Longtime left foot drop

[TrevieThomas]

Hello Everybody. I developed a left foot drop about 8 years ago. It actually started with a lot of pain in the front of my left foot in the front of my ankle after a minute or two of walking. The pain would be intense and eventually it would clear up and I was able to walk normally again.

Prev thread: Foot drop issues. Could it be the beginning of ALS?

This would happen everyday that I would go on my walks. Eventually, the pain in my left (where the leg meets the foot) went away after I got shoes that mimicked being barefoot. But slowly I developed a foot drop on my left foot. I used to develop a foot drop in my left foot in the late 80s after three or for month of running. But I could walk completely normal with no foot drop. I would quit running for a while and start up again and have the same problem after a couple of months. But it never affected my walking. Today, I can only walk about 15 minutes on the treadmill before my slight foot drop starts up again. But I can walk backwards with no problems and I can actually run for at least 45 minutes with no problem, though I can tell I have slight weakness in my left leg and foot. I did injure my back in the mid 80s while lifting weights. Since then, I tend to throw my back from time to time when doing the most mundane things. When this happens I look like the Leaning Tower of Pisa until it clears up in a couple of weeks. I saw a neurologist and had an EMG done because the left drop seemed to come out of nowhere and while walking. No pain in my back and no sensory deficits. My neurologist said it wasn’t ALS because of how long I’ve had this problem. But it’s scary every time I get on the treadmill and go walking. Here are my EMG results.

 

[lgelb]

He could have also said, you don't have ALS because the EMG shows something much milder, it doesn't take years to develop, and it doesn't present as you describe. You have nerve damage, but it's treatable, not the ALS kind.

I would see a podiatrist who can order PT if s/he thinks it will help, which I think it could. They may also suggest shoes that are appropriate for peripheral neuropathy. Meanwhile, sit up straight, make sure your body is properly supported, don't cross your legs, and try to fully extend your legs doing exercises (hold onto something if you need to), not just bending them on the treadmill and while walking.

 

[rmt]

So why exactly are you here? Do you have a question? Your neurologist said it isn't ALS. And you have had "symptoms" for 8 years. 8 years! In that time my husband went from perfectly healthy to dead. With 4 years to spare. You can run for 45 minutes on a treadmill. Seriously, why are you here? Stop googling. Get help for health anxiety. I'm usually a bit more patient with anxious people but there is absolutely no reason for you to be on this forum.

 

[ReginaS]

"My neurologist said it wasn’t ALS because of how long I’ve had this problem." This is true. Believe them.
"It actually started with a lot of pain in the front of my left foot" ALS does not start with pain.
With ALS, foot drop can develop but once it's there it does not go away. It's not intermittent and you cannot "provoke" it.

I can definitely understand that you come here to check things out and put symptoms in perspective. It's not wrong to ask questions. It's just that a lot of people post here and don't believe what neurologists have told them and might not believe what very knowledgeable, patient, experienced people here tell them here because their doubts will overwrite anything.

Whatever your condition is, it is very different from what people with ALS deal with. My partner who died 16 months after diagnosis would have gladly traded your condition with his.

I can also see that you don't want your condition to get worse, so you research to hopefully find some clues. You won't find answers here. Through the eyes of people who are in this forum due to ALS - whatever your condition is - it seems so much better, easier and friendlier than the course of ALS. This can seem like a weak consolation but in the bigger scheme of things it's really true.

 

[TrevieThomas]

I’m very sorry to hear about your husband and I didn’t mean to annoy you. There is a form of ALS called Flail Leg Syndrome which progresses a lot slower than normal ALS. I guess this is something I should have discussed with my neurologist but I was just too overwhelmed to think about it. Again, I’m very sorry about your husband.

 

[Nikki J]

No. I have a friend with ultra slow progressing flail leg. So much so their neurologist presented their case at a conference after which researchers contacted them asking for blood samples to study their dna. 14 years and symptoms only in one leg. Extremely rare even for flail leg. However their case is utterly different than yours. No pain. Started with foot drop that never went away. Diagnostic emg. Spread up leg which atrophied severely. Walked only with a cane. And this was 7 years into it when we met. It is still flail leg but they are progressively weaker and have a full leg brace.