Another Lhermitte's question

[biowham]

I'm obsessed with this now because it's my primary--at least for me--sign of something above the level of my tspine, meaning that my sx cannot all be attributed to a fairly modest t-spine herniation. There are other things that qualify, but Lhermitte's is...well, it's Lhermitte's.

Anyway...I'm wondering if what I think is Lhermitte's isn't. It doesn't hurt. It's just a buzz that I get in my legs (and sometimes in one arm) when I bend my head forward. It's intermittent but when it does happen, it always happens in the same four areas of my legs (three on the left, one on the right).

Should Lhermitte's involve pain, rather than just the buzzing when I bend my head forward? And does it "skip" over shooting down the back? I don't feel these in my back; just in my legs (and that arm).

Thanks,
Bio

[Sregeem]

Hi--Can the sensation be very, very mild? Mine is a tiny pulse in the end of one finger. Could be any finger. Unpredictable WHEN it will happen, but i test it constantly and it occassionally will happen, especially if i throw my head down with some force. doctors on this forum seem to think it's NOT lhermitte's unless it goes down the spine...Also, if i press on teh inside of my upper arm i get a shock down to the fingers, anyone know why this is? is there a nerve up there?

[biowham]

And I don't to do any research at all any more except these little experiments on myself these days. The same old story of "woman with promising academic career leaves tenure track for family." No regrets whatsoever, but I can't even call my experiments crude or not crude because they don't exist! Kind of like my symptoms, according to some neuros. I bet your real research is quite elegant and clean, Wonko, PhD. PhD sounds fancy, doesn't it? But we know what the truth is. ;-)

Physical chemistry...very very cool. I like it, but it doesn't grab and hold me as much as biology. To be even more specific, if it doesn't bleed, for some reason, I'm just not that interested. Vertebrate-centric, I guess. Vertebrocentric?

Bio

[wonko]

I'm a physical chemist and do only computation/theory, so my experiements are cude, to say the least.

Glad to give you a chuckle,

Wonko, Ph.D.

[biowham]

Wonko, exactly...having this identifiable "sign" (it's not technically a sign from the MD's point-of-view, but it sure is from mine) has really made me feel like I'm on solid ground when I say I know there's something significant going on here. Just think about these neuros and how powerful they are! I've got a PhD in biomedical sciences, and they can still reduce me (occasionally) to a level of self-questioning that can actually make you the crazy person they thought you were. So, in a sense, it's a relief to have this kind of unequivocal sign that yes, things that I think are happening are happening. Then...it also freaks me out, but that's another story.

Hope you're doing OK, too! Your story of hot and cold water is making me laugh a bit. I tried some hot tubs on our most recent vacations, and it definitely fired things up, including the Lhermitte's. But then again...it felt soooooooo good to just sit there.

Bio

[wonko]

I find that even when my doctors don't listen, seeing a reproducible symptom or correlation or trend still appeals to MY rational side.  

When I frist noticed heat sensitivity issues, I even got tubs of hot and cold water out and did ltests in my kitchen, switching my feet and hands beteween the tubs.  Maybe that sounds crazy, but it made me feel sane!  Same thing, when I first saw flashing lights in the dark when I moved my eyes, I kept going from my lit living room to the dark bathroom.  I also have a weird posture dependence that I've tested.  

I also journal a lot and note things like my mood and the level of my symptoms, since my first neuro in Jan '08 wrote in his notes the "stress" is casuing this.  Yeah, guess I'm still not over that!  Yet I've been through several stressful periods and if anything, my symptoms seem to be less during those times.  

My weird little exercises help me understand what to expect from my body, and that helps me feel that I have at least a small amount of control.  I know you can relate that it feels like the doctors are not listening/helping, so I try to understand my body and symptoms as best as I can.  

I also have read other talk about L'Hermitte's, though I've never had it, I've never read anything about it being necessarily associated with pains.

Hope you are doing well,
~W

[biowham]

Thanks, Quix. My last (fired) neuro seemed to accept it was Lhermitte's, but then dropped it on the ground and walked right by it, moving onto "RLS." I have to admit, I'm STILL laughing over the irony of that one.

Definitely producible here in predictable places. And I know from earlier MRIs that I don't have any impingement on my cord in the cervical area and only a small disc protrusion at C6-7 to the left. Not touching the cord. I don't have any sx of cervical spond---whatever, anyway.

Bio

[Quixotic1]

No, there is no requirement that L'Hermitte"s involves pain.  It seems, at least on this forum, the description is more often of an electrical shock.  I, personally, feel it as a "jiggly" feeling in the front of my left thigh.  I suppose you could call it a buzzing feeling, but it is more generally vibratory.  There is no requirement that it be continuous, or where the feeling is or anything.  This makes sense, because it depends on where the lesion is that gets irritated by the bending of the neck.  

You get it in both legs and sometimes an arm.  I get it in the front of one thigh.  Others feel it down the back and into one or both legs.  The only requirement is that it would be some sensation that is felt below the neck somewhere, when the neck is flexed.  It would also be producible.  It would not be in a different place everytime you bend your neck.  It also does not need to be felt EVERY time you flex your neck.

I've come up with all the permutations I can think of, but I'm sure you'll think of more, lol.

Quix