Pelvic/Leg pain....spinal cord related? Help!!! - Spinal Cord Disorders Message Board

buddahroo · 12-07-2004, 03:22 PM

Hi everyone. I hope there's someone here who can relate to what I'm going through as I'm at my wits end and truly frightened and concerned. I just turned 35 and for the past 6 or so months I have been experiencing very painful periods. The pain was located solely on the right side and would spread down my right leg. It was so bad that feel of fabric brushing up against my leg would cause me to cry out. The last month was the worst with me missing several days work because of it.
Aside from that a few other strange things have been happening: An extremely unsettling burning sensation on the bottom of my right foot, dead center of it. I get that on and off during the day, and as strange as it sounds, as I being to pee or have a BM. Just lately it's shown up in my left foot but not as often.
I cannot sit upright for too long as i experience a tearing sensation on the outside of both my legs, backs of thighs and knees, and hips, along with a constant dull ache in my lower back (more prominent on right side) and lower pelvis.
Believing this to be a gynecological problem (because of the horrendous periods) I saw the gyno last week. I told her everything and the 1st thing she asked was if I had been in a car accident or if I had any spinal cord trauma. She said that the pain that I was describing was nerve related, possibly due to some sort of trauma to the spine. It never occured to me until 20 minutes after I left the office about something that happened last year.
The fall of 2003 I experienced a headache the likes of which I never had, it came outta nowhere. I went to emerg where they did a CAT scan which revealed nothing. The doc then wanted to rule out an anneurysm so I was prepped for a lumbar puncture. The 8 year old intern on duty was going to be helping out. In hindsight I should have said no. He tried about 4 times to find the right spot, during one attempt it felt as if something was pulling at my legs, my arms; I've never felt anything like it in my life. Finally the doc on duty told him to give it up and he found the proper placement in no time. No anneurysm, no real explanation for the headache.
As of right now, the pain in my legs and lower back shows no signs of letting up; it's now constant, whereas before I only noticed it around my period. I'm terrified because I don't know if it's related to that botched spinal tap, or something else. My mom had a tumor removed from her spine back in 1997, and I'm wondering if perhaps I'm headed in that same direction.
I'm going for a pelvic floor assessment tommorrow(gyno ordered), but will that show if I have any spinal cord/nerve problems? I have no idea where to go from here. My family doc is going to soon label me a hypochondriac (if she hasn't already) and I don't quite know how to express to the doc's the severity of my pain/discomfort. I'm already dealing with TMJD and the oh so wonderful pain/symptoms of that and the thought of having something else wrong is enough to push me over the edge. I'm a nervous wreck right now, having frequent emotional outbursts on account of my frustration and lack of quality of life and I don't know where to turn or what to do. Does anyone have a suggestion or two? I feel like I'm losing it.....

buddahroo.

homer66 · 12-08-2004, 02:46 PM

Buddahroo,
Hello. My sympathy goes out to you on your unbearable leg /pelvic pain. Although I am not a woman and us men are slightly different in our body components, I am currently recovering from a similiar problem.
My problem started one morning in January 2004 when I awoke with severe pain down my right leg. I could not stand sit or lay in any position to try to make the pain subside.
After a while, I was able to get some of the pain to go away and was able to get to the family doctor with the help of my wife and father in law.
The doctor reommended I go to the chiropractor since I had told him I have had good luck with the chiropractor in the past with back problems.
The family doctor in the meantime ordered an MRI and unfortunately 2 days prior to the date of the MRI, the family doctor called and said the MRI was denied by the health insurance company since they felt it was not medically necessary. I dropped them in a heartbeat (HEALTH AMERICA--BEWARE!!)
I wonder what they would say if I did not think it was neccessary that I pay their outrageous premiums??????? Sorry I got side tracked.
After several visits to the Chiropractor things got to feeling better but I still had a dull ache in my lower back constantly.
Mid-summer and late fall I had re-curring back problems minus the leg pain.
Now come November 14, 2004 I awoke again with severe leg pain radiating from my lower right side of my back and down my right leg to my shin area.
It was more severe in my hip, and knee area.
Another trip to the family doctor and this time they said they think it is a HERNIATED DISC. They set up an MRI for that Monday evening 8 pm. New insurance company.
MRI was completed and an appointment with a Nuerosurgeon was set up for about 1 month later. I could not take the constant pain for that long besides being off work, and called the specialist office myself. After pleading with the receptionist, she finally squeezed me in the following Monday 8 am.
THANK YOU. I could not thank her enough.
When the Specialist saw me and looked at the MRI, he could not believe it took this long for me to be seen. He checked my reflex at my knee in both legs.
No reflex in my right leg. My left leg has a real good reflex.
The specialist said I have a dead reflex in my right leg and may never come back. He seems to think this all came about from the Jan 04 episode.
He said I have herniated disc which needs taken care of and another condition called spondylolthesis.
Next day surgery and pain in right leg is completely gone. HOORAY!!
Now I have the recovery time from the surgery and some lifestyle changes to make.
I looked at some sites on the internet about spondylolthesis and it has different levels and hopefully mine won't get to the level for surgery as the recovery time is 6-9 months.
On your end, I would recommend MRI if your doctor thinks so too.
Good luck!! Homer66

bounce · 12-14-2004, 12:34 AM

me to i have had pain come and go on the right side aswell and no mateer what i try to do it wont go away thought maybe kidney then appendix alsorts of things i have had it going on for over a year first started around the time i had gallbladder problems but it has continued after gallbladder sorted and as you see from my list i have spinal stuff going on may be hearing your twp posts i might not be as scared to go to the docs
cheers glad i came on here tonight Bounce

WiniPu4 · 01-07-2005, 04:18 AM

A couple of years ago I started having horrible migraines. Oct 2003 I started having the same pain you are describing in my right leg and had a GP investigate.Bad move!! Despite thousands of dollars in CT scans and lots of other tests, he could not diagnose me. Finally,Dec 2003 I had excruciating pain that took me to the ER.It is referred to as "sciatic" pain. There's probably something going on in your lower spine that only an MRI and a Neurosurgeon or Neurologist can figure out. I had to have emergency surgery for fragmented lumbar disks. The first diskectomy "reherniated" which means was unsuccessful, and so was the next one in Feb. In March I had to have 3 lumber vertebrae fused together. It is a very common affliction, as you will soon find out for our age group. Vertebrae that may have been damaged much earlier finally start to give out after years of gravity combined with the fact that we are premenopausal...our bones are not as strong as they once were. Get to a neurologist !!The longer you wait, the more nerve damage may occur.I am still recovering from all kinds of nerve damage and it's very painful and debilitating.You may never recover loss of sensation,which keeps you balanced when you walk. Insist on an MRI.....it's the ONLY test that will show disk damage.