Falling: Is it my back or my peripheral neuropathy?

Posted by gsgnfl @gsgnfl, Jun 30 8:56am

I’ve had peripheral neuropathy about 15 years which has gotten marginally worse, but it really only affects my balance. I don’t think I’ve had pain from it. My balance is so bad, that I can’t stand on 1 foot for over two seconds and I had to quit playing golf.

But starting about three years ago, I started having pain in my lower back when walking for 15 minutes or more that could lead to my right leg (knee) collapsing, resulting in a hard fall. And it feels like my right leg is totally numb but after about four minutes, I can get back up on it and walk without any issue. It’s probably happened about 20 times over that time and every time it’s sneaks up on me until I fall. An MRI showed that I had serious stenosis in my lumbar area and my neurosurgeon at Mayo wants to do an L3 to S1 fusion.

My question is what’s the likelihood that this surgery fix will my issues with falling. Or is it something that might be triggered by the neuropathy?

Help? Amy thoughts?

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closer0043 | @closer0043 | Jun 30 11:05am

Have you noticed any muscle atrophy on your right calf or thigh? I also have severe spinal stenosis on my L4-L5. Last year I started having painful sciatica down my right glute and leg. I now notice my right thigh and calf muscle is shrinking slowly even though I am still working out. I also have neuropathy in my feet that only started a couple of years ago exactly the same time I really started feeling the lower back shooting pains going down both legs when playing baseball or doing split squats at the gym. I also started having cramps and twitching more often. All things that many medical websites verify can be a result of compressed nerves. However, every doctor I speak to never gives my reason any consideration. They keep telling me I have idiopathic peripheral neuropathy or polyneuropathy.
I have spoken to 3 people now who have told me that they immediately felt their numbness, weakness, and pain subside after cervical or lumbar surgery. I know we see a lot of horror stories on this website of back surgery causing nerve damage, but I try to remind people, why would you come to a medical message board if your surgery was a success? Most wouldn’t. They would go about their healthy lives happily. Most people that come here are looking for answers because something is wrong. Just keep that in mind.
I’m not a doctor, and you having neuropathy well before your back pain started might be an indicator of a different cause, but who knows. Maybe you had compressed nerves for a long time and iur just more tolerant to pain or covered it up like I do before baseball games with a few ibuprofens. Good luck in finding answers.

dreams999 | @dreams999 | Jun 30 11:17am

I fell in a restaurant in 2011. Slipped on grapes.and h2o that was on the floor (obviously) at a restaurant called ruby tuesdays. Don't eat there. (Go f sue me...lol)
Anyway for the past few yrs my Drs say stenosis spondolothesis and ? L4/5 and hip osteoporosis.
My toes feel numb AT times. What's that neuropathy or peripheral neuropathy? Sometimes it feels like my legs aren't my old legs and walking is harder. 4 yrs ago a hospital Neuro s dept put me out and gave me shots in my sacrial joints and the next day I couldn't walk. Had to crawl around apt. I don't have sciatica. Thks

dreams999 | @dreams999 | Jun 30 11:18am

Things got worse ever since.

joanland | @joanland | Jun 30 3:54pm

Be sure to get your R hip checked out before you move forward with the fusion. I was fused L2 to L-5 for serious arthritis. Now, a few years later, I have serious pain L5-S1 and in the R S-I joint. This was shown on a SPECT scan. With a fusion of L5-S1 out of the question, I was offered a spinal stimulator implant. A few days before it was to be temporarily implanted as a test, I came down with a urinary tract infection. Temporary placement of the stimulator had to be cancelled. That was last April. Since then my R leg has been collapsing. All of a sudden with a sharp jab of pain, I go down. X-rays showed lots of arthritis in my R-hip. MRI showed a badly worn and damaged R hip joint. A steroid innection a week or so later, and the lower back and S-I joint pain went away. It went totally away. Gone. Hmmm. The absence of pain lasted between a week and 10 days, indicating it was from the lidocaine rather than the steroid. I wonder what will happen to the lower back pain when the R hip is replaced, which (because of a shortage of orthopedic surgeons here as well as in many places) will be later this fall or winter? I'm hoping that I get results similar to those from the lidocaine which accompanied the steroid injection.

dreams999 | @dreams999 | Jun 30 4:12pm

In reply to @dreams999 "Things got worse ever since." + (show)

Thanks for get in.touch. this was for a spinal fusion?

gsgnfl | @gsgnfl | Jun 30 4:20pm

Interesting. I had my hips checked out after I fell for the first or second time. I had hoped that was causing the problem since hips are relatively easy to replace. But no. My hips were fine.

Please let me know if the spinal stimulator helps.

PS. Steroid injections in my lumbar area did no good whatsoever.