Weissman, Peter wrote:
> Hello everybody and Happy Holidays.
> I have never been given a definite diagnosis of anything other than a
> herniated disk at C5-C6 that required surgical removal and fusion. I
> had symptoms that were indicative of every kind of neurological disease
> I know of....TM,MS, Cervical Mylopothy etc..
>
> 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