[freezerdoor]

I'm doing pretty well. I'm 8 months PCS and very much healed.

I noticed something in the last few months and I don't know if it is PCS related or not. I wondered if anyone else has this. I hurt everywhere. Mostly after activity. I mean my shoulders ache, my elbows, my knees, my ankles, etc. Before PCS I never had a single ache or pain. I was one of those people who would run 7 miles and never get sore - even after speed runs. It was always quite bewildering but I never got sore. ever. So... now I get more than sore. I get pain and aches everywhere if I run. I honestly feel that I'm 60 years old and I'm not yet 40. I used to feel at least 10 years younger than I was.

Anyone else experiencing anything similar to this? I really have a hunch that it's related and now that I'm at the point where I can exercise and get my blood flowing without head pain, I figure it's just the next item on the list to get through by gradually increasing my exercise.

Thanks.

[Jeffrey]

Yes, physically I feel 58, though I am 38.

I walk, but may never attempt running, jumping, or heavy weights again.

My aches & pains come from accidents (minor & major). Despite utmost caution, I make a mistake around an inanimate object once in a while, and when it happens- it is not fun.

Stepping up & down stairs all day is my big challenge now- the ankles & knees are already feeling the pain of past mistakes.

I still have the same high energy level.

Hopefully things get better-

[roadrunner63]

I have neurological muscle spasms as a result of my TBI. If the spasms get out of control then it causes pain throughout my body.

[Mark in Idaho]

How does one know what it feels like to feel 10 years younger than one is?

If I feel like I felt 10 years ago, was I feeling 10 years older back then?

I can understand what it feels like to feel older than one is. I live with that frequently.

freezerdoor,

I bet you just need to reacclimate your body to exercise. Plus, your dopamine reaction may not be working the same. Dopamine is a natural pain reliever.

No runners' high anymore, maybe.

[freezerdoor]

Ha! Good question Mark. I guess I make the comment about feeling younger as I base it on those around me. I am just more physically similar to those around me who are 10 years younger than me and most people can't believe my age when I tell them.

It's possible that the looming 40 is catching up with me but I doubt it. I don't think you go from zero aches and pains to hurting all over for no reason. I think it has to do with this PCS business.

Mark I think that's a great idea - that it is the dopamine that has changed. I think that is very likely. I just haven't gotten that "great/invincible" feeling yet from exercise since I hit my head. I'll keep trying.

Thank you for the ideas.

[Kenjhee]

Yes. Yes. Yes.

My physician calls it myalgia. This just means "muscle pain". I asked if it is in fact Fibromyagia, since I also suffer from Chromic Fatigue Syndrome (all of this caused by the head trauma), but I lack the pressure-point markers that are part of the current diagnosis for FM. So we just call it myalgia.

It hurts, that's all I know.

I have had this generalized achiness since the accident 35 years ago. I now take opiate meds to control the pain. I must generally take Oxycodone every 2-3 hours to function at all.

I have a theory on this, if anyone's interested...I believe that CFS is a prolonged and exaggerated immune response, where the body tries to fight an infectious agent which is not really there (or is there but not an actual threat). One of the immune mechanisms is creating intense joint and/or muscular pain. This confers an adaptative advantage since it compels the organism to curtail physical activity and forces it to rest. In the case of Chronic Fatigue, the body never gets the stop signal, so the pain and other symptoms continue.

(Alternately, the sensation of pain is produced in the central nervous system by somehow lowering the body's pain threshhold, so that ordinary sensory signals from the muscles is interpreted as pain. Whether the pain is myopathic or CNS-myalgic, it's still basically an inappropriate immune response with no "off" switch).