I had a L'hermittes sign (pulling of my spinal cord when I bent my neck)
when I had my herniated disk, but not at the onset of my symptoms.
After my surgery, my scarring of the spinal cord healed quite a bit but
I still get chronic flare ups. For this reason my docs have told me
that the herniated disk may have been secondary to some other
neurological problem, like MS or TM or god knows.
In any event, my neuro told me that whatever I might have seems pretty
benign and, since its been over five years since my symptoms started,
(and they haven't progressed) my prognosis is good. I'm supposed to see
my neuro periodically to keep in touch and, if necessary, try some of
the new meds that might help.
Most of my symptoms don't concern me too much. However, I do get
chronic recurrences of my L'hermitte's sign. This can be quite
uncomfortable because certain neck movements create an electrical
pulling from my waist down to my feet. I never know if this is just a
chronic thing that will come and go.
I wonder if any of you experience the same symptom and, if so, what you
know about it. Is it a neurological emergency (I don't think so because
I've had it before and my neuros never got alarmed)? How long does it
take for your "flare up" to subside?
Have any of you taken medication that helps reduce this symptom? I have
found that Clonazepam (used in Epilepsy) reduces the intensity of the
L'hermitte's but it doesn't heal anything.
Any info you could give me would be appreciated.
Happy New Year
Peter from Toronto