Dropped foot symptoms and conditions

Within a couple of days of taking this medication I experienced numbness in the top of my right foot and up the outside of my leg to med-calf. I became unable to lift my foot up or point my toes upwards. When I walked my foot dropped down and I would almost trip when I walked. The first two times it happened it went away within the day. The last time was June 6, 2006 and it has remained since then with no sign of improvement. My doc called it dropped foot syndrome which is caused by a problem with a nerve in the side of my leg. I am still on the medication and hoping the problem will go away as I adjust to the medication. The medication thus far has had no effect on my hypothroid symptoms especially the fatigue. The muscles in my legs feel weaker than ever and the foot problem makes matters worse.

Please tell me where I can go for help. My mother is having terrible side effects from taking Lipitor a couple years ago. She will need a wheelchair soon. I can't believe so many of her problems are linked to this drug! Her doctors won't even consider the problem being Lipitor. Even though she is off it now, her problems seem to be progressing. Her feet are numb with the numbness moving up her legs. Muscle tone is gone and her left foot hangs. She was diagnosed with dropped foot last year. She also had a pace maker put in after she recovered from pneumonia. She has been told she has spinal stenosis and needs back surgery she probably is too weak to survive. Now she is being treated for neuropathy with no success. Her doctor has done a spinal tap and a nerve biopsy. She has seen a neurologist who sent her to a doctor in Houston. She has had gamma globulin IV's and an IV treatment in the hospital. I don't remember what it was called. Next step is a blood cleansing treatment done in Houston for 2 weeks to remove antibodies attacking the myelin sheath. Her eyes have occasionally hemorrhaged and she faints due to low blood pressure. My mother was very healthy except for slightly elevated cholesterol 3 years ago. What can we do? She is dying.

reply to 8091

Dropped foot is a weakness in the muscles in the foot which causes it to be limp and involuntarily "flops" when you walk. The front of the foot points downward when the foot is lifted off the ground and if the foot is not picked up high enough to clear the surface,you will trip. The condition occurs when something negatively affects the nerves in the leg or spinal cord. Since all my tests came back "normal" - the doctors are puzzled and are looking at Lipitor.

To 8083

What do you mean by a dropped foot. Can you explain ?

Thanks.

has anyone else experienced a "dropped foot"? Came out of no-where - had mri's/ ct scan/ emg-ncv nerve tests - all came back "normal" . Doctor finally said to stop the lipitor (20mg daily). I am hoping for improvement. I am a very active 58 yr.old grandmother - had to run my 5 miles on the treadmill today holding on!!