Shooting Shockwave: Lhermitte's sign

[MROSE]

Hello everyone,

I am writing to find out if anyone has experienced Lhermitte's sign. Apparently, it is described as a sharp, shooting "shockwave"-like nerve pain that goes through the body down to the feet when you bend your chin to your chest in a quick motion. I have read about people experiencing this after cisplatin-based chemotherapy but am curious to learn more and hear from others who have experienced it. My boyfriend finished chemo in June and had his RPLND 1 month ago and just began experiencing the problem 2-3 days ago.

Any help is greatly appreciated, as always.
Thanks!
Melissa

[Derek12]

same exact thing happened to my buddy Scott after MANY cisplatin based therapies.if he nodded his head,his feet tingled.never knew the name for it though.

[tccancercop]

I'm experiencing this now! However, I don't know if my symptoms are related to the spinal cord compression (tumor) I had a few months ago. I'm glad you brought to light this issue.

[indiana9]

I had this symptom following my chemotherapy. It went away after about 5 months, but the the neuropathy in my feet is still there 9 months later albeit it seems to be improving.
Brian

[MROSE]

Although I of course feel terrible that there are other people experiencing the "shockwave", I'm so glad to know it's not unheard of. I wonder if it is related to the neuropathy issue with the feet as well. John's left foot is starting to sweat now and lose a tiny bit of it's numbness, but this whole Lhermitte's sign is strange. I guess there's no real telling when it will go away. It's scary to look it up - it's usually related to Multiple Sclerosis. But, if you google "Lhermitte's sign chemotherapy", a ton of info comes up on cisplatin-based chemo and this condition. Indiana, so glad yours went away. I'm keeping my fingers crossed for the neuropathy to wake up! Thanks for your help - if anyone learns anything or has anymore information, I would REALLY appreciate it.

Melissa

[Karen]

Melissa,
I looked in pubmed http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query. It seems to be fairly rare...but the good news from the abstract below is that it does go away with time.

Cancer Treat Rep. 1986 Jul;70(7):905-7. Links
Lhermitte's sign as a complication of cisplatin-containing chemotherapy for testicular cancer.Eeles R, Tait DM, Peckham MJ.
Lhermitte's sign is reported in 14 patients receiving chemotherapy for metastatic testicular cancer. In six patients the typical symptoms appeared during chemotherapy: in five patients within 1 month of treatment and in one patient at 2 months. The duration of symptoms ranged from 2 to approximately 8 months. No patient had received radiotherapy to the cervical or dorsal spinal cord. The complication is ascribed to cisplatin, the only drug common to all 14 patients.