Left thigh spasms

Posted by sap63 @sap63, Jun 27, 2023

Hello
I have been having left thigh spasms for the past 5 months - only happens when I am awake. When I have the spasms it causes my leg/ foot to turn inwards. As a separate issue I was diagnosed by a laryngologist with spasmodic dysphonia and tremors of my soft palate, tongue and pharynx about a year ago -more prominent on the left side.
I was referred to PT by my primary care Dr who did a thorough assessment and found I had ankle clonus on my left side and left brisk knee reflex. She felt my symptoms were related to a neurological issue and spoke with my primary care doctor who referred me to neurology. The PT also recommending holding off on further PT until I saw the neurologist as she said he would likely do testing and she wants to wait for that to happen before proceeding with PT - which made perfect sense to me. I saw the neurologist today who didn’t ask me any questions about the spasms ( specific location on my thigh, frequency , precipating factors etc.). He did a basic neuro
exam ( interestingly checked my knee flexes while both my feet flat on the floor - and assessed clonus with my shoes on and then realized he should take my shoes off . He said I was fine and recommended I start taking hylands cramp relief - or I could try flexeril.
I am wondering if I should get another opinion

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John, Volunteer Mentor | @johnbishop | Jun 27, 2023

Hi @sap63, Welcome to Connect. If your doctor and your PT referred you to a neurologist and the neurologist didn't mention anything about the thigh spasms, did you happen to bring it up during the examination/testing? If it were me and both my PT and primary care doc thought it might be neurological I would want some sort of explanation from the neurologist why he didn't think it was. So I might consider a second opinion.

While we wait for others with similar symptoms to share their experience, I thought I would share this article with some tips/suggestions that might be helpful if you haven't already seen them.
--- 15 Causes of Muscle Twitches and Spasms: https://www.webmd.com/brain/ss/slideshow-twitches-spasms-causes

You mentioned it's only with your left thigh having spasms when you are awake. Are the spasms painful like muscle cramps?

woojr | @woojr | Jun 27, 2023

Yes, get another opinion and consider every possible side effect post surgery. After my last spine surgery while leaving the hospital both of my thighs went numb. That was Feb, 2020. After a year of having different sensations the left one somewhat normalized. The right is still weird, like my lower back it feels hard and when I stand up it changes. I was 68 at the time of the last surgery and trusted the surgeon. When they tinker with those nerves anything can result. I'd like to go back and get another opinion. Just remember, the surgeon can justify cutting anything when they review the MRI's. Whether it's better or not after the surgery, and how long it lasts is another story. Good luck.

sap63 | @sap63 | Jun 27, 2023

In reply to @johnbishop "Hi @sap63, Welcome to Connect. If your doctor and your PT referred you to a neurologist..." + (show)

Thank you for your response and sharing the article . I did bring it up / ask for an explanation- pointing out that both the PT and my Primary doctor were concerned and his response was thigh spasms on one side only can happen without any cause for concern. The spasms are painful.
I forgot to mention that he also said I could try flexeril but I reminded him that since these spasms only occur during the day - the side effect of sedation during the day wasnt something I could consider