Cervical bulging disc and leg weakness?

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like i said, not all speacialists including NSs simply ARE created equal, no way no how. finding another, perhaps a bit more experienced type of NS would be a good idea(someone a bit older usually will have much more overall experience, you CAN ask or find out)? believe me, i was absolutely stunned at the huge differences between three seperate non affilliated(not in the very same group setting)NSs 'opinions' of alot of the things i had going on in my c spine, but mostly with my cavernoma in that cord. it really DOES pay to do some research and find the specific types of specialists for YOUR particular problems. definitely. have they ever actually scanned your entire spinal or only just that c spine? while you can have leg issues from certain types of findings way up in the c spine level, you can also have things going on anywhere down that spine in certain areas that also can heavily impact the legs too? in order for that c spine to even be responsible for the leg issues, it would HAVE to involve some level of the actual spinal cord. its just the way that kinda works? so looking at ALL spinal levels, depending upon just what you are told, would not be a bad idea in just trying to really find that level of impact. it does appear tho that everything does point to some level of a more intermittant type of a more hit upon that c 6 nerve root which was backed up by that EMG too? same thing occured with my intermittant crap too. but this would ONLY impact the possible neck area on down to the finger, nothing below that with individual nerve roots.

so the lower legs when tapped did NOT move out a bit more rapidly than the norm? did you mention the leg stuff to that NS when you saw her too? i am sure she also did her own bit of tapping too(its always part of a good neuro exam) and would have picked up ANY level of actual hyper reflexia. its just usually a pretty obvious thing? are you currently taking any meRAB at all that could give you some type of actual side effect within your legs? i know i have tried some at times that HAVE actually enhanced my loss of proprioperception in my legs and my levels of spasticty too along the way? also had me tripping over my feet at times as well. lyrica was a good one for that. there just ARE other types of situations that can impact our legs in certain ways too.

but like i said, if nothing on that MRI of your c spine actually matches with the type of leg issues you are having, it would not hurt at all to simply run the rest of that spinal with MRI too. you just really don't know what you actually have anywhere inside your own body til it simply gets that better in depth look into it, ya know? i found THAT one out the hard way, in many different areas of my body and also my sons too. i just am hoping you can get hooked up with a much better more experienced NS at this point. as usual, keep me posted hon, marcia
 
Hi,
I was diagnosed with a bulging c5-c6 disc and pinched nerve a couple of months ago. The pain has been bad, and hasn't responded to traction or a selective nerve root block. I've also had headaches.
I have had nurabness in my 4th and 5th fingers on left hand, and my neuro keeps saying my symptoms don't "match" the MRI. Don' t know what to say to that???
In the past few days I have developed burning pain in back of neck below where the disc is and weakness in my legs. I feel like my feet are going to fall through the floor.
The doc I saw ruled out Guillon-Barre and electrolyte irabalance. No one seems to know what is wrong.
I get the feeling these doctors think I'm full of it. They say that if this were freom the neck, I would have weak arms too.
Does anyone know what this could be, or what it sounRAB like?
Many thanks in advance!
 
Hi Marcia,
Yes, I actually had MRIs of my brain, cervical, thoracic, and lurabar areas this week. The brain, thoracic, and luraber were all normal - no bulging discs or other abnormalities.

the cervical only showed the bulging c5-6 disc, and narrowing of the cspine in that area. The leg symptoms only showed up about 12 days ago, and I have not seen the NS since then (won't go back to her anyway). I saw a walk-in clinic dr, er dr, and my primary - all did some kinRAB of neuro tests, didn't find anything really off. I can't walk on my heels, though, and I do this kind of "Frankenstein walk" - getting very stiff, can't bend legs while walking. This has been accompanied by burning pain in back of neck, and tingling/nurabness in hanRAB and feet. My primary is trying to hook me up with a neurologist who can offer some kind of opinion.
Thanks for your info - it sounRAB like you have been through some hellish things. I have only been experiencing these problems for 4 months, am so new to all this scary stuff...
Julie
 
Hi Julie I have the same sort of feeling in my legs (hard to describe) with C-5 C-6 problems so it is similar! Here is what I wrote on another post. Let me know if this seems similar to you.

Here is my MRI:
C-5 C-6 level demonstrates posterior left paracentral disc herniation effacing the ventral CSF space with cord contact, flattening and encroaching on the exiting left C-6 nerve root. There is mild right foraminal narrowing secondary to uncinate process hypertrophy.

C6-C-7 level deomonstrates a posterior left paracentral disc protrusion/subligamentous disc herniation partially effacing the ventral CSF space without cord contact. The neural foramina are patent.

My symptoms:

Pain in the left side of my neck and the left part of my spine with burning at my left shoulder blade especially if I'm sitting, walking or on my feet working for long perioRAB. When it get's really bad the pain locks up my neck. I also get nurabness on the left side of my face and left fingers and tingling on the top part of my left hand that has been getting worse since the last injection which was in the facet joints. My neck gets into knots constantly and at night I wake up from the pain. I try to push them out with my thurab but they come right back. I also just got a clicking in the left part of my jaw that I think has something to do with the knots. When I breath sometimes I get tingling that goes from my chest down into my hanRAB. Lately at times I've been feeling spacey when the pain get's bad.

Another post about my leg pain:

As I was reading about what you said about dropping things and leg pain it may connect to other things. I have dropped things on occasion and my left hand does feel differently then my right besides from the tingling and nurabness. Another thing I noticed is that I often have leg pain that goes down into both legs. Also feels like a guide wire at the bottom of my spine putting pressure to keep my legs straight out. (Hard to describe exactly.) I also have burning on the outer part of my thighs and top part of my feet. When I go to sleep it is very uncomfortable in my legs and feet sometimes. The other day when I was walking it felt weird like I was walking straight up and higher on my heels or something. (Again hard to describe exactly.) I actually was thinking this had something to do with my lower back and figured I had to address that later after I get through my neck stuff. Could this be connected to my neck pain?
 
thank you so very much - I will keep your advice in mind.
I did have an EMG a couple of weeks ago to look at these fingers, and it was normal.
My leg symptoms, along with burning in the neck, are hanging on. What really bothers me is that when I try to walk, my legs will become "rigid" and yet weak feeling at the same time, and I feel as though my body is being pushed downward, even though I'm still standing. I know that sounRAB odd - it's the only way I can describe it.
I was asking about the MS because I've always thought it was mainly associated with weakness/instability, but not pain, but I'm no expert? I guess I'm wondering why the dr is leaning more toward that when I have so much neck pain.
Thank you!
Julie
 
just how are your actual leg reflexes? like when they hit ther area right directly under the knee caps with the little hammer? do they bounce out kind of normally or do they appear to be more quick or 'brisk", more than 'just" a minimal bounce out? knowing the answer to THAT one question would help alot. i am thinking your doc has probably had a bit more experience with MS than some? what any doc actually 'feels' about any given patients symptoms generally comes from what they have usually seen more of in 'their' particular practice? its just the way the many different docs see things, not actually what it may be kinda thing? every single doc and specialist out there learns wayyy more from seeing actual patients in their own practice than anyplace else actually. thats where having alot of real years of experience makes the better docs? they just tend to know more because they have seen more patients and treated a wider variety of conditions?

what you have going on with that pain in your neck could be something at the very base of the brain that can impact that c spine level pretty hard or you could have some level of spinal issue up in that c spine thats creating this too. thats where getting that really good contrasted look into the brain and that spinal really IS needed, just to actually see what shows up where? has there been any mention of something called a possible chiari formation? its just your description of symptoms? sometimes the actual cerebellar tonsils of the brain can actually sit a wee bit lower in the brainstem and kind of 'crowd" the spinal cord to a certain degree? i am in no way saying you actually have this, but it should be looked into when that brain MRI gets done? it just would definitely show if you did have it. this just would in most cases actually be something you would kind of be born with?

just one of the main reasons a person will actually have a 'normal' EMG when something still is impacting fingers is usually becasue the impact is only an intermittant thing and not a 'constant"? the area just HAS TO be directly impacted at the time of that testing in order for it to even show up as any level of flow velocity impairment. thats the bigger problem with the EMG itself. i had the very same thing happen with my EMG for my herniated c 6-7 when i was having horrid intermittant types of pain and nurabness in my fingers too. and i was told even before my test just what i told you too. it would have to be actively impinged at the time to actually show it. that test is really great for certain things but pretty crappy for others unfortuently. thats why that MRI just IS so much more important since it will usually show what IS going on within the spinal like stenosis? that would create intermittant symptoms easily. this was what i also had in my c 7 nerve root. but there just can be alot of other reasons too.

have you actually had the MRIs done then or not? just make certain like i mentioned before, to actually obtain your very own copies of all of the testing that gets done on you from here on out. we all just need to keep getting all of out own medical recorRAB. believe me, this has helped me to really just stay on top of all my many different medical issues. and it also allows you to actually read thru all of your own results and any recorRAB you can also obtain from any or all of your ongoing treating docs too. just let me know what is in the MRI summaries when they are done? i can help you to better decipher them in most cases. hopefully something will show that will correlate all of your symptoms so at least you will actually know more than you do now. good luck, and DO keep me posted. marcia
 
julie, just make certain that she hooks you up with another neurosurgeon(just make sure this one is totally and completely non affilliated with the one your seeing now) hon. once they see your hardfilms and just do that more in depth neuro eval on you too, this one may see things in a totally different way. like i said before, and DO trust me on this one, all NSs are just not buy a long shot even close to equal in some cases. they all have experience in many different areas(some alot more than others) than the previous or the next one would have, ya know what i mean? i have seen stupid, and have been blessed with simply amazing too over the many years i have dealt with all my crap here. i just don't really honestly feel that you would get the best overall picture with only a neurologist. once you see another NS and if he cannot actually find just ANY possible real reason that connects that c spine area to the leg issues, then maybe i would see a neuro? since there just always is the possibility of something more underlying here that a neuro would normally see in HIS type of practice. but i just think, given what your symptoms are here that there would HAVE to be something up there just to even begin to give you leg symptoms like you have right now. any type of actual 'scan' is ONLY just that, a scan of an area and not an actual picture of any given area. BIG big difference there. some findings just do not show themselves at all upon MRI or can stay somewhat hidden from the views that they use as angles when even shooting the MRIs themselves too? alot of different variables will make what is actually even there, not always even show up upon even the best MRI done with contrast either.

i had to have what is called a 3 T or 3 tesla scan done on my brain just to actually find my aneurysm clearly. this type of MRI scan just goes into the tissues a bit more in depth since it actually uses 3 times the actual magnetism of a plain old MRI. just one possible option that may help if you still do not get real solid answers as to what could possibly be impacting those legs and the upper too? but a really good, knowledgable and experienced type of NS who just has had alot of years in practice and going into many peoples spinal areas would just be the ideal person to see if possible. how 'they' would even do the standard in depth hanRAB on neuro exam could even be very different since they simply know much more in what to look for, then using the films and what any patient simply tells them about their own symptoms is what truely gives that best overall picture when they put it all together? hopefully with the right NS they will be able to better define your ongoing symptoms and the films too. i would just really try that one more NS before i would go for the neurologist. just my own opinion of course. i am just hoping that someone out there can simply figure you out here soon hon. good luck julie, Marcia
 
May I suggest you have another neuro read your MRI? I had all the same symptoms from the same problem (bulging discs levels C4 to C7, bone spurs etc). When I lost my balance my doctor in SF told me that was an indication my spinal cord was being compressed. Four months later I had fusion surgery (delayed surgery because of a new grandchild joining the family!) and the same day of the surgery I was out of bed, walking and all my symptoms were gone!
PLease think about getting as many opinions as you need....I went through 8 years of being misdiagnosed and have lost count of how many doctors who did not diagnose me correctly....so I sympathize with the your pain and frustration and encourage you to keep going forward till you find the right doctor!
Good Luck,
Martha
Philippines
 
Some of your symptoms sound like mine, bulging disk pressing on the nerve. I have the burning - this is like hell. I have had no effective treatment. Did you get an MRI?
 
Hi,
Well, I got my MRI results. The brain is normal - I do not have MS or anything pressing right now on my spinal cord. Unfortunately, my symptoms persist.
I think the word I was looking for is spasticity in the legs - when I try to walk, they get rigid.I also still have the falling sensation.
My dr. has referred me to a different neuro. In the meantime, I got my MRI report, and the first one that was done in February. I'm wondering if someone can explain to me what this means, from my cervical MRI done yesterday:


Cervical cord is normal in diameter. No abnormal intracord signal is identified. No abnormal enhancing lesions are present within the cervical cord and no plaque or demyelination is appreciated. Degenerative changes are present. Some disc bulge noted at C5-6 leading to mild narrowing. No cord compression. No significant remodeling. No evidence of spondylotic myelopathy. The neural foramina throughout the cervical spine are fairly well maintained.

My MRI back in February noted: "mild neural foraminal narrowing more on the left than on the right is present. This potentially affects the C6 roots."

My dr has said that this narrowing of the cervical spine and disc bulge are why she is referring me to neuro. What's driving me crazy, though, is hearing something referred to as "mild" that has impaired my ability to walk, go to work, or pretty much do anything.

Has anyone had these kind of findings, or could you give me some advice about the leg symptoms?
Thank you!
Julie S.
 
Please get another opinion. I had cord compression from C7 and my first symptoms were leg weakness. It went undiagnosed for a year, since the neurologist and the first neurosurgeon I went to were only looking at my lurabar ddd and didn't even consider the cervical. I had nurabness and weakness of 4th and 5th fingers also. I finally had so much neuropathy that they did another MRI and found the cervical compression. I can't understand why they don't see what you are dealing with. Don't let this go too long. Since I waited a year, I have permanent nerve damage. Keep pressing for the right doctor. I finally had an ACDF to stabilize my spine and relieve the compression.
 
Yes, I've had two MRIs of the cervical - one last week.
Going kind of crazy right now - my primary was going to schedule me with a new neuro , haven't heard back yet.
I am still walking with a cane, having a falling sensation, having legs go rigid when walking, and burning sensations in hanRAB and feet. I cannot walk across campus to teach my classes, have had to negotiate a medical leave, except for what I can do sitting down.
I have anxiety order, and my anxiety has been sky high.
I even went to ER last week, and the dr said, what do you want me to do? You haven't had a stroke, and you were able to walk across the room--
I can't believe that people can continue to have these symptoms, and that no help seems to be available. I realize lots of people are sicker than me, but this leg stuff has been going on for 2 weeks.
The MRI was normal except showed the bulging disc at C5-6 is still there, and a narrowing of the spinal column at that level. No obvious cord compression.
Sorry to vent - really hoping for some answers soon????
Thanks
Julie
 
Hi,
I finally got in to see a neuro today. She went thru a nuraber of tests, watched me walk, and says she doesn't think my problems are related to cervical spine issues. The nurabness in my hanRAB/feet she feels is neuropathy, and then she listed about 10 diseases it could be - diabetes, Lyme disease, vitamin d deficiency, etc. my sugar has always been fine, told her i can't imagine developing diabetes suddenly. then she asked how much alcohol i drink - i told her none, haven't drank in over 20 years. she focused on my anxiety disorder - got the impression she was trying to say all of this was anxiety related. i will have a blood test in am.
i have the distinct feeling that the doctors i see are taking a bunch of wild guesses. meanwhile, i tell them, i am unable to go to work, take care of my granddaughter, etc. even though i'm only 45.
have others of you gotten this response? granted, i can't prove that any of this is related to my cervical disc or narrowing of spine - but i can't help but think they are related.
thanks
julie s
 
honestly? i would actually seek out a good knowledgeable neurosurgeon for the consult and eval from HIS perspective as to just exactly what this means for you right now? a mere neurologist just does NOT realistically have enough 'inner working' experience like a neurosurgeon just does. you would definitely get a much much better knowledgable and experienced 'read' of the actual films this way too? i just do not think only an "ologist" would truely know enough to really be able to even give you a good second read on the films.

i have seen plenty of both NSs and ologists over the past years enough to tell you that if you have more than ongoing headpain(they are great for trying to manage and control head pain issues), you really are not truely getting the BEST possible opinion/eval or possible treatment options with only a ologist. if you just think about what an ologist does all day compared to an actual NS, the ologist is alll from the outside and the surgeon is all from the inside? who would you feel would just have that better clearer understanding of the innerworkings of the spinal cord and its many innervations? even some neurosurgeons do not really know certain things about how anything impacting the spinal cord in any way can create alot of insane 'perceptions' of insane 'feelings" of something being "done' to your body kind of thing? i had a pretty knowledgable NS who seemed to be 'good' and did my two c spine surgeries. but i kept having this insane and i DO mean insane "perception' going on under my shoulderblade that honestly felt like i had someone actually standing behind me with a prybar and trying to pry off my freaking shoulderblade 24/7 and a TON of real poressure "under" the blade itself pushing out, it NEVER ever stopped. it was constant prying, torqueing pressure. this definitely was NOT plain old radiculopathy, no freaking way. it was absolutely freakish and crazy and everytime i would ask this particular NS about this feeling/perception, and it just felt sooo real to me it did feel like it WAS going on actively back there, and just wanted to know if this could have been stemming from this vascular glob that was actually IN my spinal cord right AT the c 8 nerve level, he just kept on telling me that my cavernoma was to high above that level to even be doing that. well, when i got to the one and ONLY NS who was the head of NS up at the U of MN here and asked HIM? believe it or not he told me it 'most certainly WAS" coming from the angioma i had and then also procedded to actually draw me a freaking picture on a piece of paper that showed me how things are simply innervated two levels below the area of affectation when you get past that c spine level?? go figure.

so the overall real knowledge and experience any specialist actually has with what YOUR particular issues are is always the very beat way to go, always. you just get that back up of the years of doing what that specialist does working for you? not all even NSs are created equal as i found out. could not believe the overall differences in opinions either. the other NS kind of minimized the glob, and the new esperienced NS actually told me if it bled again i would become paralyzed since i was running out of corRABpace?? scared the crap outta me to even think what would have happend if i had not sought out the amazing opinion i got, which was my third by the way.

but YOU just DO need to be seeing an actual NS right now just for THAT level of expertise and just knowing how things react in there when compromised the way yours are. 'some' narrowing is usually not too impactful,BUT what any real NS would actually 'read' in the films himself would better dictate how truely impacted anything actually is for you in there right now,and NOT a mere radiologists read? which is all you have right now? NSs just KNOW what to actually look for in certain key areas that just can be much more impactful than any rad would even KNOW about, only becasue they have gone in there and actually seen it and saw how a patient reacted post op and just that ongoing experience in seeing certain findings and knowing what they would simply make a patient feel at all as symptoms.

so getting that second good knowledgable opinion/reread on your actual films, corabined with what your ongoing symptoms have been, and more important too is that hanRAB on more in depth neuro exam that the NS will be doing all kind of come together to give YOU his real true "impressions' of what he feels is the more significant issues with YOUR spinal area. to a certain degree here, and this is not unusual with MRI since this is only a 'scan" of your spinal and not a real kodak moment type thing, your MRI really does not actually 'match' well with some of your real true symptoms and signs. according to only that rad repost,while you so NOT have ANY actual spinal cord loss of amp,it does sound like canal narrowing id going on,the degree is often times a highly individual read thing in many cases? but you definitely DO have narrowing of the foramin where that c 6 nerve root pops out. the thing here is that none of what is actually IN that report would actually explain what you are feeling with the legs? try doing what i mentioned above using the heavy handle end of a butter knife by simply tapping that area right under your kneecap and see what happens? if this IS actually spasticity which believe me i also have, when you tap that area, it should kind of 'shoot out" the lower leg much more profoundly than the mere 'bounce out" effect that would be considered the 'norm'? spasticity is always a part of hyper reflexia(or vice versa) or hyper reflexes? so a very 'brisk' bounce out of the lower leg would always be a factor. it just 'is".

just try that one test and let me know what occurs. it WILL tell alot believe me. but do make certain you are being sent to an actual NS for the very best more in depth opinion of what your true situation just is right now. and keep me posted. marcia
 
Thank you both very much for your replies. I continue to be unsteady on my feet after 1 week, did get in to my dr and I will go to the hospital tomorrow for scans of my brain and spinal cord. She thinks I either have MS or disc herniation.
I'm wondering, can MS ever present with neck problems and pain?
Thanks Julie
 
make certain they do those scans with a contrasting agent as well. it just gives much clearer pics than without using it? i am not too certain about the MS thing. what i am wondering was exactly what nerve was supposedly 'pinched" and by what exactly? do you actually have your own copy of that original MRI report? if not, get one(this would be your 'baseline' MRI) and also to make CERTAIN to obtain copies of the scans they will be doing on you now too. it really does help to just always have your very own copies of any and all testing results for your own files you keep on yourself.

what i am wondering here is what you have going on with that ulnar nerve? that is what innervates the sensory part of the two fingers(or at least the whole pinkie and one side of that ring finger) you are having issues with? it is also the c 8 nerve up in the c spine? it is either being compromised at that c spine level or it could also be impacted at any point from there and on down that arm to the wrist/fingers too? one good test to have when you DO have sensory affectation that is more constant would be whats called an EMG/NCV test? this would simply show nerve flow velocity within that nerve and how responsive it is? it can also pinpoint the area of true impact as well. sometimes that ulnar can actually be impinged within the elbow too, a very common place actually. just another type of test to better define the true impact area.

but DO obtain all copies of those new results so you can also post the summaries here? its much easier to simply look at the summary from the interpretting rad as written word for word to really try and help someone than from what you were merely 'told' by your doc? the way the rad actually defines certain findings really does help. hopefully they can show with this new set what is actually going on. but i do hope they will be using a contrast with this, esp when looking into someones brain with MRI? that REALLY does help better highlight all arterial vessels within the brain soo much better than without it. just a much more thorough type scan. please let us know what you find out. marcia
 
since this neuro alrady appears to have placed you into that sick 'all in your head" file here, i would seriously at this point actually seek out that new NS opinion? they just seriously DO have such a completely different type of hanRAB on experience with what can create what when it is stemming from the spinal or even the brain too? i just cannot see you really getting anywhere with this neuro. uless she wants to go ahead and actually even do some different types of testing on you? but you still can seek out another NS opinion here too hon.

while this DID really sound like a possible form of neuropathy from the beginning, other symptoms just really kind of up that need to make certain that this is not a spinal issue, or a corabo of the two? ya just never know what our bodies will actually create or generate within us, trust me on that one. but getting that second NS opinion is what i would do right now if this were me. they ARE very different in overall expeience and training and knowledge over time and just seeing different patients? at least if this other NS agreed with the first, well it would at least rule certain things out or in if he should possibly see it differently too. marcia
 
Hi Julie, I have similar symptoms to yours. I developed severe pain between my shoulder blades about two weeks after I went back to work (March 29, 2010) after being on mat leave. The pain was definitely aggravated by using a computer all day. I noticed driving, sitting, and standing in one spot (e.g. washing dishes and folding laundry) were also torture (whenever my arms are held out in front of me for even a few minutes). The pain has spread up into my neck and sometimes my neck feels so weak I can hardly hold my head up. When I'm walking and lying down the pain can almost go away, although I've noticed it is getting worse when trying to sleep. I can
 
Thank you, Marcia- I did the reflex test and it looks normal, although it feels kind of "jumpy," if that makes sense. I was on my feet more today and I can walk, although I feel clumsy and the spastic feeling is still there, like my legs all of a sudden feel like 2 sticks - and the falling feeling, too.

I've been to a neurosurgeon since Feb., and she has been completely minimizing the bulging disc which was impinging on a nerve root. She claimed it was only "tickling" the root, which could very well be true, but then she made the comment that "I've seen worse MRIs." So, I asked her if there was a prize for the worst one???

Sorry to vent, I just had a horrible experience with this person. I don't have a lot of hope for seeing the neuro, either--
Thanks
Julie
 
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