Hi everyone,

I'm really desperate for an answer and I've been seeing a neurologist for a year about this numbness in my lower back and legs, but he's been unable to come up with a diagnosis. I've had three MRI scans a brain, cervical, and thoracic scan and all of them came back clear and without any abnormal findings.They have me on some medication to dull the numbness, which seems to be worsened by tight(actually almost all) clothing. It's quite frustrating and I can't seem to come up with any answers. My thought though, is I have some sort of slight spinal injury that's causing nerve compression and therefore the numbness I've been experiencing, which tends to worse in my right leg starting at the hip and continuing all the way down to my foot. I was just wondering if anyone had a similar experience.
Any suggestions and helpful information would be greatly appreciated.

Do you have PAIN with this numbness in the leg? It almost sounds like sciatica to me. I've had it for 26 years, but mind is extremely PAINFUL, along with the numbness, tingling, etc. The pain can be unbearable at times. Have you EVER had pain in the leg or foot? With sciatica, it is VERY difficult to diagnose because they can't see it. You could have perhaps taken a fall, and dont remember it. If you've been in a car accident, that could have caused it. Any trauma to the lower back could have caused it but left no evidence.

Did you have an MRI of the lower back or not. It wasn't quite clear if you did or not.

I would talk to my doc/neuro of the possibility of sciatica and see what they say. It sure sounds like it, even if you don't have the pain. I HAVE heard of others who had sciatica without the constant pain, just the numbness. So see what they say. I wish you the very best. Please keep me posted, ok?? God bless and take care. Hugs, Lee

Hey, I totally forgot about this and didn't even see it until just now. I've actually considered the possibility that my numbness was the result of sciatica; however, my doctor feels that is not the case since I now have numbness in my arms as well, but my only problem with his theory is that my numbness in my arms didn't show up until after I visited the chiropractor, so I'm thinking those symptoms aren't related. For the longest time all I had was the numbness in my legs, so I'm thinking that sciatica is a definite possibility, but my doctor says he disagrees. Also, no, I haven't had an MRI of my Lumbar spine because my doctor believes he'd be wasting my time, so I don't know. I'm not a doctor and although my health is important to me I feel like I need to respect his professional opinion too. I'm just sort of on the fence about whether or not I should get a Lumbar Spine MRI. My doctor said he'd do it if I really wanted him to, but he felt like the answer wouldn't be there.

I believe your answer will come from a lumbar MRI.

I definitely think you should have a lumbar MRI. And PLEASE DO NOT go to a chiropractor ANYMORE. Anytime you have problems with your spine, according to my NEUROSURGEON, you could end up paralyzed and in a wheelchair if you're manipulated by a chiropractor!!! So no more chiro's okay???

After you have your MRI of the lumbar, bring the report here so we can see it, and we'll decipher it for you. Best of luck & God bless. Hugs, Lee

Can you explain your reasoning? I was just wondering if you've had experience with this yourself.

I would have to say yes to that. I have more pain than numbness, but I do have days where they are completely numb and weak. Some days I present with all three of those symptoms simultaneously and then there are the days where they feel like that and are on fire! My problems originate in my lumbar for those particular symptoms. I have had several surgeries to my neck. I am considered surgical for my lumbar, but that is a very last resort for me. I had no choice in the neck.

I also feel that way because although you could be symptomatic from cervical and thoracic, more commonly it is found to be the lumbar that gives you troubles to the legs.

That being said I had a Dr. tell me that the tests were too expensive and unwarranted. I had them done elsewhere and had emergency surgery to my neck because of the entrapment of my spinal cord. I am EXTREMELY lucky in that respect that I am not paralyzed or even dead. It is worth having a look to see if that is where it is coming from or not. There are blood tests for the other things that could be causing those kinds of symptoms, but if YOU know you are experiencing them, then it is your burden to advocate for yourself. That is unfortunately the way the ball rolls nowadays!

So, my doctor did agree to trying to get this test done for me and has already submitted a request for it to the insurance company. I'm hoping they actually approve it this time because I had another less prestigious doctor request it before, who made a poor choice in medical coding when he requested it and so they ended up denying it.

I was just wondering what I should be expecting from this test.