MP unknown cause
 

Hello, new here.
I was diagnosed with MP (at least my neurologist thinks???) last week and I am trying to figure all this out. The cause is unknown at this time. My EMG came out normal. I do have a lot of pain in my left hip...same leg that is affected by the MP. I looked up the causes and I don't wear tight clothes, I don't have diabetes, or any of the other causes. I am thinking that whatever is wrong with my hip may be causing it. We are not sure what is wrong with the hip yet. I went for an x-ray but haven't gotten results yet. I am in physical therapy now (my insurance requires 6 weeks of PT before they will pay for an MRI). So, I am pretty much at a stand still for now.

What are some other causes...oh, I am not pregnant either. That is pretty much the only causes I have come across so far. Any words of advice in dealing with the MP? I take neurotin 400mg 3x a day and have lidoderm patches. What are some other medications that treat MP? The Neurotin only works a little as well as the Lyrica. My insurance won't pay for Lyrica which worked better than the neurotin but still felt it a lot.

Thanks in advance for replies.

After discussing this with you yesterday, thru PMs, I had another thought.

Do the Lidoderms for at least 2 weeks every day as directed.
Placement of them is pretty important, so don't hesitate to try different locations. Putting them down where you feel the pain is rather useless and wasteful. You need to find the exact location of the nerve that is overfiring, and put the patch over THAT.

Think of it like tree roots. Numbing the little end points does not stop the pain signal from the main root going up the trunk (in human terms to the spinal cord).

Here is a 3D video program showing nerve distributions.
http://www.healthline.com/vpbody/ner...-spine-to-foot

This may be rotated to show side/back views.

Placing the patches high on the thigh where the main nerve is, can be more effective than all along the nerve.
Turn the graphic to show lateral view... you don't want to waste those patches down the leg...there are just too many little branches. You want the "mother" part of the nerve where they all come together.

Now the lateral femoral nerve does go into the spine at L4 and L5 (this varies with people), and a patch back there may also help more than patches down the leg. So if you use more than one patch, try one back there.

It takes a while for Lidoderms to get going. So give is a few days as well.

In the meantime, I think you should investigate whether you have a B12 deficiency and have some testing done. Low B12 can cause nerve damage. And yours may be the beginning of a bigger problem. Your blood work should be 400 or above...if you doctor says "normal" ask for the results.
My B12 thread:
http://neurotalk.psychcentral.com/thread85103.html
more details here.

Also have a Vit D test done, to show if you are low like most of us on these forums have discovered. Very low D is connected to chronic pain states. Studies are showing pain is reduced when D levels are normalized. So these two tests may tell you more than you realize.
Vit D information here:
http://neurotalk.psychcentral.com/thread92116.html

I am having an MRI on my back on Friday. Hopefully we can find some answers with that. I don't hope for something to be wrong with my back, but in a way I do because that would explain my pain!

I also had an xray on my left hip yesterday, just waiting for the doctor to call me with results.

Thanks for the update. The back is a candidate for this since that nerve exits the spine back there. The nerve can get compressed there or anyway along its difficult path thru the abdomen. ( MP sometimes results from bone marrow harvesting, or live bone graft harvests in the pelvic bone, as well.)

Thank you for the info. I haven't had bone marrow harvesting or liver bone graft harvests, but interesting info none-the-less.
If the back doesn't show anything then we will look towards the hip since I have the hip pain. Hopefully we find answers soon.

It is certainly a pesky thing. So you have my sympathy. I had it for years... and if Lidoderms hadn't come along, I'd still have that shooting stabbing thing probably!

You should look at our PN forum where I have detailed information on supplements to enable nerve healing. My own successes may be in part due to my aggressive use of nutrients known to heal and support nerve functions. When something gets damaged, if there are few repair substances around, it doesn't heal well or at all.

Ok well, I was wrong...my MRI of the back did show something. I have a buldging disk that is buldging to the left of my body (which is the leg affected) and I also have an annular tear. They are going to begin cortizone shots into the back and the lateral femorial cutaous nerve in the leg :(
The buldging disk is at L5 and the annular tear is L4-5.

I hope that works for you.

I've never had a steroid in the back. Other places, tho, and they always worked for me.

It can take a while for a spine injury to heal. I hope you are substituting another form of exercise and cutting back on the running for now.

Keep us up to date... on how this works for you.

Thank you!
They are going to do 2 injections, one for the LFCN in front of my hip/pelvis area and 1 in the back on the left side. I hope I get some relief and yes, I have stopped running!