Hello all. Thinking I may have reached some kind of terrible "milestone". I know there are several different kinds of falls--i.e. stuttering backwards and not being able to stop, stuttering forwards and not being able to stop, dragging your feet (gait impairment) and stumbling into a fall, freezing of gait (FOG), postural instability and gait difficulty (PIGD), orthostatic hypo-tension, etc.
However, the first week of Feb., I experienced something new to my repertoire. I was standing in the dining-room near the entry to the kitchen of my tiny apartment. I was browsing through an unimportant piece of mail or something of little importance, so that my arms were bent at the elbow at approximately a 90 degree angle, and I remember a conscious thought to take a step into the kitchen. My mind sent the signal--"move--step into the kitchen", but every muscle in my body said "nope, we're not responding". I fell over nearly straight forward like a sack of potatoes". The first part of my body to hit the floor (simulated hardwood) was my R-forearm, followed closely by about a 2-inch square section of my forehead just above my R-eyebrow. I've fallen several times before, mostly forward, but I've always been able to catch myself with my hands an inch or two before my face plowed into the floor. Often times, I've been able to even turn my face to one side to avoid smashing my nose or teeth. Not this time. My forearm and forehead took the full impact. The "crack" sound my head made was so loud that I thought for sure I had done myself in for sure. I panicked from the pain that came from every nerve in my entire body. It seemed to be generating uncontrollably from not only my head, but also from the center of my spine. I rolled on the floor, delirious, nearly in a state of shock. I was alone, except for my Chihuahua, and scared to death that I might not be able to recover from this one. Slowly, the pain eased up a bit. I laid there about 15 minutes before I even tried to get up. I recognized I had to check myself for concussion, so that thought by itself was kind of reassuring. I made my way to the bathroom to checked my pupils. They were even and responsive. I didn't feel nauseous. I couldn't believe I didn't have a concussion. This was around 8:00pm, so I phoned my son at work and told him what happened, and told him to stop by on his way home (around 9:30pm) to check in on me. My entire body ached for several days.
Today is 03/07/21, and my forehead is still a little sore. I've never had a head injury like this.
So, my question is--Has anyone here ever had "all" of their muscles shut down like this?
Many thanks...toyL.

toyl,

I'm sorry to hear about your fall.

You mention "orthostatic hypo-tension". But, in my view, don't eliminate it.

Perhaps you could mention what happened in the few seconds before you start your account. Did you stop exercise abruptly? Did you get up quickly? Either of these can lead to orthostatic hypotension, syncope and falls.

https://www.parkinson.org/sites/defa...%20Disease.pdf

John

Thanks for your reply, johnt. Definitely wasn't due postural orthostatic hypotension. I didn't stand up abruptly. I had been standing there for some time reading some insignificant piece of mail. The best way I can describe it is that every muscle in my body just completely checked out on me.

When we see sunlight, the brain makes a peptide called by two different sets of researchers either hypocretin or orexin. Low levels of this peptide can cause cataplexy, which could be what you experienced. I suggest you google these terms and see if they seem to apply. If we avoid the sun, we can supplement with vitamin D3 to replace what we should normally make in our skin; but I don't know of any way to increase hypocretin levels without direct sun exposure.

Kind regards.