Originally Posted by alcjphil

I don't think it is a good idea to continue riding with your shifter in that state. I did that a few years ago with a Chorus 9 speed shifter. The play in the shifter allowed the derailleur to move side to side during fast sprints. Twice, that side to side movement actually threw the chain off the front chainring. Throwing your chain when you are sprinting at high speed is no fun and can cause a very bad crash. After the second time it happened, I had the shifter rebuilt, problem solved