Lower back spasms that make you fall?
 

I'm on Dr #5 and still have no definite answer for why this is happening to me.

Has anyone ever heard of RAPID lumbar spasms that make you fall to the ground? As soon as I am lying flat on my back they stop. These are happening everyday now and sometimes I even get 'stuck' while walking before they come on. Like my body knows one is coming and just refuses to move forward.

I have osteoarthritis, DDD, facet joint arthritis, desiccated L5/S1 disc with pretty much total loss of disc height.

What scares me is that I've searched the internet for almost 2 years now and can't find anyone else that has had the same spasms/falls.

Help....

The drs and PTs have no ideas?
Could it be a vertebra slipping forward or backwards and hitting the cord or nerve causing the legs to give out ?
Any hyper mobile muscle issues , that would allow more slipping..

I'm thinking that I have spinal instability which is probably due to slippage of a vertebrae. I've done massage, PT, ESIs, Facet Joint Injections, oral steroids, chiropractor, etc... All they can say is that I have inflammation and that can cause spasms. What scares me is that NO OTHER person has had what I experience that I can find. If this is slippage..then wouldn't others have had the falls like I am experiencing?

My discectomy was in Jan 2010 by a Ortho surgeon and I'm currently under the care of a Neurosurgeon as well as a Physiatrist.

There is a condition called periodic paralysis which is a sudden fall in potassium. Sometimes it is hard to identify unless they take a blood sample while the paralysis is happening.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Periodic_paralysis
There are several varieties of this on the Wiki site.

I wouldn't have thought it would be that uncommon to have the leg weakness that makes you fall. :confused:

Many many years ago I was unable to use my legs properly.
I had bulging discs at L3/L4 L4/L5 and L5/S1.

It was also found at the time that I had sliding S1 - Spondylolisthesis.
The sliding S1 caused a lot of instability and particularly with the already terrible muscle and ligament spasms I had above it and around the whole lumbar area. I also have hypermobility problems so that didn't help.

I had a wonderful physiotherapist who literally used to come to my bed and half carry me to her car and take me to a hot water swimming pool. ugh, those were horrible days. I didn't ever have surgery... I'm going back 30 years now. I had been laying pavers and rolling out turf and doing ridiculous things considering the state of my spine but all that was unknown to me at the time until I wound up in bed unable to walk and with numb toes.

Yes, there are lots of articles on leg weakness but that isn't my issue. I fully believe that I also have spondylolisthesis as well and have booked an appointment with a new doctor on Monday. The past 2 days I haven't been able to barely walk after 3pm and one night i even had to be carried and put in the tub to soak in hot water after laying on an ice pack.
I came to the realization last night that its really nerve pain that hits so hard that my muscle then contracts over and over until I lie down. Since I have all the stuff that leads to spondylolisthesis, I now feel that I have arrived! :(

It's certainly something that should be investigated considering your symptoms.