back pain & Knee buckling

[husein786]

Hello ,
     i am facing an issue of massive back pain and my left knee buckling when i stand for long or walk and when i climb stairs specially.
Would appreciate if any one of you have gone through the same and if you can some treatment for the same.

Regards

[RicoDCG]

Hi, my name's Rico. I was in the USAF for 20 years (1981 - 2001); however, I was diagnosed with MS close to the start of my 19th year in the Air Force.  Anyway, 4-months after being diagnosed, I was walking around the neighborhood with my wife and daughter. Then, out of nowhere, both my knees buckled at the same time. In a instant, I went from: a standing position; hitting my rear on the sidewalk; a squatting position for a second, or two; then wobbling my arms frantically in a sub-conscience attempt to stand back up straight~which I did. Immediately thereafter, I looked at my wife and daughter and we all began laughing so hard because of how fast everything occurred and what I looked like in my attempt to stand back up. Thinking the episode was nothing more than some kind of weird fluke (my knees never buckled before this in any shape, form or fashion) and after the three of us stopped laughing, we began to resume our walk; problem was though, it happened again. The first two, or so times this happened we all laughed so hard, it's amazing none of us wet ourselves. However, after this continued, my family's smiles quickly disappeared and everyone began to worry. My daughter actually became very anxious and started crying asking me in a very alarming voice, "What's wrong Pop!?!!" In a calm voice I told her not to worry, but to run back and get our neighbor to come pick me up. After notifying my neurologist and walking around like a duck for nearly a week (I thought I was on my way to being bedridden), my neurologist came across this (or very similar condition) in one of her MS books. She titled my knee buckling problem as a "paroxysmal positive motor disturbance". Her cure was to put me on Dilantin~an anti-seizure medicine. If my memory serves me correctly, I was walking normal again the same day; however, my knees continually buckled regardless of whether, or not I was just standing, or walking. But get this--my knees DO NOT buckle when I run. In regards to the Dilantin; well, once again, relying just on my memory I believe I was on it for three, or four months. Since then (the end of 2000) to present, my knees continue to buckle (whenever they feel like it...lol) I'm standing and walking; but again, THIS DOES NOT happen when I run. Further, I've never been put back on Dilantin (or any other medicine for that matter) for this condition. FYI~I came to this site to see if I could find anyone else in the MS community that had the same symptoms I have (my knees buckle spontaneously when I'm walking and standing, but NOT when I'm running) when I came across your question. So I hope you find my response helpful/informational and if there's anyone out there that can tell me if they are experiencing they same symptoms I am, I'd be glad to hear from you. Ciao for now and Best Wishes to All; Regards....Rico

[Dr. A. Srivastava]

Hi, Thank you for your question. It appears that it could be a slipped disc condition. In slipped disc or disc prolapse conditions symptoms may originate due to nerve root pressure, pressure on the spinal cord and pressure on the tail bone. Common symptoms could be paralysis of muscles, pain radiating to the arms or legs, leg pain and numbness, tingling, or weakness. Warning symptoms can include loss of control of the bladder function, numbness/pain at genital areas, paralysis & spasticity of both the legs. In addition, if you are suffering continuous weakness and notice reduced strength of muscle bulk in leg, please arrange an appointment with a neurologist right away. Further referral to a physiotherapist for spinal exercises could be beneficial and may produce relief of symptoms. Hope this helps. Take Care & Stay Healthy!!!

[Csativa]

I've been going therough the same thing for years.  To try and make a long story short, I started developing disk problems in the late 90's, and waited until 2004 to have surgery.  Surgery worked for a few years and then slowly the problem with the left knee giving out started again and has gotten worse.  To make matterss worse, Went to MS clinic last week for a nerve conduction study.  The problem with my leg and back pain is not MS related.  The determined that there is compression of the L3 and S1 nerve.  IBesides MS I have neurofibromatosis and degenerative disk disease.  Neuros suspect that a neurofibroma is growing between the disk and nerve.  A disk problem alone would be sufficient to cause the problem you describe; but as with any medical condition - consult with MD>