[erinhermes]

Hello all! I was just wondering if any of you are in chronic pain since/before being dx'ed with MG.

I don't think the 2 are NOT associated in medical journals, but I have met quite a few people who DO suffer with chronic pain and are ONLY diagnosed with MG.

I do know that my huge weight gain and small frame make it harder on my knees and ankles (esp my ankles) - there are also some bulging discs and some nerve damage that I know can be attributed to my weight gain, but this has gotten to the point that on my GOOD days I am only up for a few hours.....my left leg hurts, /I have to drag it around and then my whole left foot goes numb....

On the other hand, RA could be rearing it's ugly head, because BOTH of my parents suffer from it.......

Any thoughts?
Erin

[AnnieB3]

Hey, Erin. I wasn't too certain what you meant since you said that "I don't think the 2 are NOT associated . . ." Did you mean that you haven't found that MG and pain are associated (in medical journals)? Or that they are? I just wanted to clarify that.

It makes sense the way my neuro puts it. Keeping the spine happy is so key to keeping pain free. What MG does is to make the muscles around the spine weak. That, in turn, can cause all kind of problems with the spine and associated nerves. So keeping those "core" muscles strong is essential (for everyone) to try to keep pain free.

So there's two issues at work regarding pain, as I see it. One, any changes to the spine and how it is aligned can cause pain. Two, muscles that become too weak can be painful from twitching, cramping and spasming. Both are secondary pain issues caused by the primary problem of weak muscles.

I'm fairly pain free on most days. It's usually when I overdo things that I have problems. The back is definitely my biggest problem.

What areas do you have the most pain in? Does anything help? Pain is not fun to live with, so I hope you can get some relief. If you haven't tried physical therapy, it does work wonders.

Annie

[maryec]

At first I had a few years of extreme muscle pain, all over. As time went on, tendons are tight, no pain of the muscles anymore, they just don't work.

[scarpettafan]

I have chronic pain all the time. Is it fibro or MG? Don't know but I'm getting really tired of it.

[Nicknerd]

I have a lot of pain too. Right now, I mainly have pain in my back (spasms, random stabbing feelings), neck, chest and upper arms. I used to have a lot of joint pain with swelling as well, but that's pretty much disappeared since prednisone.

I agree with Annie, that the pain in my back, neck, chest and arms is due to weakness or secondary pain. I know that I 'overuse' my back as a result of the weak chest. When I lean down to grab something, it's a real feat. I bend my knees and lean my elbows on my knees and then grab the thing that I need. It looks rather weird... My back's upset about this and often protests with random stabbing pains....lol...No picnic, but I agree that the only option is to rest the muscles and/or find devices that might take some of the strain off of the muscles that are working. I'm thinking of grabbing one of thise long stick things with the lobster claws- seriously! lol I've also found in the past that exercising the muscles that work- just a bit, gently, helps a lot in the long run.

[ConnieS]

Hi Annie, I just hav a quick qn here, whats the difference between muscle spasm and muscle twitching? I have like two kinds of pain (one from cramps, one which I am not sure what is it), and two kinds of twitching, and just want to see what is it really.

[Joanmarie63]

Erin, just now noticed this post and yes, I too suffer pain in my left leg, and my left ankle pain is so bad that at night it wakes me up. In fact my whole left side is messed up. I do not have R/A and I have asked my Dr. about this and he said he will have to run tests {what else is new?} because he thinks it may be another illness. I remember when I was DXed with MG the Dr said there is no pain with it.. well I guess he was wrong because it seems everyone with MG suffers pain.

[Scots Kat]

Hi Erin, (and everyone)

I just wanted to weigh in for "the other side." I've been really lucky I guess because I've never experienced pain with my MG. There is an odd sensation that I refer to as numbness, but it's not quite that either. I guess my athletic frame was maybe more equipt to deal with the weight-gain (even if my closet wasn't).

One weird thing I've been experiencing recently is my limbs falling asleep - my legs, feet and arms seem to fall asleep really fast lately and I often wake up at night with on or both of my arms asleep or worse that completely dead feeling. I don't sleep on my arms so I'm not sure why they would go to sleep. Any ideas or input??

HUgs to everyone!
~Kathy
P.S. Sorry i haven't been around much lately, school is crazy and our computer packed it in last week so we were without one for a few days - TRAUMA!

[ConnieS]

Hey! I get that too a lot previously. Lol.. Would wake up and can't feel that particular limb at all. My docs later told me its becuase I was not receiving enoough nourishment. I don't get that now though, ever since my cramps started appearing.