drop foot

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CBowman

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For those who have had drop foot or currently have drop foot. Can you move your toes a little? I have had drop foot for 4 months (left foot), but I can still wiggle my toes a little (downward motion, but not moving in up). Just curious.

Thanks
 
I have drop foot . I can still wiggle toes up and down and rotate my ankles in some kind of fashion.:-?
 
Toes still wiggle but as a group now whereas I used to be able to move a couple one way and the others the other way. Can still flex foot downwards but not much in up direction in either foot but have drop worst in right.
AL.
 
Thanks guys,

I was just curious if my toes still being active were unique but I guess they are not.
 
I'm not sure if what I am experiencing is drop foot or not. What happens is that my toes fall when walking so that I stumble a lot. It only happens when wearing shoes. If I am barefoot or wearing slippers I walk as I always did. My shoes are all looser on the foot that drags, though. Maybe this is the beginning of drop foot? Something else?
 
Cindy,

That is foot drop. They make a form fitted device that goes around the back of your calf, and under your foot. It is normally worn under your pants and your shoe. You will walk a little stiff, but it is better than falling down.:)

Mike
 
Hi Cindy. They call it an AFO or ankle foot orthotic. Don't wait too long to get it like I did. Waited and got it just before I started using the walker and can't walk more than a few hundred feet now. Should have done it sooner but never got around to it. Lazy and just maybe didn't want to admit I needed it.
AL.
 
Know what you mean, Al. I last went to the clinic in November, next appointment on Feb 5th. So in Nov they sent me home with instructions to call if I had any more symptoms to report. Since then I have tripped about twice a week but the only people I told were you guys! I thought I would get used to the idea of foot drop before getting a brace. But now there are other symptoms to get used to - like a tired tongue and tinglling lips. So denial does nobody any good, I guess is the moral of this story.
 
One more thing: is it still foot drop if it only happens while wearing shoes?
 
Cindy,

Drop foot happens if you have shoes on or not, for me the first sign of drop foot was that my foot did not want to move up or down. My foot would still go side to side but not up and down (so my foot would slap the ground every step). Hope this helps. Currently, my foot does not go up or down or side to side only my toes wiggle a little.:mrgreen:
 
foot drop

Hi! New at this. But I began having footdrop after a fall about a year ago. The neurologist diagnosed me as brain stem stroke. However, I never lost consciousness and all my exams and MRI were normal. He told me sometimes strokes do not show up. But I have continued to have foot drop and other neuropathies such as left leg tingling and weakness on left side. Most recently I have begun having muscle twitching all over but especially my right lower leg. NO foot drop on the right side yet. but walking is getting to be more difficult.

I think it may be time to go back to the neuro but just don't want to go through anymore tests. Have not had an EMG. But have been studying responses on this forum and I am really beginning to think that he did not want to say the "ALS" word. I am 52 years old. But my family doctor said he never did think stroke but wanted to wait for further symptoms before he made any attempts to diagnose.

I just get tired of dragging this ol' left leg around. I walk about 3 times a week but lately exercise makes the foot drop and leg weakness increase after I finish walking. But I love to walk. Have not started with any orthotics or other walking devices but it may be time to do so just to help conserve my energy. I wish you the best.

Carolina girl
 
Hi Cindy. Foot drop comes from the shin muscle losing strength and if you are wearing shoes there is more weight on the foot. Barefoot it may not drop yet as there is still muscle there.
AL.
 
Thanks Al. I thought that might be the case because it sounded logical but lately, LOL, I don't trust my logic.
 
Cindy,

What do the doctors think you might have besides ALS.
 
The local docs started mentioning ALS right away, and referred me to the ALS clinic. Myself, I didn't think back then (June and July of 06) that I was very sick since I do not have a lot of pain. I use to believe that a person who has something this serious probably has pain, but after visiting this site I know better.

The ALS clinic is reluctant to say just yet that it might be ALS. Back in August they assured me I had MS, but those tests came back negative for that disease. Before getting the referral to the clinic, I had an incident that sent me to the local hospital, where they tested for all the regular and odd-ball neurological stuff. Seems I do not have any number of diseases or conditions, but the ALS clinic said in November that we need to wait and see if things got worse.

I am picking up new symptoms every month, but decided to wait until my next visit on 2/5 before addressing them. I have learned from this site to remain calm and let nature take its course. I figure I have the rest of my life to deal with ALS, and from the folks here I know that can mean I will deal with it for a few months or perhaps a few years. I am just enjoying today as much as I can.

I read about the 4 stages of DX for this disease and I figure in June they had me at "Suspicion" of ALS. Now I expect to be told that it is "probable ALS," but I am just guessing that you need to be a lot further down on the FRS (Functional Rating Scale) than I am. I'm still at about 80% capacity and have only had to revise my life-style a little, like moving my bedroom to the first floor.

If you want some links to where some of this information exists let me know! Hope this actually helped rather than left you more confused.

Regards, Cindy
 
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