my tingly leg

[lmarrone45]

my name is laura and it will be 7 years in Decemeber since I had the corrective surgery. Well I have always had pain post-op. recently, lets say the past year or so... i can be doing daily activities or just standing and down my right leg with get tingly and start to sweat. but just my right leg, within a few minutes it goes away but it still concerns me and i am not sure what to think. The doctor that I saw a while back didnt think much of it but he was not my normal doctor and had only seen me once. I cant go to my specialist or my normal doctor because I now live about six states away. can someone give me advice or reassurance or tell me i am not the only one. no one else but other people that have had surgery understands. thanks so much.
laura

[ck43]

Hey I am not anybody but worry is worry, as in I understand. You are six states away. Why not ask the boards here for a referral, get it checked out, stop worrying. I hate the unknown but then I have a creative mind. Stop worrying, just go get it checked, especially if you have good insurance.

No can do? Call your old doc, leave a message, to please call. Talk to his nurse, she'll get the job done, she'll talk to him if necessary. That won't cost you a dime. Stop worrying, just do.

[lmarrone45]

yes, thats my problem, I have a creative mind and all the negative things come to me. Sometimes I dont want to know just because it could be bad. yeah... I guess I can call and see if I can get some answers from my old doctor. Thank you so much.

[ck43]

I am with you all the way sistah. Support groups are great but I find alot of fear here as well as help. I know, I contributed at least one of those posts because because I was scared of an MRI. I found posts very similar to mine. I also found posts saying "their MRI" was easy, no problems.

I found no relief until I went into the MRI center and asked questions for myself.

As well the first diagnosis I got from a P.A. at an Internist's office was really lame, so to the advice, "Just don't over do." Because of her I didn't work out the top part of my body at all. Nothing happened. I worked out, but the creative mind, suggested you're hurting yourself, and etc., and maybe I shouldn't and.... but I didn't hurt any more or less working out. Mind you my pain is when I sit down.

So there I was worrying... and fearing, until I finally found an orthopedic surgeon doc, with experience in scoliosis. That was GREAT! He showed me on the x-rays what was causing my problem (severe pain in my shoulder and sometimes my neck). He assured me but I will ask again, since he was a P.A. as well but very knowledgeable and confidence-instilling, and I have that creative mind.

He laughed when I asked if it was because I was lifting 10 lbs each arm. Just suffice, it was good to "understand" and "see for myself" what was going on, and that I wasn't causing any problems for myself, just lifting a gallon of milk.

The problem is in my neck, degeneration of the C5-C6 disc. The MRI was to help figure out the best solution, for me, personally. Now before your own mind gets creative, just check it out, stop worrying until you get to the doctor's office. I find action helps.

p.s. your doc will understand your "creative mind." I sure do!

[ck43]

p.s. it's like putting off a mammogram and other common things like that, or going to the dentist. Do we really want to know? There is relief in knowing because creative minds go anywhere and everywhere. It's much scarier than fact. It's hard to feel empowered or thinking to take action when we are creatively exploring fearfull oh-no! scenarios.

I had my MRI on Saturday. Sunday I woke up, drank coffee and thought I don't have to be afraid or worry anymore. My doctor appointment is on Nov 2nd and I don't have a thing to worry about until then. I've already been informed as to most probable remedies so.. and frankly, I've been worrying for many many days now and my mind could use a break.

During that period I heard from others, 'Maybe it's this maybe it's that, maybe it's because you were lifting heavy weights." Women can be so funny and competitive. Then there was the littany, of "try this, or try that" and repetitive, "How's your arm?" Meanwhile, my mind was thinking, "Maybe it's the computer, maybe it's...." until I talked to an expert.

You know, this impacted me, my spouse, my family, my friends. Worry worry worry. "I'll bet it's your back." How nice to say to everyone, now, "No, it's my neck, okay that's part of my spine, but MY doctor says..."

[sweetness514]

Hi ck43,

I know what you mean about making scenarios and thinking it can be a number of reasons when I have certain pains. What works for me is that if I think a certain thing could be the cause of my pain, I stop doing it for a while and then actually see if that's the source of the problem.

Last year I had terrible neck/arm pain, and after not going on the computer and lifting weights as much, it went away. Gradually I started doing these things sgain. My PT also recommends this type of attack, to see what can aggravate certain pains.

I also have pinched nerves in my neck, and my ortho told me that the fusion can be one of the reasons besides my scoliosis that this happened. I find that we have a lot more power than we think and can often find what can help our pains as much as doctors can, sometimes even more.

Good luck to you.

[ck43]

Thanks, sweetness. It's human to wonder at the cause and it's human for others to wonder at the cause so it doesn't happen to them.

I have found sometimes if I tilt my head off to the left and forward... but it doesn't last. Last week I worked out almost every day and for whatever reason I just had some pretty good days. Today is not one of those days, and I can't find that one spot of relief. It's the strangest thing isn't it. Oh well, that's nerves and inflammation for you.

Did you take any oral steroids or cortesoids (out of my league here, just getting familiar with my new "environment)? Do you do epidurals?

Before I "knew" anything definitive, I did get a wrist rest for the computer mouse but it doesn't do anything. I like squeezing it though, it's full of beads. Occassionally I think about throwing it across the room, but it just seems like that would be fun.

Warmth to you in Montreal. It's in the 80s here in Arizona.

[frenchrockstar]

re: my tingly leg

Hi there,
Sometimes I experience numbness or tingly feelings in my legs too (both of them). I had Herrington rods put in in 1990 when I was 12. Now I work in an office and need to get up and walk around from time to time if my legs or neck begin to get stiff. I think it just comes with the territory. Additionally I was concerned about areas in my torsoe where I still had numbness from the surgery. They did an MRI (which didn't help b/c my rods distorted everything) and said of what they saw everything was normal. Now I'm 6 weeks pregnant and hoping this will not get worse.

A few years back I did also go to a chiropractor for the leg numbness. He requested my scoliosis surgeon (about 4 states away, so I can relate to the distance thing) to fax him a report of the surgery so he knew where I was fused. He gave me an exercise ball and showed me some exercises I could do to strengthen my back and abs. He also popped something that actually felt fabulous. He only did this after reviewing the report so he knew where to do it. My experience with him was very positive and I found that staying active really really helped my numbness. Whenever I'm running 10 miles a week and staying fit, my legs don't bother me. It's when I'm slacking I can feel the difference and it starts to bother me. My D.O (dr of osteopathic medicine) said that "exercise is my best friend". I believer her.

Hope that helps!

[sweetness514]

Did you take any oral steroids or cortesoids (out of my league here, just getting familiar with my new "environment)? Do you do epidurals?


Warmth to you in Montreal. It's in the 80s here in Arizona.

Thanks, I really need warmth as it is almost 0 degrees celsius every single day now and it's never been that cold for so long in October My allergies are kicking in so bad and I sneezed so much yesterday that I hadn't had this much pain in my back in months. Such little things can cause certain pains, like I say. Loving my Claritin today

I didn' take any type of meds, as I'm allergic to so many and I tried Lyrica the other week and had to stop, too many side effects. I now it helps some people, as does Neurontin.

I was supposed to get maybe a shot(Inter Costal nerve block) but some doctors fear that I might get an infection, as the pain is caused by my rod and screw. Acupuncture did help for my arm/neck pains though. Massages did too, as long as they're not close to my hardware.