Ouch ouch ouch

[Karen from Indiana]

I dont know if anybody has a clue what this is but if anybody does, please share! For the past 3 days I have been getting random sharp shooting pains on the inner part of my right thigh muscle. Sometimes when walking and sometimes when just standing. I have almost fallen because of it several times already. It is happening 10 or more times over a days time. Im very scared it is going to cause me to fall when I am here alone. Does anybody know what this is or what I could do about it?

[shotspine]

Hi Karen...
I am going to stick my neck out and say.....it's most likely a nerve that is being impinged whenever you are in a certain position. I get them on the front of my thigh. If you have any anti-inflammatories, they might help if it is caused by some inflammation. It's worth a try. Those shockers hurt!!!

No doubt someone will come by with more specific information for you.

Good Luck!!

[Kathi49]

Karen,

I just wonder and call me crazy...but look at the SE's of the Lyrica. One of them is muscle and joint pain. I have not given an update since I started the Lyrica 7 days ago...but I had to stop after 5 days. One day I had nothing but overall muscle aches and I swear I wanted to put my arms in slings and my hands felt like claws. And, no, I had done NOTHING out of the norm nor had I been lifting anything heavy at all. And that night I was really near tears. It was bad enough for my husband to ask me if I needed to go to the ER. I just told him I was going to stop the Lyrica and see how it went and took a hot bath and crawled into bed and stayed there. Anyway, it was the only thing I could think of that I had done differently...just started it 5 days before this hit.

I know, I do have cervical spine issues and all kinds of crazy issues going on. But within a day or so of stopping it the muscles aches and pains stopped. Of course the burning pain or PN came back again. :( And I really don't know...it could be ANYTHING...especially from my cervical spine.

Anyway, I am sticking my neck out too. And I really do NOT want to blame Lyrica for my muscle pains or yours. But as you are kind of saying here...it was unreal...just muscle pain everywhere. I REALLY wish I could have continued it with it because it was helping the neuropathic pain. And I am NOT saying Lyrica is causing this with you...just saying take a look at the SE's. I just got through reading posts on other websites to see if someone out there experienced the same thing I did...and they have. And it did occur to me that one time I stopped it because my legs were cramping up. But that could have been anything too. It is just odd that I normally don't have that kind of muscle pain...at times I do but it is usually just minor...but not to the degree it was the other night.

Then again it could be as shotspine is saying and an impingement of sorts.

I just know I won't take Lyrica anymore...this was my 5th try!!!

[Karen from Indiana]

Well I do normally have heavy cramping type pain in both of my upper legs. That is where my fibro hurts 90% of the time. This is stabbing sharp shooting pains. Same place on same leg every time it does it. I will go back and reread the side effects of the lyrica tho. The impingement...would that cause random pains? I dont know much about it but thought it would be more constant. Ohhh, dont even like the thought of that pain being constant, would be in the er for sure if it was. Im on day 5 of a headache tho..Im leaning towards sinuses with it because of how much coughing and draining im doing at night and the icky stuff in my eyes in the mornings. Today is actually first day I have had any of the usual leg pain and it has been mild. Maybe the lyrica is helping, maybe I just havent been in much of a flare since I started it...who knows!!

[shotspine]

Karen....I can't speak for Lyrica because I've never tried it. I've tried most everything else though with bad s/e. I have nerve root contact at l2-3, l3-4, l4-5 and l5-s1. If those nerves were in constant flare, I would have bypassed the ER and gone straight to the morgue.

As soon as I can get up the energy, I'm going to post my latest lumbar MRI, as I need opinions desperately. My cervical spine is not any better either. This is the reason I never can respond to specific levels that are issues with a poster. I don't deal with what is coming from where because all levels are pretty much the same. I get all the symptoms everyone else gets, thankfully most are not constant.....especially the nerve zaps. I have a considerable amount of numbness in many places that is mostly constant. For myself, I consider the zaps and horrible burning pain to be more 'positional'. It is easier for me to try to control those by just getting out of the way, so to speak. I move until that particular pain subsides. Anti-inflammatories are often needed to calm the flare. I only take those on an as-needed basis because of the s/e......same with muscle relaxers. I also use alot of topical analgesics, along with my normal pain meds, of course.

Does it help if you change position when you get those zaps? If you are walking or standing, as you stated, they could still be happening when a certain positioning of nerve vs. whatever it is coming in contact with.

Hope the above makes some sort of sense!

[photonut]

Karen:
I do not have the answer for you but wanted to say hello and hope you get the right response soon....Allie

[suede]

Karen,

I have to say I believe that shotspine has got it!!
My spine is shot also at all 3 levels.
I believe I know the pain your talking about though only mine is in the same spot but on the outer part of my thigh.
Very sharp, shooting pain, that is it lasted any longer would drop me to my knees begging for mercy..
My understanding is it is from the S1 nerve damage I have.
Good luck and may you get answers and relief.

Linda

[Karen from Indiana]

Dangggggggg it, this has got to stop! They are coming in groups now. Several in a row instead of every so often. And as far as changing positions helping, they happen so fast there isnt time to change positions, they are like lightning bolts. I have had ddd at L5-S1 for several years and this past feb fell hard and dr said I may have displaced L5...could it be causing it...but if so why just start now 6 months later? Im confused!! I just wish it would stop.

[shotspine]

I'm so sorry to hear this! Call your Dr. or go to ER and demand an MRI. Sounds like you probably herniated a disc and it's laying on a nerve. In time it will get better, but that time could be very long. Please get medical attention now.

Edited to add: don't worry about what has happened in the past. You can herniate a disk without doing anything. My last one was when I bent slightly to throw a piece of paper in the garbage. I just cannot imagine it is anything but a nerve that is extremely pissed off. My best guess is a herniation, but could be a shift of vertabrae. Cause will only be found from imaging.

Come back and update us please.

(((((((((((((((((gentle hugs)))))))))))))

[Karen from Indiana]

So a pissed off nerve doesnt stay mad? Just randomly cusses at me? Cussing a bit more often now! It hurts like hell when it does that...but like I said in my first post Im scared Im going to fall. I have 2 monsters in here under my feet all the time and that doesnt help when I need to have my balance. One of those monsters is indirectly responsible for the nasty fall I had in feb. Uhm, I just thought of something...guess what I was doing a day or two before this started? Bending over giving both monsters a bath...after lifting them into the tub...one weighs 60 pounds the other 32. That is so strange that my back could be causing the pain in the front of my leg!!

[shotspine]

Yes Karen, your back can definately cause most anything to hurt. It is not your spine, per se, it is the nerve and the path it takes. Your description of bathing the kids by bending and lifting the way you did is condusive to what you are experiencing.

The only way to stop a pissed off nerve from staying that way is to find out what is making it so mad. The more often you get those zaps, the more likely the nerve contact is infringing BIG TIME. That is why I would believe it to be a herniation that is big enough to take up a lot of space that nerve wants to have all to itself. It will only get better when that nerve gets it's space back. You know the saying "I need my space"......that is what your nerve is doing. If you can take some anti-inflammatory and get some relief, that would be helpful but certainly not necessarily permanent.

I don't know what else to advise as I'm really certain of what I've already said.

Do you have any anti-inflammatories? Take asap and see if that helps at all. If not, you must get medical attn. I don't know of any pain meds that will help much with this type of pain.

(((((((((((((((((((more gentle hugs)))))))))))))))

[Karen from Indiana]

I have 600 mg motrin, also have mobic..which is like naprosyn, one or the other or both? I need something to try and stop it for sure!

[shotspine]

Well Karen, you got me on that one. Take the strongest one. Call a pharmacy and find out how much you can safely take in a short amt of time. I know that you shouldn't go over 4000 mg/day on a short term basis. I guess I'd try 800 mg of whichever and take every 4-5 hrs for the next 24 hrs and see if you get any relief at all.

Man, my heart aches for you. I hope you can keep your little ones out of your way for awhile. Please don't trip over them!!!! Sudden motion is a big NO NO too!

[shotspine]

Karen, do you have any topical analgesic that is also an anti-inflammatory? If so, USE IT on the area that the pain is coming from, as well as the area it is zapping! If not, get some if you can. I would offer the names of what I use but none of them are sold in stores (I use 3-4 different ones).

[Karen from Indiana]

Thank you shotspine, I think I better go with the motrin because I can only take the mobic twice a day and its only 7.5 mg and dr told me that twice a day was max dose. Lol on keeping those two monsters out from under my feet, I cant even go potty without at least one of them and if I go in a different room I have two furry black and white monsters dead behind me. Hubby teases me and says if I ever have to stop suddenly I will have to go get one of their noses surgically removed from my behind!

[shotspine]

Isn't that called 'brown nosing'?? He He! Then walk with precision and don't take a single step until you KNOW it is a safe one. Isn't love grand??? I have a big 85# 4-legged kid that I am always having to step over and watch my every move when he is glued to my leg.

I think the Motrin sounds like the right way to go. Wishing you some quick relief!!!! Rest if you can. Ice helps a lot of people. Personally, my nerves hate ice but love heat......so use one or both 20 mins on 20 mins off. and again.........REST!!!!

[shotspine]

Karen...

How are you doing? Please check in and let us know. I hope you got those lightening bolts :eek: settled down and made a Dr. appt today.

[Karen from Indiana]

Shhhh...they might hear you. Today thankfully it was only twice. Maybe getting better or maybe cause I havent been on my feet too much. Had a diabetes class this morning, then went to restaraunt and sat and then came home and sat. Did the dishes and both my upper legs ached so bad before I got finished...usually its my lower back when I do dishes. I hope this isnt something thats going to start whenever Im standing for a few minutes! I hope the lightning bolts are easing up. Thanks for asking about me!

[shotspine]

I'm just whispering so nobody wakes up......That is great news! Whatever you are doing seems to be working. How many anti-inflammatories did you have to take? Between them and rest, sounds like those little devils got the space they were screaming for. At least you know how to put them in their place when they get out of line.........hopefully!!!! I know what you mean about doing dishes....that is a killer. I can't do anything in the kitchen for more than 3-4 mins without having to sit for awhile to calm things down. I keep saying I'm going to time my standing time but never remember. It takes 2-3 sit periods just to get a sandwich made.

Thanks for the report. Going out to lunch sounds like fun. I haven't done that in years.......and I miss it!