Re: Needle like pains inside thighs

Subject: Re: Needle like pains inside thighs

Forum: The Neurology and Neurosurgery Forum


I started having needle like pains on the inside of my calfs about a year and a half ago.  I was sent to two dermotologists - the last one sent me to
a nuerologist.  She had me do an MRI which showed I had a herniated disk at L4-5.  I got three different opinions from 3 doctors, tried physical
therapy, etc.  Last June I was operated on.  The disk was shattered.  The surgeon took a bone from my hip to fuse my back, and put metal bone cages between the disks.  This operation stopped my back pain, but the leg pain continues.  In February of this year, I had to have another back operation, I had spinal fluid leaking out of the sacks by my spine.  I had that repaired and have recovered from that operation also.  But the leg pain continues.  I cannnot stand anything tight on my legs, can't wear pantyhose, etc.  I have had an EMG that shows no permanent nerve damage.  Can anyone tell me what this is?  Isn't there someone out there that has had this before? The neurologist I am seeing now wants to do another EMG.  My surgeon says it won't show anything the last one didn't show.  She also has put on me on a drug called Neurontin.  It makes me so sleepy I can't take it and work.




Dear Susan:
Sorry to hear about your problems.  Sounds like you have a sensory neuropathy.  Neurontin is a great choice and it is our first line medication for such a problem.  However, you are experiencing one of the few side effects from this medication.  We usually start at low concentrations and slowly build it up, for this very reason.  We usually start at 300 mg a day for 3-5 days and then slowly increase it by 300 mg until we see an effect.  If you started to rapidly then this may be one reason for your tired feeling.  You should adapt to the medication within a couple of weeks and the tired feeling should go away.  If it doesn't then another medication is tegratol that works well in these cases.  Most of the time though, this condition will slowly return to normal, it the etiology has be corrected.
I hope you find relief soon.
Sincerely,
CCF Neuro[P] MD









Follow Ups:


Needle like pains inside thighs Susan F. 4/20/1999
(2)

Re: Needle like pains inside thighs Susan Foster 4/21/1999
(1)

Needle like pains inside thighs CCF MD GS 4/28/1999
(0)