Question: I suffered a pinched nerve in lower back about 5 years ago. It caused numbness down the back of one leg. I feel a butterfly sensation in the afflicted calf and have leg cramps in the afflicted leg at night. What could be going on?

Thank you, Dr. Kuttikrishnan, for your assistance. The butterfly sensations only began a couple of months ago...the leg cramps I almost always have and have had since the pinched nerve. But both occur only in the afflicted leg - calf only, not thigh - from the pinched nerve, with the numbness down the back. There is no pain associated with the butterfly sensations at all. I was off my feet awhile and had to use a cane when the pinched nerve first occurred...I can walk freely now, though I still have lower back pain occasionally that I manage. It happened because I had no variety in my exercise routine some years ago...did the same thing (elliptical machine) every day for well over an hour, no free weights or strength training at all. Initial tests (5 years back) were clear. In the past year, I've gained some additional weight but am already overweight due to stress, a yo-yo dieter. I currently weigh 265. That weight listed is the absolute highest I've ever been. The butterflies started happening after I passed the 240 XXXXXXX prior to that had never had them at all (only the cramps). I don't smoke at all, am a social drinker at best. No thyroid history...diabetes is minimal in my family. I don't have it that I know of. I've gotten to know how to stop the cramps even as they first begin, by simply flexing my foot (as if bringing toes up toward knee). Doing so stops the cramp immediately.