MS Symptom Thesaurus: Lhermitte’s Sign

Today we open our third installment of the conversation I call the “MS Symptom Thesaurus”.  In past blogs in the series we have defined MS Fatigue and Pain as it relates to multiple sclerosis.  Several of you have left your thoughts, descriptors and definitions in the comments as a way to help yourself and others explain these symptoms.  Today we’re going to move to a bit less common and oft misunderstood symptom of multiple sclerosis: Lhermitte’s Sign For me, Lhermitte’s Sign was one of the early symptoms of multiple sclerosis which I ignored and/or explained away for years before my diagnosis.  It is medically (and rather vaguely) described as: “A brief, stabbing, electric-shock-like sensation that runs from the back of the head down the spine, brought on by bending the neck forward” As this sensation can be very brief, you can see why it can be easily ignored.  As it can brought on and limited to very specific and small areas in the range of neck motion, it fits perfectly into that old “It feels funny when I do this… so I won’t do that” denial.  I’ll also say that it was almost more of a curiosity as it was a pain.  It almost felt like stretching out a tight muscle – thought it’s more of a nerve thing and far more “electrical” than a muscle ever felt to me. So, as a way of giving back to ourselves and to the newly (or yet to be) diagnosed I once again offer you a place to define your experience with this MS symptom. For me, Lhermitte...
Source: Life with MS - Category: Other Conditions Authors: Tags: MS multiple sclerosis Living with MS MS Blog HIstory MS fatigue MS pain MS symptoms Multiple Sclerosis Thesaurus Newly diagnosed Source Type: blogs