Symptom of the Week 6/5-6/12 - Muscles
 

I labeled this muscles to include spasticity, weakness, pain, etc. Anything to do with our muscles.

Like a lot of MSers, I get muscle spasms all the time. I very rarely get them in my arms or back. It's mostly my legs. Sometimes when I sit in a chair I can feel my left quad in a tight spasm when it hits the edge of the chair. It's not always painful but I can feel discomfort. My left leg has more spasms than my right. I also get random twitching in my thighs. It's really strange. It's like there's something in there moving.

My muscles get weak fairly quickly and many times I feel like I ran a marathon when all I did was walk from the bedroom to the kitchen or something simple like that.

I try to stretch my muscles every morning and evening as well as throughout the day. This does help. I take a small dose of Ativan to help with the spasms. This really helps the hug (which will be a whole new thread) as it seems to help keep the intercostals calmed down some. I used to take Epsom salt baths and that really helps too, but I can no longer get myself in and out of the tub. There is Epsom salt lotion but I haven't tried it yet. It's my understanding that it works quite well.

I have gone through times where limbs have gotten stuck in a certain position due to spasticity. My hip got stuck in a 45 degree angle. It was very difficult to move it. It eventually eased up within a week and I did some PT as well. My right foot likes to do the same thing and gets stuck turned in. Again, it takes a while for that to work itself out.

Discuss your muscle issues due to MS . . .

The big beef I have with my muscles, is that the MS keeps them so weak.
They don't have a mind of their own, and the nerve conduction to the muscle,
is out of whack. So, if I don't force my muscles to work each and every day,
they go right back to their weak stage.

But it's a Catch 22, because if I do too much, I have to take a nap and start
all over.:mad: AARGH!!!

This is almost a word-for-word description of how I am affected, except it's usually my right leg. I take Baclofen now, which SEEMS to help some. Tight clothing and bedclothes trigger tightness and spasms, and YES to sitting on hard surfaces (car seat, piano bench). I tend to sit on the edge of a chair so the backs of my legs don't touch anything, which destroys my posture and causes other pain. I also can't have anything on my lap, such as the cat. Boo, hiss.

I think my only problem with muscles is the general weakness. Sometimes my left leg is weaker than the right, some days it's the opposite. I do know that with my losing weight and exercising more I have gained a lot more stamina in the legs. I'm not sure if that's the same as gaining strength in the legs or not. I know when it comes to cutting up food my arms don't have the same kind of strength they used to.

Great thread...

It's the one major sx I deal with every single day. Spasticity, fasciculations, pain in the muscles...I take baclofen, but sometimes it doesn't do a thing to help.
Good idea about sitting on the edge of a chair! And Trish, thanks for the reminder to stretch out during the day. I always forget...

After my surgery, a PT came to the house to do physical therapy with me. I never realized that I had slight foot drop in my left foot. She did these massage/exercise type thing and I asked her about it. She said she was trying to release the muscles in my calf. Everytime after she did that, I was able to fully flex my foot. It was amazing.

I think sometimes we get used to something and don't even notice those little things. We also tend to overcompensate and end up hurting ourselves more. I now include ankle exercises in my stretching routine.

Thanks Trish, that was great info. I too have a slight drop left foot and do ankle/calf
stretches and exercises. I'll pay even more attention now, with your new info.:hug:

What particular did the PT do?

i have so much muscle pain all over my body. i've had it since the 80's and was originally dx'd with fibro.

now i don't even care what the cause is. i just have it. i've been on several muscle relaxers but none work all that well. i've also tried chiropractic, heat, PT, exercises, massage etc. massage worked very well but since i moved to FL i havn't found the kind of massage i need, which is deep work. plus it gets expensive.

heat works best for me. and, i have a homedics back massager that you sit on in a chair. when i'm really tight it works very well.
i hope you get some relief as i know all to well what the daily muscle pain feels like.

You're trying to test my memory, aren't you?:D:D

I don't fully remember what she did. It was uncomfortable when she did it but she would massage my foot and ankle and move it in different positions. Eventually it would release and I would be able to do a full flexion.

Thanks, that's exactly what I do...yay!!:D

Leg cramps during the night....muscle wastage after big steroid therapy....jelly legs in the heat....twitching at the worst times.....spilling more coffee the harder you try to control it......general muscle weakness - sometimes just because they feel weak, and sometimes because you don't/can't/haven't got the energy or time to use them enough.....

I'm lovin' it!

Lynn - Sometimes my muscles get so tired that simple tasks become huge. I know mentioned this in the fatigue thread but sometimes I my arms get so weak and tired just from brushing my hair. Showers are such a huge challenge too. I can feel my muscles getting tired in there and then tensing up to keep me standing up and balanced, which then makes them more tired and they tense up more and, sometimes, by the time I get out of the shower, one of my muscles ends up in a full spasm. I now have a shower chair and that helps some but since I don't have a hand held shower I still have to stand up to rinse off and such.

Well, tonight, to coincide with the start of winter in Australia, I am getting a cold - nothing special, just a cold. Somehow though, with everything aching, eyes itching and nose and running I so don't remember feeling this lousy for some time.

Tkrik - I totally get what you are saying - everything is huge - work tomorrow seems impossible, even with a short day. I could take a sick day, but then I am admitting that I can't do stuff - to people that can. I have new boss, although I have yet to meet her, this is not the way I want to start - so I will just have to suck it up.

All I ask is that these muscles carry me through my day (preferably without protesting too much :D)

At least I know I will recover and feel better after this particular one.

Lyn, ugh, poor baby. Take a couple of Bayer, to keep any fever
at bay and it may help to keep your body going, for most of the
day. If I get, even the slightest fever, it saps my energy.

:hug::hug:

Lynn - I hope you start feeling better. :hug: I know when I have a cold or virus my MS symptoms act up more, including muscle weakness and fevers always set off all sorts of things. Sally gave some good advice. Let us know how you are doing.

Judy,
I wonder how many of us MSers were first dxd with fibro? I was dxd with fibro in the mid 80s...how much time went by attributing MS sxs to the fibro worries me...I wonder how long I actually had MS...

The pain is different for me. I can tell when I am having a fibro attack vs pain from MS. Either type stinks:(