I have thought I may have this in the past, but today i had a very strange thing happen - when I bent my head to look down my right leg had the shock sensation/nerve pain and increased tingling/numbness sensation... it was quite uncomfortable, and it happens every time I bend my head forward now..

Yep that's it!! Scary at first. Take care.

Yep - chin on chest = spine like a lightning rod.

Not nice sorry you are experiencing this.

Hello bny806,

Sounds like L'hermittes to me

I have had Lhermittes for 29 years. What I experience is vibrations/buzzing from the waist down whenever I look down. I have never had pain associated with this symptom but I know some do experience pain with Lhermittes.

Lhermittes is not unique to MS, there can be other causes for this symptom. However, when you have MS and Lhermittes it is caused by a lesion(s) on the cervical spine.

There is no treatment for Lhermittes other than immobilizing the neck (collar), although not practical or permanent. If you are experiencing pain with Lhermittes then that part can be treated with medication, talk to your Neurologist.

Thank yall - yes I also get the vibrating with it too.. it's all so strange!!! Then I have nerve pain there for a long time too.. I do use lyrica.. I think I would go insane without it, as when I cut back - I can't sleep and just feel creepy crawly!

I had something on my C spine MRI when I was intiially hospitalized... They weren't sure if it looked demylenating or like Myelitis.. the radiologists got in an argument if there was or was not a lesion there..I am a good story for MS, age of onset all that stufff.. but I have signs of peripheral issues - though those tests are always negative.. They also think I may have Myasthenia or LEMS... I have a family history of lots of autoimmune issues..

Maybe it's time I ask for another c spine MRI , as it has been a few years!

bny806,

It is very possible to have other things going on along with MS (if you have that), especially when it comes to auto-immune diseases. Some MDs try to attribute all symptoms to one of them, only to find that some folks have more than one affecting them.

For example, my body has been affected by a few of them and sometimes the symptoms flair up at once. Peripheral and/or autonomic neuropathy can occur along with MS; as can regional enteritis, thyroiditis and other autoimmune diseases.

At times like those, it can be tricky treating inflammation symptoms without setting off a reaction due to compramised function in one or several organ systems.

With love, Erika

THank you!... yes, I have all sorts of weird things going on - makes it hard for them to figure it out.. big family history of autoimmune issues - lupus, crohns, celiac etc.. I am premenstral right now.. and that always makes my symptoms flare - I get weaker, more numb too -and now this neck thing with it.. it's amazing the hormones can have such an effect!

mine is like a "pulling" of my spinal cord in the lumbar region, no pain that i can recall. comes and goes...

THank yall!! I have one more question about this

I know lhermittes can also be caused from buldging disc's/radiculopathy etc... but from what I do know - it seems that if you had a bulging cervical disc that the distribution of discomfort would stay in the upper extremities for the most part (those dermatomes).. people with MS or other causes- does that make it more likely to go all the way down the spine into the toes?? or could a bulging disc do the same?

I did contact my dr about this, it's been 3 years since my last MRI..(I had one UBO and one "possible" cervical lesion (the radiologists got into a disaggrement about if there was or wasn't a lesion there - one thought yes, the other no haha)... so I assume they will repeat it

I think that it depends on which way the disc is bulging. Usually they bulge out toward the side/back, but if a disc bulges inward toward the spinal cord, it can impinge on the cord itself. That can potentially cause symptoms lower down than the Brachial plexus dermatome, and/or could be of a different nature because the pressure is on the cord/dura rather than on the nerve roots that just supply the upper extremity.

MS can affect the central nervous system & lower motor neurons that are within the spinal cord, so the symptoms may not follow peripheral nerve distributions.

Having both MS and bulging discs can produce CNS and peripheral nerve symptoms at the same time, which can be confusing, even to the experts; as it is often difficult to figure out the exact cause of the symptoms. A lesion within the spinal cord would make that differential diagnosis all the more difficult.

Hoping that you get relief soon .

With love, Erika