Leg pain question

[Rocketjs34]

Hello everyone,

This all started beginning of December.  I ended up going to the ER because I couldn't use my left leg to operate the clutch in my car.  I had to pull the car over and I was taken to the hospital.  After I was released I was extremely tired and my legs were very week for the next couple of days.  Since that time I have been experiencing pain and numbness in my left leg.

The numbness started from my knee down and lasted a couple weeks.  It then moved to my upper leg between my hip and knee.  My thigh is totally numb and I have been waking up with intense cramping pain.  I take medication for sleep and it still wakes me up in the middle of the night.

Today when I woke up I have a new pain that I have never experienced before.  When I am walking I have a sharp shooting pain in my thigh.  I was wondering if anyone has experienced this?  I have had MRI's of my head, C-Spine, Thorasic Spine, and Lumbar both W/ contrast.  Everything came back normal.  I asked the neurologist if I had any slipped or bulging disks and he told me that I did not.  I had my GP look at the MRI's was well and he told me the some thing.  

Just wondering if anyone has sharp shooting pains when they walk in there legs.  

Thanks,
Garrett

[Rocketjs34]

The pain tends to stay in one area for a period of time.  In October I had a dull pain that felt like a broken bone in my arm for 2 weeks and it went away.  In December I started to have leg pain.  It is in my left leg.  It started from my knee down for 2 weeks and then moved up into my thigh.  I still have the leg pain and cramping in my thigh for over 5 weeks now.  

The neurologist really didn't say anything about the migraines other than we will keep an eye on it.  He got me on 600mg of Gabapentin to try and limit them.  I have had the migraines with auras since 1992.  I stopped having them around 2000.  They came back in 2006 or 07 and I average around 1 every week or so.

[kwarendorf]

If your symtoms tend to move around, your right leg one day and your left hand the next, it would point away from MS. The nature of MS is that individual locations in the central nervous system are attacked. Information thatg travels through that location gets corrupted and the bad info causes symptoms. Only body parts that rely on that specific pathway are effected. The attacked sites don't move around.

Our "expertise" is limited to MS. Even at that, it's anecdotal. I would ask your GP about a physiatrist. Also, what did the neurologist say about the migraines?

Kyle

[Rocketjs34]

Kwarendorf I have not seen a Physiatrist before.  I am going to make a follow up with my GP and I will ask him about that.  

I have been having other symptoms besides the leg pain.  I have numbness and tingling in other parts of the body, migraines, tremors, muscle twitching, dizziness, balance issues.... The leg pain has lasted the longest out of all the others.

I have had multiple blood tests as well. CMP, TSH, CRP, RBC, ANA, B12, Vitamin D, CPK, Lyme Tider, Heavy Metals and all were normal.

CT scans, Chest X-rays, EMG's of arms and legs all normal.

[kwarendorf]

Hi Garrett - Welcome to the group.

Finding the root cause for unexplained symtoms can be a frustrating process. The symptoms you describe could be MS related. They also could be related to a host of other things.

Your clear MRI's would seem to point away from MS. However it is possible to have MS with no obvious lesions. Spinal lesions, which might cause leg issues are historically good at hiding. They can exist but not show up. I'm not sure what strength the machine was, but 3T MRI is the gold standard. Many machines in use today are 1.5T. That means they're half as stron and half as good at finding lesions.

One path to pursue is a physiatrist. These docs used to be called orthopedists. Now orthopedist is used for docs that do surgery. Physiatriats do not do surgery. They treat spine/nerve and other bone related issues. Have you seen one?

You need to keep asking questions. Seek second opinions, additional tests. MS diagnosing usually involves lots of blood tests to rule out mimics like Lyme disease. It can also include Evoked Potential and nerve conduction tests.

Kyle