lhermitte's sign

[scottyk]

lhermitte's sign comes and goes for me. However, it has really been kicking my butt the last week or so.

Does anyone have any tips that may help with this?

[David1949]

I had a bout of L'hermette sign about the same time I was Dxed with MS, 20 years ago. I quit drinking coffee which seemed to help. L'hermette lasted about 1 week and then went away and never came back. (Thank God) Since then I resumed drinking coffee with no problem.

It was like an electric shock that would hit me in the back of the neck and shoot down my spine. Sometimes it would almost knock the legs out from under me.

Good luck to you. I hope you can get it under control.

[David1949]

I found this article which lists several treatments;

http://www.webmd.com/multiple-sclerosis ... -how-treat

I hope it helps.

[jimmylegs]

mine was at least in part if not fully b12 deficiency. haven't had to deal with anything like it for basically a decade now.

[Punchy]

Mine appears during exercise or when I'm really warm. Are you in a warm climate?

[Snoopy]

How is it kicking your butt?

If you have pain with lhermittes the pain can be treated. If you don't have pain there isn't much that can be done and really, it's more of an annoyance than anything. It is possible to ignore and live with lhermittes, at least I have for 32 years as it is a permanent symptom for me (it has never gone away). Sometime I notice more than other times but if I check ---- it's still there.

If the intensity has increased over the past week then please pay attention for any other symptoms that are new or old symptoms that are increasing from the normal. An increase in intensity might signal a possible relapse.

Lhermittes is not exclusive to MS as there are other causes for it. When related to MS lhermittes is caused by cervical spinal cord lesions, brain lesions do not cause lhermittes.

[David1949]

When related to MS lhermittes is caused by cervical spinal cord lesions, brain lesions do not cause lhermittes.

Snoopy do you have a source for that? It's not that I doubt you, but this is important info to me. It would mean that the lesions in my cervical spine have been there since the beginning in 1996 and not since 2012 when they were first discovered on an MRI.

Thanks
Dave

[jimmylegs]

basically any source about lhermitte's? # of times brain is mentioned in this lhermitte's article: 0

Lhermitte's Sign: The Current Status (2015)
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4445188/

people can go their whole life asymptomatic and docs can find a brain like swiss cheese on autopsy.

[Scott1]

Hi,

Although it was never given a name for me, based on what those links describe, I'm comfortable that I have had this symptom. I just assumed it was because I had so many tight muscles in my torso that sharp pain like that was just a fact of life.

What helped me were exercises to improve flexion in the spine. In Pilates, the action of rolldown from the bridge position where you articulate each vertebrae so they touch the floor separately is a good example. In massage, I found the opening of my shoulder blades helped release the bundles of nerves that are trapped by muscle tightness (e.g. )

I also get benefit from heat packs or hot rocks (preferably) laid on a towel on tight parts of my spine. A massage after that works better than a straight hands on cold approach.
What I take for muscle tightness is Dantrium ( very effective) and magnesium. Otherwise its huge dose of CoQ10 and aceytl-l-carnitine to help make ATP and Valacyclovir as an antiviral.

Something or everything in that process helped but I think its massage and Pilates in this particular case.

Regards,

[Snoopy]

Snoopy do you have a source for that? It's not that I doubt you, but this is important info to me. It would mean that the lesions in my cervical spine have been there since the beginning in 1996 and not since 2012 when they were first discovered on an MRI.

Hi Dave,

My source is from 3 different Neurologists, all have said my Lhermitte's is due to the cervical spinal cord lesions. When asked what symptoms I am currently having Lhermitte's is always mentioned and I get the same response -- that's to be expected with c-spine lesions. My research in the past, time after time, came up like the link provided by jimmylegs , no mention of brain involvement.

It is very possible to have symptoms of MS that indicate spinal cord involvement without MRI evidence. My MRIs, numerous x-rays, myelogram, EEG, and blood work were all normal. My LP was positive for o-bands. I received a clinical diagnosis of MS. My Neurologist said based on my symptoms and evaluation MS was affecting the spinal cord (Lhermitte's sign was one of many symptoms). My Neurologist was correct ---- MS tends to prefer my spinal cord over the brain. At one point I had numerous c-spine lesions and minimal brain involvement.

If you had Lhermitte's sign in 1996 and there is no other cause then Lhermitte's would have been due to MS back in 1996, but without MRI evidence (not unusual).

[David1949]

Hi Snoopy
Thanks for the info.
Dave