Lherrmittes

New diagnosis and before diagnosis
1

Ok quick summary.

sx - overactive bladder 1st, now gone pretty much, took vesicare for a bit but since cut down on caffeine and ESPECIALLY sweetener it has gone now. Had it for about 2 months.

about the same time as oab I have had a spot on m left back, about the size of say an apple which tingles. Not numb. NO pan. Just feels like pins and needles. Always same spot.

ok, so my physio said trapped nerve. I go for physio which def helps. But if I don’t go it comes back.

what scares me is this: it is activated often by a chin down position. Most lhermites say it’s a electric shock down back and odd feelings in some areas. This feels nothing like that. If I’m washing up, after say 30 seconds in this posture, it mildly tingles. This will increase if I keep doing it , but. It is NOT instant

can sit with my head any position, including chin to chest and never feel a thing. Ditto for sat down in chair relaxed,the only time I get it is walkng around looking down at my phone or sat at desk looking down at phone. I have had this through poor posture as much as chin down, so I have had this without moving neck.

it is weird though. Could this be lhermittes? Has anyone has a lhermittes which was gradual ie not immediate on bendng head, a phenomena that builds. Nothing like. A electric shock? Also isolated to a small area on left shoulder blade. Def gets worse when chin down it think, but not sole trigger"

my my onl other sx are twitches and v. Mild jerks and tremors all over body mainly hands arms and calves, but can happen anywhere ( doesn’t sound ms like ). I have no lethargy, iv noticed a few flashes and floaters larely but remember them all my life and prob jus didn’t notice before. The oab is gone, the jerks I can live with. Lhetmittes I don’t understand. There is a. Lack of info online and I want to know that my sx are or aren’t troubling . Doesn’t sound like they describe, iv pushed my head in all directions but feel Nowt. Only if I walk head down for a bit does the tingling start. Help or i info. Appreciated much love. X

2

It’s weird writing this, with chin on chest moving around and nothing. It I assume a differenct posture and do I then it might start. Weird.

3

Hi Dizza,

Sounds like typical L’Hermittes see mult-sclerosis.org if you search this website http://www.mult-sclerosis.org/ it will tell you anything you want to know.

I think you sum MS symptoms up very well; WEIRD! Anything can happen just expect the unexpected.

George

4

L’Hermitte’s sign describes electrical buzzing sensations in the limbs and body brought on by movement of the neck.

Mine isn’t governed by neck, I’m moving it around all over the place now and nothing. Odd postures bring it on, sometimes with no neck movement.

These sensations are known as paraesthesia and include tingling, buzzing, electrical shocks, partial numbness and sharp pains. L’Hermitte’s is most often triggered by lowering the head so that the chin touches the chest. The sensations usually only last for a second or two.

This can last 25 mins sometimes, even when I change posture.

It has been called the “barber shop” symptom because it is often evoked when the hairdresser asks you to lower your head when he or she shaves the back of your neck.

L’Hermitte’s is associated with a number of conditions including arthritis, cervical spondylosis, disc compression, pernicious anaemia, tumours and multiple sclerosis. In many cases, the cause cannot be found.

Because the cervical spinal cord is a frequent target for multiple sclerosis it is a very common symptom of MS. Aproximately two thirds of people with multiple sclerosis experience L’Hermitte’s symptom at some point during the course of their disease.

In MS, L’Hermitte’s is an indicator of lesions in the cervical spine (the part of spine in the neck). Movement of the neck causes the damaged nerves (the demyelinated neurons) to be stretched and send erroneous signals. The symptoms can occur anywhere below the neck and many people with MS find that it moves around their body from one day to the next.

consistently. In the same place for 6 months, to the cm.

not caused by neck flexiion really but odd postures bring it on,

5

Also.

Lhermitte’s sign, the occurrence of an electrical sensation passing down the back to the legs on flexion of the neck is a common and characteristic feature of multiple sclerosis (MS)

so this is nothing like what I have

6

Well Dizza; weird; I think you must realise the ambiguous nature of this symptom. They use words like ‘most often’ and ‘usually’; nothing is definate.

George