This Is MS Multiple Sclerosis Community: Knowledge & Support

Hello to everyone, I have posted a couple of times but it has been quite a while, I have a reasonable question that I just cant help asking this forum (where people with some experience will hopefully show up). That fellow called Lhermitte's sign has been fooling around with me for a month now, and due to the fact that the symptoms (when I bend my neck) are getting exponentially worse (the tingling and all) I went to my nerve shrink, he could find a good reason to throw me into hospital these pre-christmas days, so I' d like to humbly ask, is it possible that these signs of the Lhermitte's w#@$# will vanish are is it possible they were lead to everlasting tingling and numbness (what do the statistics say?). (I am 27 years old, been dx 24 having 1 attack per year ,been on betaseron 2 years and hate shrimps)

Yours sincerely...

PS.I'd love to get a vodka shot with some Tovaxin topped of with some FTY720, and marinated with some stem cells together with a little bit of Tysabri for the bye bye....

LoL
I am laughing at the last part only. I also have the sign. Still don't know how to spell the damn thing and I am determined to not learn it. For me, it was worse when I was first dianosed almost a year ago. It never really goes away but at times it is really difficult to noticce it. My neuro told me that once you got it, you have it. The samething goes with the tingling in my feet. At times they are better than other times but always there.
That's just my own experience.
NN

I've got it. My neuro. always asks, "Any tingling in the neck?" as he's moving my head around during the exam. And then the tingling/buzzing starts as my head goes down!

I've had it since the beginning for me that was back in '99. I've gotten used to it. I can never remember the name except that it starts with and "L" and has a "sign" with the name

-- Niko

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"Avoid making irrevocable decisions when tired or hungry." -- Robert Heinlein

I had L'Hermitte's sign back in '82. This is how I knew something was wrong.
It went away in a few months for me. Never came back.
So, according to my experience, it can resolve. It is due to lesions in the spine, around the cervical area, as far as I can remember.
By the way, I want one of those drinks too.

well, I thank you all for your prompt replies, I 'll just have to learn to live with Lhermtitessdedingung sign and hope that those nasty spine lesions die away asap!

Bye the way, if you can travel to Greece, drinks on me!

I get it as well. One way to see how active it is is to try bending your neck down when you are overheated or after some exercise. I discovered mine early on in the disease when I was still running alot. I looked down to see if my shoe was untied during a jog and it jarred me so bad I thought I had run into something.

I think my neuro. told me that it is very common and does not ever fully go away once it is present.

I think I have somehow tackled the stress of this problem I have with your answers. My scare was that since it reflects damage on the spine somewhere around the back of the neck, then the more the damage progresses, the more the tingling-numbness symptoms increase to the extent where I wont be able to feel my body anymore (I get the tingling across my back-hands-legs). From your experiences this is not true .... I hope ...... when years pass by.

Thanks again !

I have the sign too and like others here it was my first symptom. It got dramatically better for a period of time and now seems to be coming back. I have gotten used to it and have not been able to find any studies that correlate it with advancing disability.

I had it about a year ago and it's what finally led to my dx. I have a cervical lesion and had a new thoracic lesion that was active. My neuro said that when the inflammation subsided, the l'hermittes should go away. Some days it was better and some days worse and then after about 3 months it was gone. Haven't had it back since but I have plenty of other annoying things to keep me busy. I didn't want to take steroids unless absolutely necessary so I just kind of waited it out. Hope your's goes away soon.

I had a sensation very like the l'hermitte's sign but from my right kidney area down to the base of my spine. It went away and has never returned since June 2005, some 2 months after commencing antibiotics. Unlike most of my other symptoms!

" I didn't want to take steroids unless absolutely necessary so I just kind of waited it out. "

that sentence is exactly the kind of mentality I am going to follow, the point is that with your experiences I know have a better understanding of what is going on and therefore will not worry so much as before.

Hey Lhermitte I am coming for you ...

Stathis,

That is sage advice no matter what symptom you are talking about. ALL new syptoms are very scary at first since you don't know how bad it will get or if it will be permanent. As in all things as well as MS, patience is definitely a virtue.

I hate to say it like this, but once you get a few more new symptoms, it becomes a little less scary.

No it doesn't it still scares the HELL out of me every time poor John clear his throat after that scare last year where we thought he had swallowing problems. If his leg happens to be asleep and he mentions it I jump to the conclusion the tingling is back. If he mentions he feels warm I think heat intolerance instead of house is to hot. If he seems like he is not sleeping properly I assume the restless leg is back instead of just a bad nights sleep. If he gets something as simple as a slight skin irritation I think break down of soft tissue due to injection site reaction. The list goes on. All in all I think I'm handling it all DUCKY. Lucky for John I think it to myself.

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John was diagnosed Jan 2005. On lipitor 20mg .On Copaxone since July 4,2005. Vitamin D3 2000iu-4000iu (depending on sunshine months)June 10 2005(RX::Dr. O'Connor) Omega 3 as well Turmeric since April 2005. Q10 60mg. 1500mg liquid Glucosamine Nov 2005.

Melody, my family feels the same as you do. If I mention I have a headache or my neck hurts or any of the symptoms that I've had before-they freak out. I have to tell them that sometimes it just is what it is and that's it. It doesn't always mean the start of a relapse. I have to agree with Loobie though that I don't freak out as easily with every new thing. I wait a few days and then decide if it's worth freaking out over. MS is hard on everyone we just all have to learn to take each day as it comes. Stress is bad for us all.

hi all as far as the spine goes i have a thoracic and cervical lesion. l'hermitte's had been with me for quite a while and i was getting tested by a peripheral neuro when i happened to mention it and learned what it was. the spinal mri backed up what i was told. i learned on my own time that thoracic and cervical lesions were classic b12 deficiency and in spite of my ms diagnosis and lots of other issues i think the big emphasis i've put on b vitamins has improved my situation to the point that i would have to work really hard to notice any l'hermitte's now and i used to notice it multiple times per day. i still have numbness in my hands though and maybe not quite 100% sensation in my feet. this i believe may be some permanent damage resulting from the snowboarding fall that appeared to trigger my first " attack" and dx. also when i recently started a very physically demanding job it took me a while to get up to the task, and when i went to surf camp last month it was CRAZY trying to get out of the water and waves and back into full gravity - i would always fall over a few times but by the end of the week things were okay when i came out of the ocean. so i'm not in anything like perfect condition but the "l'hermitte's" thing is 99.99999% at thing of the past in my particular case.