I’ve been getting leg claudication for some time now. This is when the muscles in your legs start to ache the further you walk, till you just have to stop and rest. We thought it might be due to vasculitis, but a recent scan has suggested that the nerve roots exiting the lumbar region (L4-5 and L5-S1) might be compressed, and it may be neurogenic claudication due to degenerative disc disease / osteoarthritis.
Of course it doesn’t show the normal pattern you would see with neurogenic claudication caused by spinal stenosis (eg relieved by leaning forward), and it flares up when my inflammation is high.
That is making me wonder if the compression is primarily inflammation related. Or even if I actually have inflammation on my nerves…
Meanwhile, it is oddly not really painful in my back - I kind of thought a sciatica type experience would be more likely, but I just have this deep ache on using the muscles .
Has anyone else had any experiences similar? Or perhaps experienced confirmed neurogenic claudication?.
My last DEXA scan was pretty appalling too, and we have a strong family history of spinal osteoporosis and spinal fractures, as well as me having smouldering myeloma to boot…
I have Psoriatic Arthritis but I am responding since my husband who has Parkinson’s Disease is suffering from the symptoms you have described. He suffers from pain on the left side of his left knee and just about 4 inches above his ankle on the left side of his left leg. He can not stand or walk for more than 5 minutes without the pain starting. It gets stronger the longer he stands or walks until he has to sit down or lie down to reduce the pain. He had 2 epidurals and an ablation procedure in the areas of L4-L5 which did little to reduce the pain. In October he had a trial with the Abbott Proclaim Plus stimulator and on 5 January 2023 the permanent stimulator was surgically implanted. 5 attempts to reprogram the stimulator has so far not been successful in reducing the leg and knee pain. On February 7, 2023 the stimulator was totally reprogramed and he is waiting the required 3-7 days to see if there has been a reduction in pain. If not he will go back to the surgeon for other alternatives. Any suggestions would be so greatly appreciated. Pain medications and patches and cream do little to reduce the pain.
Welcome here @wakefield and thank you for sharing on behalf of your husband. I’ve had 4 epidurals and 2 made a huge difference…one lasted a few weeks but the other was much shorter. One out of the four was extremely painful while administering the steroid. Really I don’t have any good advice for you/him other than hang in one day at a time. A solution might be around the corner. Life is difficult when pain is the supreme ruler!
Thank you for your words of support. The Abbott Proclaim Plus stimulator is truly supposed to be a blessing. I have 2 friends who have had other company stimulators in the past and their surgeries were so successful that they no longer have any pain at all.
I’m so sorry to hear of your husband’s experience, and grateful to you for sharing it. Unfortunately mine got a lot worse in the last day or two (I can’t walk from the bedroom to the kitchen without it coming on), I was a bit worried I’d go to sleep and wake up being unable to walk! Thankfully I can still get around the house this morning, but the sensation does feel more like nerve pain / irritation now, so perhaps I believe the theory that might be causing things. Managed to get an appointment with a physio today, so hopefully there will be some answers.
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