[poochie]

Hello everyone, I am new here, not new to MS, diagnosed 13 years ago. I and have a question.
I have SPMS, I take LDN, pravachol for high cholesterol and prozac.
I have been expericing a lot of pain in my left hip, both legs hurt, my balance is worse, I walk like a drunk and very slow. There is no reason my hip should hurt so much, the pain wakes me up at night. I never know if it is MS or not. I saw my doctor yesterday and he took lots of blood and will call me tomorrow. I have had nerve pain before and tool 5 days of Solumed, this is not nerve pain, it feels more like muscle and bone pain,
My question is, how can you tell if MS is progressing, I can't find anything that says you can tell of the progressing. This problem started on day out of the blue for no reason 3 weeks ago. Any suggestions are welcomed. Thanks

[SallyC]

Hi Poochie and Welcome. I'm sorry for your pain..

We tend to blame MS for all our pains, our Docs do the same, but I have heard that some collestrol drugs can cause muscle pain and weakness. Have your Doc dbl check on that.

Again, welcome... and I hope you stick around.

[NurseNancy]

i 2nd what sally said.
i was on lipitor and thought my already bad muscle pain was getting worse.
i stopped it and started on something else. altho i don't know if the whole class of drug will cause those problems.

it's good that your dr is listening to you. the 1st step was the labwork.
i hope you get some answers. i would think that a neuro could tell if MS is progressing by mri's and a neuro exam etc.

btw, welcome to NT. glad you found us.

[azoyizes]

Hi poochie, and welcome to NeuroTalk. This is a great place to come and hang out.

[MrsBones]

Have you had many doses of IVSM? Steroids can cause bone deterioration , particularly the hips and femoral head, as well as muscle wasting. Might be something to look into ,as well. It is unusual,but common enough,I guess, since my neuro warns me everytime steroids are mentioned.

http://www.drugs.com/pro/solu-medrol.html

You have to scroll about halfway down, but there's some good info on the more interesting "side effects".

Another thought - if your legs hurt more and your balance is worse, it's possible to have a compensation injury,where you put extra stress on the "good" side while compensating for the bad one. When my balance first went screwy, my left knee started hurting like crazy...turns out the way I was walking in an attempt to not fall over was putting a strain on that knee.

I hope whatever it is, the docs can find a treatment that gives you some relief.

[PJAMES]

--I had the worst pain I ever experienced--Only to grow for 2 full years---I lost the ability to walk----The ability to do pretty much everything-----It took from December 2006 --To Jan 6th 2008--To figure what and how to stop it------I am the Least knowledgeable about MS here----But I had a similar exp---

If you want you can pm me--I will be happy to share---What was up with me----And what was done-----Granted---I am only 3 days free from non stop agony-----But I was 700 plus days in absolute hell before hand---And each day the Hell Grew---If you want PM me----

pete

[doydie]

I had a lot of pain in my upper hip. I just thought it was arthritis but my family doc said it wasn't in the right place for arthritis. So I had an MRI done. Now bear in mind the pain in my hip had nothing to do with what the MRI showed but I'm glad I had the MRI. It showed I had uterine wall thickeing and biopsy after hysteretomy showed it was cancer. So I'm glad I listened to the pain.

[freeinhou]

Originally Posted by poochie

My question is, how can you tell if MS is progressing,

Hi poochie - welcome to the board!

I have no idea how one can tell MS is progressing. I've tried for 21 years to figure this question out. No luck. I was dx'ed in 1988.

I have constant pain in both feet. My lower left leg is in constant pain. It's been bad for almost 2 years now. I alternate between pain pills and sleeping pills to sleep at night (I alternate to keep them both effective). I have very painful what feels like electric shocks in my thighs on occasion. Neuro's say it's not nerves but I got peripheral neuropathy. We're thinking vascular problems now (I currently have a blood clot in my left femural vein).

I don't take anything for MS. I take blood thinners and blood pressure control meds.

Tom

[lady_express_44]

Welcome and good luck with your testing!

(Tom, there is plenty of talk at the moment that MS may be vascular in nature anyway . . . read pg 74 on, although the whole "book" is interesting:
http://www.ms-info.net/ms_040504.pdf )

Cherie

[poochie]

Thanks all, I've had 3 IV steroid treatments. The doctor took me off the pravachol and did not call me back today, isn't that like a dr. I guess I will call him Monday. He started me on oral steroids, which I've had several times. The pain is some better today, I'll keep you informed. Thanks a lot for your input.