Whats causing my pain??

[mistylee]

Hi all I have had problems with my left leg since my last relapse 8 months ago.

I have been going to physio and they suspect a neurological cause so wondering if anyone can relate to this or have any ideas.

The front of my thigh is painful , when I try to bend my knee up and outwards. ie cant look at the bottom of my foot.
Also if I try to move quickly in and out of bed , car etc. If my leg is pushed on the outside towards my other leg it is excrutiating painful zap from my knee to the top of the thigh. It takes about 30 secs to subside if this happens or I move quickly in another direction.

The pain is a shocking zap and takes my breath away. There is no injury and on pushing the muscle it feels ok...no pain.  I have been doing gentle stretches and strengthening excercises under the physios guidence but there is no improvement on this problem.

Could this be a damaged nerve getting wrong signols like you would expect with MS??? or any suggestions???

It is really getting me down and I even have crying spells now when I move quickly and it brings on the pain as it is so painful I am so sick of feeling this way.

Please anyone?? Quix ?? can you help with this?? I am in despare with it.

Mistylee

[mistylee]

Hi halah,

Yes I had an MRI on the spine 5 months ago and all was fine.  I actually think twopack is right. I did some research and it sounds like mild spasticity or spasms.

I had physio yesturday and she actually spent the whole time massaging the quads to try and relax the muscles as they were really contracted into spasms at rest and wouldn't relax.

I am a bit reluctant to take any meds at the moment as I dont like taking them.  I will keep them for when it gets really bad. So I guess I will just keep doing the stretches and strengthening excercises the physio is giving me and hope for the best.

Mistylee

[halah29]

My mom had this problem.  She doesn't have ms (I do) she had pieces of bone from her spinal colum the were pressing on a nerve causing pain in her legs. Sounds like exactly what she had.  She ended up with surgery on her lumbar .  We saw the  mri and the pieces that looked misplaced.  She is ok now. JUs pain in her back from surgery.  Have you had a spinal mri recently?

[twopack]

I found the Health Page on muscle tone and spasticity to be very helpful.  If you take a careful look at it I think you will find descriptions of several of the things you are experiencing.  

I initially thought  any spasticity would have my limbs constantly pulled up into a contracted ball.  I now know that there are degrees of spasm.  I think some of mine might actually be helping me to keep going when I'm feeling weak.

I'm wondering if a trial with some Baclofen might help you sort this out.

Mary

[mistylee]

Hi Mary,
Its interesting you talk about spasticity cos thats initially what I thought it could be but the physio does'nt think it is because when my leg is bent and straightened it doesn't catch!!

But the pain is in the knee up. It does feel like it is the muscle and I have had a funny knot of muscle just above the knee like it is spasms.  It has gradually worked its way up the leg over the last 3 or 4 months.  Could it be mild spasticity??? causing tightness and pain???

And how qualified is a general physio to know what true spasticity  is in a mild form??  And does spasticity cause shooting pain on certain movements??

Mistylee

[twopack]

I think I understand what you are trying to describe.  I had similar pain before my knee replacement was redone.  If I made the mistake of placing my right foot on my left knee (like to put a sock on) there was no way to avoid the inevitable gasp producing jolt of pain that occurred when I tried to return it to neutral position.  Docs were never able to reproduce it on exam.

I still get the big stab if I try to pry my right foot out of a shoe as I hold the shoe's heel down with my left foot (the way your mother told you NOT to do because it ruined those expensive shoes she bought you!).

I don't remember the exact location of all that pain (NEVER thought I'd forget that) but the sensation I DO remember and it was as you describe.  I wasn't at all sure it was related to the knee but most of it has improved since the surgery.  No doctor was ever really able to explain what was going on.  Thinking back, I also had a steroid injection months after the first replacement because bending the knee made it feel like pain had shot UP the sciatic.

I wonder now if some of this didn't have more to do with muscle spasticity than actual nerve pain.  I don't have a lot of cramp type spasms but I'm becoming more aware of how much consistent low level spasm I have.  

Sorry I can't be more helpful here.
Mary

[mistylee]

I also know about the zaps one can have out of the blue with MS but these zaps of pain although out of the blue, they are initiated by certain movements as described.

I should also say that when I bend my knee up and try to rotate the foot up say to look at the sole of the foot , the muscle actually hurts so bad that I cannot do it. sort of the same pain but less of a gripping zap of pain , more like general pain from the knee to the top of the thigh.

Sorry it is really hard to describ this but I really need help with this. I am strugling to deal with this pain any longer.