Why I Had to Break My Neck to Recover from Spinal Cord Injury

By Glenn Hartz

In 2006, an autoimmune attack left me with transverse myelitis (right C1). My right-side muscles shrank and most of the skin was red and shiny–sometimes the muscle was inflamed. 

I visited neurology regularly but saw no significant improvement in the musculature. My right leg was still quite diminished in 2020, and I started using a cane. Partly because of the weak leg, in summer 2024 I fell down a flight of stairs and broke my right neck and clavicle. In the hospital for 4 weeks, they noticed my borderline high blood pressure and put me on amlodipine (commonly known as Norvasc). 

Recovery went well. When PT set up an obstacle course, I knew I couldn’t do it since I couldn’t get my right foot over the hurdle in therapy in 2020. But somehow this time the right followed the left up and over. My first hint. I was feeling better in every way. I couldn’t explain it. After five months, I saw lots of muscle restored, and balance and overall strength improved.  

Finally, I did a search for “amlodipine transverse myelitis.” As I launched it, I remember thinking, “This will find nothing!” But boom. The first thing I saw was a recent study with mice models that showed amlodipine increased their ability to recover from spinal cord injuries. Mice with no injury are compared to those with injuries. Half of the injured mice are given amlodipine for 7 days after surgery, while the others are not. On day 7, the treated group goes well ahead of the control group and stays there for 28 days. Tissue tests show the damage is repaired much more dramatically in the treatment group by day 14. The improvement is so rapid because amlodipine simultaneously thwarts apoptosis, upregulates autophagy, promotes structural recovery, and reduces neuronal loss.  

Of course, the mice injuries were fresh. But my case suggests amlodipine also helps heal old injuries. If so, it’s something probably no “animal study” could reveal. A study of people could be designed to find out whether it does.  

For 18 years, my brain kept sending signals down the right side of the cord. It had no idea many of them never arrived. So when the lesion began healing, the signals got through again. That’s some persistent brain! 

Sometimes, unforeseen “off-label” effects of drugs have a huge impact. However, my condition already required the “on-label” use of the drug. Thus, even if someone could respond to amlodipine for this side effect, it would not be advised if there was no blood pressure issue.  

I am not a medical expert, but I have read that this side effect is characteristic of the “dihydropyridine” class of calcium channel blockers, which amlodipine belongs to. Still, since all drugs in this group seem to lower blood pressure, the limitation remains.  

Personally, I feel obligated to make this public since it might move the needle for someone who can safely be treated with one of these medications. High blood pressure affects about half of us, so quite a few people who’ve had car accidents or falls or neuroimmune disorders might be helped by adding or switching to one of these medications.  

There are still plenty of questions to ask. How long is it effective? Does the repair remain if the drug is discontinued? How old can the injury be? How many types of nerve damage respond? 

But at least we now know which questions to ask.