Question on Foot Drop

Feel much better with no real pain about 8 weeks after...Had herniated disc diagnosis. Started with the usual steroids and 1 epidural then switched to TMS recovery and its been great. One question, however. I had much pain for a while and now the only residual seems to be foot drop where can't fully control my foot. Feels weaker and numb. Has anyone had this and if so, could this be another symptom of TMS. Such an odd feeling to be walking this way. Don't give it much attention but would much rather be without it.

 

Yes, I've had your symptoms. They will go away. You might want to check out Steve Ozanich's book, The Great Pain Deception. He also had foot drop; it went away.

 

And, yes, I had so-called 'foot drop' too at the same time I had lower back pain and sciatica. It just seemed like I wasn't clearing the 'high points' in my gait, so I'd scuff the bottom of my foot on the raised sections of my path. Been getting better as my other TMS symptoms improve, but every once in a while I notice that I'm scuffing the curb or a bump on the floor. As long as it keeps improving, I don't pay it that much mind. I suppose when I get back to running I'll have to pay more attention to it.

 

Hi, Asomeck. Gail is right that reading THE GREAT PAIN DECEPTION can help with your drop foot. Steve (a great guy and healer) says his foot drop and lower back pain hit on an all-time high: "I could no longer sit, walk, lie, or sleep." He became bedridden, and was about to get lower back surgery when he just pulled himself out of bed." He drove to a friend's house and the friend suggested he read Dr. Sarno's HEALING BACK PAIN. He said he read it, but thought it was "all b.s." But he stuck with Sarno and accepted that his back pain and foot drop was from TMS repressed emotions going back to his boyhood and also more recent anger because of surgery on his wife that left her paralyzed.

So take it from Sarno and Steve, your foot drop is TMS and just work on journaling to find the repressed emotions causing your pain. That can be very therapeutic. It leads to forgiving others and maybe especially yourself. No one is perfect, except my dog Annie.

 

Thank all of you for the support...mucho appreciated..

 

I've had foot drop for a long time and it's improving as I work this program. It's a hell of symptom and easy to obsess about. For me playing basketball is the best thing because if I walk or jog I can stay in the obsession.

 

Partial footdrop is one of my problems, don,t know how you can run on it please explain

 

Footdrop is my major physical issue, which has lead to others, I am very curious that you have knowledge of this. I really dont know how not to focus on it, because it means I have to walk with sticks. Please advise. Thank you

 

About twelve years ago, I had extreme foot drop and was booked for back surgery with a neurosurgeon, but as the surgery date approached, the foot drop disappeared, so I cancelled the surgery, much to the doctor's annoyance. I'm sure that I then experienced symptoms elsewhere in my body.

 

About 6-months ago I still had a little "foot drop" when I stepped over curbs and used to scuff my foot a little when there was a high spot in the sidewalk. Three-months ago it had almost disappeared completely and last night when I took a hike on the game preserve I was pleasantly surprised that it was gone. "Foot drop" seems to decrease and disappear as other TMS symptoms subside, which seems to confirm my suspicion that TMS is a systemic condition that shouldn't be treated on a onezie-twozie basis. That's where you wind up playing ring-around-the-rosie getting massaged for this and operated on for that as TMS manifests or expresses itself as one symptom after another. Seems that medical profession is too specialized so that each manifestation of TMS attracts a new specialist without a broad overview of what's going on. I think that TMS requires a new kind of body-mind system theory to be accurately diagnosed. But that's just me!

 

Yes I had a numb foot when I had my sciatica. Now my foot is back to normal

 

Have you conquered this symptom?

 

Thank you for your input everyone, much appreciated

 

I have this "drop foot" symptom right now and it is going along with some lower back/sciatica. I've had the back/sciatica before but this is the first time that I've had drop foot. Now I'm working on laughing at it because it is kind of ridiculous. My brain is so smart to utilize a symptom that I've never had so I might think, "Oh my god! I can't feel my foot! I must have a pinched nerve!!! AHHHHHHH!"

Instead - when I exercise - I laugh at it. Well, I should say, I find amusement. When I run in place and my left foot hits the ground with a THUD...it's funny.

I'm recovering slowly. I've never been able to recover from TMS pain miraculously like so many stories I've read. When I get slammed with a major incident, it takes a couple weeks to recover...but I always do.

 

thank you for replying, only just picked this up, I have to use a stick because my toes scrape on the ground. Does this happen to you?

 

My toes don't scrape on the ground. My foot is numb and weak, however. I walk with a limp (which has improved since it started) and I just can't stand on the ball of my left foot. It's a very strange feeling because I'm a strong person with a regular Yoga practice. So I stand next to a wall and try it and I try to find humor in the fact that I can't do it. But I keep trying.

 

I find it hard not to fuel the whole thing with fear. Trying to do any yoga is impossible, there is such a sense of imbalance, which I guess is true on both a physical and psychological level. I have struggled with this for particular symptom for two years which brought me to TMS but now it has become the bane of my life. I get frustrated, fearful of the future and very down. Maybe I should try to laugh at it, but it's such a bad joke

 

Billiewells. Ugh. I'm sorry to hear that you've been struggling so long with these symptoms. Have you considered talking to a therapist? I find that going to therapy is helpful when TMS is getting the better of me. I found on the TMS Wiki a list of TMS doctors/therapists. Perhaps you can find one near you or that will work on the phone/computer with you:

http://www.tmswiki.org/ppd/Find_a_TMS_Doctor_or_Therapist

 

I have come back to this thread for support and encouragement. I am having therapy from a TMS therapist but am progressing so very slowly. The footdrop is a real problem. I am trying to laugh or disregard it, but because my hip flexors in te same leg are so weak, movement is still v v difficult. I need to strengthen my whole leg, because I have lost so much muscle strength but if I do so I am focusing on my symptoms or disabilities. I am going round in circles and really would apprciate some pointers.

 

I just joined: https://abigailsteidley.com/ (Home - Abigail Steidley)

It's a great community with lots of support!