Hip Pain, Leg pain similar to Sciatica, worse at night

[RB99]

Hi All,

I was diagnosed with MS only 2 years ago after a bout of Optic Neuritis which has since cleared up. I also have various other little niggling things that I seem to manage well enough. That said, I started getting quite bad hip pain on one side after taking Rebiff and along with other side effects it was quite bad. I therefore moved to Copaxone and have done well on it till now. The hip pain remained and has recently become so bad I can't lie on either side for too long and constantly wake up in a lot of pain.

Then 5 weeks ago I woke u0p and could not walk or put my right leg on the floor as it would not bear my weight and was incredibly painful. I also had increasing numbness and tingling on both hips and down the right leg. This seemed to be worse at night times though. I thought it was sciatica as the symptoms are the same almost and so went for an MRI to check for Sciatica only to be told it is not Sciatica and may well be a relapse.

At this stage it is healing by itself and I still have days I cant walk properly and have a limp so I am working that through with the Physio. I just wondered if anyone else has had the same and it was not a relapse, or is it indeed a relapse. My MS clinic said it might be but they also then said it might be residual pain from a weak hip??

thanks,

Rosa

[Momto3andNanato2]

As of right now waiting a few more weeks to do more xrays to see if there is any change in the bone growth and any change in the placement of the screw.

[kwarendorf]

As I mentioned in another thread, it will be hard to know whether MS is the cause of your leg issues until you have fixed the mechanical problems. Are there plans to fix the cracked screw?

Kyle

[Momto3andNanato2]

Thanks for sharing Kyle. I too had a laminectomy. Im 19 weeks out and have a cracked screw within the hardware that was placed. It is believed to be from a fall that I took when my leg buckled and I fell down 4 steps. My leg pain is constant and I wish I knew if it were from the fusion or from the MS. There are days I cant walk 10 feet without buckling and others I do ok. I do have a limb in my gait, but agree with the sugguestion of a 3T MRI thats where the biggest lesion I have is located on the T spine its about 3+ inches long.

Momto3Nanato2

[Theresalp]

does anyone have severe aching pain in the back of their calves? The back of my legs ache so bad.

[kwarendorf]

A point of clarification. Lumbar MRI can show neurological damage. It's just not central nervous system neurological damage.

The generally accepted thinking is that the spinal cord ends at the last thoracic vertebrae. That is where the cauda equina starts. The cauda equina contains nerves and issues related to this nerves are neurological.

I'm living proof :-) I had lumbar spinal stenosis, a narrowing of the spinal column. This narrowing compresses nerves causing leg issues. I had a laminectomy performed by a neurosurgeon. Problem solved!

Kyle

[jensequitur]

The lumbar region will not show neurological damage, as it's composed of a bundle of nerves called the cauda equina. Your spinal cord stops at T12. If you do get another MRI, I would recommend a 3T MRI of the thoracic spine.

[RB99]

Hi Kyle,

The hip was fine until I was on Rebiff and then it started hurting. It is listed as a side effect of the medication and I was on it for over 6 months before they took me off it. Ever since then I have been left with pain of some sort but it has never affected my gait or my ability to walk till then. Now it is the whole leg as well and for a few days I could not put it on the ground or walk.

The MRI I had was for lumbar region as they were checking for sciatica but it says I have normal results, it shows normal disc degeneration for my age etc and the hip x-ray also showed nothing. I am waiting on my clinic to send me an appointment and arrange another MRI to see if a lesion has formed. In the meantime I shall be going back to yoga, now that I can stand and walk, in the hopes that gives me some relief.

Thanks for the info on spasticity guys, I shall check that article out straightaway! I have to say, I felt like my clinic were a little dismissive of me just because I did not turn up in an ambulance with a severe relapse and are trying to palm me off with some excuse about it being a weak hip
(from what?) and possibly not MS related but have not yet done anything to diagnose it either way.... I shall give them a ring back and see what they say, but  shall also read up on as much as I can!

thanks,

Rosa

[jensequitur]

Here it is...

http://www.medhelp.org/health_pages/Multiple-Sclerosis/Muscle-Tone-And-Spasticity/show/159?cid=36

[jensequitur]

I have some serious right-side hip pain that didn't manifest itself until I went off Baclofen (not good during a pregnancy.) It's a very specific spot right above and inside my hip joint. I have to stretch to the side with my arms in the air to get relief.

I've been having problems with my right leg since my diagnosis in 2007. First it was numb and weak, then it was spastic and weak. For a long time I couldn't lift it while sitting, which played havoc with my driving. I had problems with the sartorius muscle, which controls the knee, and the adductor longus, which is at the top of the thigh. It seems to be connected to my lesion at T12.

Whether it's a relapse or not, you're going to have to treat the symptoms. Baclofen is great if your liver can tolerate it. Flexaril is better than nothing, but wouldn't touch my serious spasticity. Tizanidine is really strong but effective.

Stretching will help. What I've found with severe spasticity is it's best to treat the pain first, and if stretching sets off a spasm, don't stretch - just take the Baclofen and ice the area down. But gentle stretching is a fantastic thing - I'll stretch out my thigh muscle and the hip muscle, and then I can walk without pain. Ice packs are also great for reducing spasticity. There's something about chiling the muscle down that calms the nerves and keeps the muscle from being tensed.

There's an article in the help pages (if I can find it) that will tell you more about spasticity and how to treat it. I'll post it here if I can find it.

[kwarendorf]

Hi Rosa - Welcome to our group.

Your answers may be determined by process of elimination. Your hip pain may be mechanical or it may be neurological.

When they did the MRI of your hip what did they say, other than it was not sciatica? here are other things that can cause hip pain, like arthritis. It does not have ot be MS related. My left hip was replaced due to arthritis and it had nothing to do with my MS.

The MS clinic needs to do better than it might be a relapse or it might not. What are they doing to determine whether or not you are in a relapse? Have you had new MRI's of head and c & t spine?

Kyle