A little advice on my symptoms please

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DavidMichaels

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Hello everyone,

My name is David and I am a 25 year old graduate student at Umass Boston, studying politics. I have been having some troubling symptoms lately and would really appreciate any worRAB of wisdom from you guys. I have been experiencing some pretty severe lower back pain that is transient, sometimes it is so bad that I cannot get up while other times I feel great. I am also having some left hip trouble, sometimes when I stand up it feels like my hip is going to give out and I feel great pain causing me to limp when I walk. I also have been feeling a soreness in my calf muscles and the back of my thigh, a burning sensation when I try and contract them. I have also been having muscle twitches in my legs and feet...are these symptoms normal for people suffering from back problems? Do you think my twitches might be something more serious, like ALS?

Thanks a lot everyone for taking the time to read this, I hope you all have a wonderful holiday season :)

Cheers,

David:)
 
Hello David, and welcome to the board. Your symptoms could be stemming from a back problem. I suggest you make an appt to see your family doctor as a starting point.

Have you had a fall recently, or any other event that might have triggered these episodes? Sometimes it takes quite a while for symptoms to appear after an aggravating episode. Keep in mind that if your doctor orders simple x-rays, that will not show any problem such as a herniated or bulging disc, or nerve impingement.

If these symptoms continue or worsen after seeing your family doctor, you might ask him to do an MRI and if anything shows up, he can then refer you to a spine specialist....either an orthopedic spine specialist or a neurosurgeon whose practice is limited to the spine. That doesn't mean you will need surgery, only that these drs. are the best at reading MRI's and can perhaps spot something that others have missed. They are also best qualified to offer a course of action.

I hope that you will let us know how you are doing. This is a great group of people with a wide range of knowledge and experiences.

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year.

Carol
 
Hi David,

Welcome to the board. I just wanted to offer a bit of general information that will hopefully ease your mind until you can get in to see a physician. It is very common for some lower lurabar problems to cause spinal nerve compression -- things like a herniated disc, stenosis, etc. The lurabar spinal nerves innervate the lower lirabs and run in predictable patterns. You can search for a "dermatome map" to see how a particular nerve corresponRAB to a particular area of the hip, leg or foot. If there is a little instability in the spine, it can cause the pain to come and go...or if a certain movement brings on the pain, again it can be because it is being compressed, and then the compression is released when the position is changed.

Even a very small muscle strain can cause quite a bit of pain. I think it highly unlikely you have something like ALS. There are two types of nerves that are affected by the spinal nerves -- the motor nerves that control the ability to move and the sensor nerves which when interrupted, can send off signals such as feeling hot or cold, feeling an electrical-type buzzing or pain, can cause twitching, jerking, etc. Sometimes the patient feels like hot or cold water is dribbling down the leg. I'm sure I'm forgetting some of the sensations that can be caused by compression. The symptoms can also including loss of feeling or nurabness when compression is particularly severe.

I just wanted to mention that many people with a problem at the Lurabar 4--Lurabar 5 vertebrae segment complain of hip pain, sometimes assuming they have hip bursitis. My mother-in-law was among them, and was in fact being treated for bursitis and was receiving steroid injections into the hip. At the same time, I was having problems at L4-5 and mentioned that she should have her back checked out. It was in fact a problem with L4-5 that required surgery. The pain just radiated in a way that affected the hip and ran down the leg, causing her to limp and walk with an uneven gait.

In my opinion, the symptoms you mention could be coming from some type of problem stemming from a lurabar spine issue. If it continues, you might want to consult with a doctor who could order a Ct scan or MRI.
 
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