Hi everyone,

I haven't been here for a long time due to the muscle spasms I have. I know that some of you get them and am hoping that you can help me. What do you do for them? Do you know what causes them? Any help will be greatly appreciated.

Thanks,
Linmarie

Hi Linmarie,
I have had full body rsd/crps for 20 years in July. I suffer with muscle spasms, tremors and weakness. I have muscle spasms in all extremities and rib cage area. I have been prescribed 20 mg of baclofen 3 x per day as needed. The baclofen for me is very helpful. I too, have been suffering from spasms more than normal lately. I think for me at this time, high stress levels are possibly a contributing factor to the increase in spasms.
How long have you had RSD? Have you spoken to your doctor about the spasms? I would suggest you speak to your doctor and see what he might feel is appropriate treatment.
I'm sure many of us suffer, spasms, tremors and weakness and you will get some other advise that you will find helpful. I certainly hope the spasms settle down as I know they can be very painful.
Take care, I hope you can get them under control . Hugs Di

i get spasms in my fingers, hand, and arm... i tried baclofen, and didn't really see it helping, so i switched to flexoril. my spasms can reach the point to where its like my hand/arm is like having a seizure. i have a brace that my physical therapist made me that molds to my forearm and has two velcro straps that wrap around the top of my arm. i only wear it when i have to or else my wrist starts to freeze after a while. so if i'm like driving... or out to dinner where i don't wanna look like a spaz lol. but like diana said, u should def talk with ur doc.

Hi Linmarie,

I also get really bad spasms in my RSD limbs. I have 2 types of spasms, I have the Dystonia which causes my limbs to lock into lots of strange and painful positions and causes my toes to twitch up and down and then I have the severe Myoclonic Spasms which causes my RSD leg to bounce around wildly in the air without me being able to control it!!

I have tried all sorts of muscle relaxants such as Baclofen, Kenadrin, Propranolol, Diazepam etc etc and nothing has helped me so far. I have attended an intense Physical Therapy Program and that helped calm the spasms down more than any medications although the spasms are no where near gone completely.

My PT's gave me lots of exercises to do and I had to wear 2lb weights on my ankles and then move my legs up and down etc. The ankle weights were worn to try and stabilise my joints .... it was VERY painful BUT I do feel that it did help me a little with the spasms. If you would like me to send you the exercises, please let me know as I still have them and continue to do them on a daily basis!!

Here is a couple of videos of the Myoclonic Spasms in my RSD leg and you should be able to see the Dystonia also (my foot is rotated out to the side and has stayed like that for nearly 2 years now despite various therapies!)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qE_OwuilOew
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xIXakErNBpE

I really wish I could help you and take the spasms away but I know I can't unfortunately. Just know that I am here for you and if you have any questions, please feel free to ask as I know how scary and painful the spasms can be!!

Thinking about you and hope you find something to help you soon!

There are 4 things that have helped me with spasms... 1. is taking the vaitamin potassium.... 2. is heating pads... or i have bought insallated gloves that run off batteries to keep my hands from spasming, 3. is warm baths and 4. is obviously some form of a muscle relaxent... Such as flexiral, tiziadine, or skelaxion... (sorry about my spellin)

Hi. Cramping is consistently one of my biggest problems. My neurologist explained to me some time ago that Flexiral (which didn't help me) was designed for locally induced cramping, e.g., muscle/ligament/tendon strains, but that Baclofen was far and away the best drug for spasms of CNS origin, such as MS or RSD. I take what I'm advised is the maximum recommended dose, 50 mg. a day, in 10 mg. tabs. It really helps, even though it plays hell with short-term memory, to the point that I couldn't take it while I was still working.

When that isn't enough, I have a prescription for Marinol (TCH) to fall back on, and that works REALLY well, although even a single 5 mg. capsule can be somewhat stultifying, and it doesn't come on right away, and when it does . . . . People I know with medical marijuana prescriptions tend to have the best control of CNS induced spasms of anyone I know, but sadly my doctors aren't into that and I don't want to risk losing them for my pain control meds by going off the program.

Finally, as far as potassium goes, I take significant amounts of it in prescription form (600 mg potassium chloride) twice a day to support a diuretic prescription of Lasix for RSD induced edema, but while the Lasix helps the edema, the potassium hasn't seemed to have helped the cramping. And for what it's worth, some drugs, like SSRIs and SNRIs will actually make it worse.

Mike

is AWESOME! It has helped me tremendously. My whole body will shake and jerk all night long in bed and it keeps my husband and I awake.

Once I started the Baclofen, we were able to sleep. I couldn't believe how much it helped!