 minutes causes her muscles to freeze so sitting to eat a meal, watch a movie or play a game is uncomfortable. Sleep means her whole body doesn’t move so she typically wakes every couple of hours from the pain caused by the clenching of her muscles. She's seriously bruised herself a couple of times from scratching insect bites too hard – just couldn’t feel what she was doing (I know – ironic that she could feel the bite was itchy). Even working and conversing are different because she has problems with memory and confusion – a result of the medication, lack of sleep and brain injury when she was originally hurt. I personally think her conversations are fine and I don't notice any difference. Any insight on this would be so appreciated!

How long ago did the legs go numb the first time?
What kind of brain injury and how long ago did it happen?
Did she fall and hit her head when her legs went numb or is t from a different injury?

some info sites on Spinal Cord Infarction - most say MRI would show it -
http://www.ninds.nih.gov/disorders/s...infarction.htm
http://emedicine.medscape.com/article/1164217-clinical
http://www.merckmanuals.com/home/bra...s-blood-supply

Welcome NJS36.