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152264 tn?1280354657

Legs feel weak in the MORNING

My legs feel notably weak and wobbly when I first get up in the morning. After I've been on them for awhile, maybe an hour or so, they feel normal--as normal as they ever do (i.e., heavy and somewhat wimpy).

Anyone else experience this?

Of course they get weak and wobbly when I've been on them too long, too. And the MORNING weak-wobbly thing is worse when I've overdone it in preceding days. But it happens even when I HAVEN'T overdone it. (And by "overdone it," I mean what used to be normal activity for me.)

I am about 50 lbs. overweight, but that's been the case for most of the past 30 years, and my legs were OK til they started going downhill (slowly) about 8 years ago.

Any thoughts welcome!
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152264 tn?1280354657
Hi makingthemostofit--thanks for your comments. What a bummer to have this problem constantly. As for the stimulant drugs, Provigil and Ritalin can help with both fatigue and cognitive problems. My former neurologist, the one who originally put the idea of MS into my head (I remain undiagnosed 11 years later), had me try Provigil for the "dizzyfog" as I called it--he called it "attention and concentration deficits related to chronic dizziness." It was great, helped my concentration as well as making my arms and legs feel "light," so it helped with fatigue too. (It is NOT just a stay-awake drug.) But it had a "letdown" effect late in the day which I didn't like. I only took it when needed, by no means every day.

A year later I switched to Ritalin (10 mg a day, or was it 20?), and that was GREAT for concentration and productivity and helped some with fatigue too. But again, about a year later it seemed to stop working so well. On the theory that if one ADD drug helped me another one might too, I asked my GP to let me try Strattera. Well, that has been GREAT for attention/concentration, getting rid of a certain layer of "fog" induced by my chronic low-level dizziness, although it does nothing for the dizziness itself and probably nothing for fatigue.

I am sorry Provigil didn't work for you, but why not ask to try Ritalin. The only thing is, it's a controlled drug and you have to have a paper prescription every time (unless something has changed since the early 2000s).

Hi Udkas--actually this thread is quite old; I started it last spring. I am doing better now that my huge Thanksgiving deal is over (25 dinner guests, 9 house guests). It took me a LONG time to really recover from that. :) But the fatigue still happens REAL easily. I hope your new PT visits will help with your migraines and neck and back. I know you wrote some updates recently and I wanted to respond, but have been too busy to participate here very much. Thanks for your good wishes, and I wish the same back to you! :)

Take care all,

Nancy
Helpful - 0
Avatar universal
Hi there,
I am sorry to hear that you are not going so well, it is the busy time with Christmas etc. and I think most people are feeling a bit tired.

I find that I am stiff when I get up, not sure if it is related to my TM or just old age, arthritis or something, but I agree with DB do some stretching etc.

I try to swim, walk and ride on a regular basis and both my neuro, GP and my physio have all said it is the best thing you can do is to keep those legs moving or we create more problems.
I am going to the physio again soon to have some work done on my back and neck in the hope it might help with my migraines but my physio is a neuro physio so she specialises in MS.  I find as the day goes on my legs get more tired tho, especially if it is hot or i push myself too much they go to jelly or feel heavy (weird.
Merry Christmas Nancy.
From Udkas.
Hope you improve soon.
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Avatar universal
Hi Nancy:

I could completely relate to your post.  I have been Dx with RRMS since 2004.  Every morning when I get up, my legs are wobbly and I need to go through a little ritual of just standing and flexing/stretching them a bit before I can even take a few steps without falling over.  It does seem to improve somewhat during the day, although if I walk more than 300 or 400 yards, then i need to sit down for a while (I used to be a triathlete too, so it's a drag to be so weak now).  Definitely some days are worse than others, but I am amazed how it happens every morning now, regardless of whether i know I am having an exacerbation, or if I am feeling pretty good.  Clearly it is permanent damage.  I am trying to get a drug treatment to manage this, I know that a low dose (only 5-10 mg) of Adderall (borrowed from a compassionate friend with ADHD who has a scrip)  is AMAZING in how it improved my gait, as well as my 'cog fog'.  My doc insisted on Nuvigil first but it made me sick and anxious, did not tolerate well at all, then Provigil, but same nad side effects.  Plus, my issue is not 'sleepiness' (which is what Nuvigil and Provigil are indicated for) but rather sever muscle fatigue. I think that people with MS understand the difference between feeling 'sleepy' and feeling 'fatigued'.  I have heard that Ritalin works well for fatigue for some pwMS, but have not tried it myself.
Helpful - 0
1253197 tn?1331209110
Hi Nancy

I find it is the morning that my arms feel heavy and achey first thing rather than my legs.My legs get their turn later in the day and I can usually tell if I have been doing too much as they just demand rest.

I was only recenlty dx'd with MS and my motto is live life in the moment and enjoy myself. This morning I am sitting in the garden having breakfast (in England) and enjoying smelling the delicate scent of my first sweet peas. Bliss!

Love Sarah x
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152264 tn?1280354657
Hi Paniko! Sorry to hear about your diagnosis and your dizziness and leg problems.

Please start a new post (under the "Post a Question") button to introduce yourself to everyone here. (Many people will likely miss your post at the end of this thread.)

We want you to get as many replies as possible and take advantage of all the support and information that people on this forum have to offer. So don't be shy, start a new post of your own! :)

Welcome!
Nancy T
Helpful - 0
1350283 tn?1279746156
I just got diagnosed with ms 6/10/10. I just had my first episode of wobbly legs about 11 last night. This morning got up and was fine so i can relate. Yesterday i started gettin this infussion type steroid to help with numbness on right side of body. Hopefuly all goes well there. Buti feel you guys i had to even quit my job as a truck driver from dizziness. any input guys gals. Please share more.God bless you all and i do certainly hope you all feel much better thanks for you time. Oh im still waitting to start on rebif lets see what that brings.
Helpful - 0
152264 tn?1280354657
Thanks, doublevision. You are so right about stretching and PT. I have no intention of going back to the doctor to complain about the wimpy legs until I have done at least 2-3 solid months of the back-strengthening exercises and bicycle routine that the PT gave me--and until I've lost at least some weight, for the very reason that you mention--all that will help sort out what is caused by deconditioning and excess weight and what is not.

I do know that I began having the leg problems when I was NOT deconditioned and when I weighed the same as I do now, so I'm sure something else is going on, but first you have to eliminate the problems that you CAN control, as you rightly say.

I did the exercises for several weeks but stopped when I got colds and began working more hours--the extra fatigue (postviral and work-related) was absolutely killing me. I'm going to cut back my hours soon and get back to work on my health!

I don't know how much "conditioning" I get from the constant up-and-down and walking-all-around at work, but presumably not much.

Take care,

Nancy
Helpful - 0
382218 tn?1341181487
I had the wobbly a.m. leg thing after being dx'ed with MS and a few things have helped a lot: physio, morning stretching, lower body strength and balance training, and losing weight.  These measures probably have limited if any success in problems solely neurological, but they're good to do anyway, to the extent one is able.  For me it helped to sort out what I assumed to be neurological but was mostly deconditioning.  As my GP pointed out, with a chronic disease it's even more important to correct the things I can control, better to feel like cr*p just because of MS, than to feel like cr*p because of MS and a bunch of other stuff too.

I like what you said about going out and having fun while you still can.  Life is so short and this and other diseases can rob so much, if an opportunity presents itself to do something fun and you are able, then embrace it.  I regret not doing more when I was perfectly healthy and totally took it for granted.  

Hope you are able to find some relief for the wobbly legs.  If you do, let us know what worked.
Helpful - 0
152264 tn?1280354657
Hi Wobbly--yes, I've been overdoing it, which means I've been working at my regular library-clerk job, but 30-40 hours per week instead of my previous 20 hours. (Most of those hours are spent in about 80 percent perpetual motion, lifting stacks of books, shelving, jumping up and down from my chair while checking in and out, etc.)

This morning, after sitting and lying down the ENTIRE day yesterday, I am halfway better. But even so, there's a distinct morning wobbly feeling. Also, the "vibrating/buzzing" in my left leg has kicked up quite a bit and reaches farther up than ever before.

On days when I'm working or otherwise on my feet a lot, I eventually do reach a point where I simply can't stand on my feet anymore--but then it's more weak than wobbly. A somewhat different feeling, kind of hard to explain.

Eight years ago I could work 40 hours at that job with no problem.

And one thing I don't understand is that when I've "overdone" it, it's not just my legs that suffer--my whole body feels a strange kind of deep-seated fatigue, and even my jaw muscles get tired just chewing. On those days I cannot contemplate even picking up my clothes from the floor and throwing them down the laundry chute.

Kathy--the spine is certainly a possibility in my case. I have scoliosis and although it doesn't cause me pain, the docs suspect that a "muscle imbalance" due to the scoliosis is the reason for my inability to walk any distance without having to stop or slow WAY down. I, too, used to be able to walk forever--on my very fast neighborhood walks in the early 2000s, I would feel like "Hey, I could walk to Cannon Beach and back!" (i.e., over a mountain range). Now I walk 1.5 blocks from the library across the street to Walgreen's and I have to stop as soon as I get inside and pretend to admire the cosmetics display while I recoup enough strength to walk to the back of the store. If I was going to walk 10 blocks without stopping, I'd need my walking sticks!

JJ--hooray, go for that last hurrah at wakeboarding!! I remember that when I came out of that appointment in Sept. 2000 where the crazy neuro basically told me I had MS, my third thought (after "I gotta get a job with disability insurance" and "should we start remodeling the bathroom to accommodate a wheelchair?") was "I gotta go out and have some FUN while I still can!" Hey, it may not be your last time--you never know. (I am, of course, still walking--sort of!--and working 10 years after being struck with that bolt from the blue.) I think it's great to just go out and do something; a lot of times we can do more than we think we can, longer than we think we can, even though we may pay for it later!

JJ, I could have written your first paragraph except for the part about it lasting a week. If I rest literally all day, I can be back to "normal" (whatever that is now) in two or three days.

Jen--your experience sounds similar to mine. Glad I'm not just nuts for thinking that my legs feel more weak/wobbly first thing in the morning. You don't have plantar fasciitis, do you?

Thanks for the comments, everyone! (And I should have pointed out in my first post that I am NOT diagnosed with MS, or anything else except scoliosis.)

Nancy
Helpful - 0
338416 tn?1420045702
When I get up in the morning, I have a hard time walking - my legs usually feel weak and wobbly.  For a long time, my feet hurt so badly when I got up - it felt like I was walking on rocks.  One time I got out of bed and tried to walk, and fell because I couldn't feel one of my legs.

It takes about 30-45 min. to get things going.  By the middle of the day they work a little better.
Helpful - 0
987762 tn?1671273328
COMMUNITY LEADER
I'm still waiting to one day get out of bed and not feel wobbly, i can usually tell if its going to be a bad day by the level of fatigue i feel when i stand up, a good day begins with the feeling of being rested, on the bad which always last for any where upto a week, i just feel worse than i did before i put my head down.

I dont get steadier as the day goes on, i get worse, i think my legs get weaker the more i use them. I can be feeling good and head off to do something like get the mail out of the letter box, each step gets heavier and wobblier, by the end of the day i have to steady my self before i start to walk or i stagger about until my legs start to cooperate, or i have to stop and try again. I am still very suprised when they dont want to hold me up, it not at all funny when i'm also seeing stars and passing out at the same time, though i'm getting use to that.

This Easter long weekend i'm going to put these chicken legs through another wake board, thats the plan for the last day because there is no way they will work after that, it takes around 2 weeks to get over but i think this might be the last time i ever get to do it, so i'm going to channel my stubborn, gritt my teeth and maybe have my last harrah!

Cheers.....JJ
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405614 tn?1329144114
Hello.  When I get up in the morning, my legs feel like they don't work right.  Kind of weak and stumbly.  I've put it down to my lower back issues, or the neuropathic pain issues.  I sleep on my back, and the nerves get irritated or something.  They do get better after I've been up for a while.

They don't like me being on them too long, either.  Yesterday I walked to Trader Joe's and back, about 10 blocks, and felt sort of proud of myself, lol!

My legs used to carry me up mountains, on 20 mile walks, etc.  The new me walks a lot less and appreciates each I manage, most of the time.

Wishing you well,

Kathy
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293157 tn?1285873439
Hi Nancy.  I seem to have weak, heavy wobbly legs after a few hours of moving around. I can't  walk for long outside and I don't go out without a cane or walker.

this is daily for me.. but sometimes, it's worse then others.. and can happen first thing int he morning..

have you been overdoing it ??  

take care
wobbly
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152264 tn?1280354657
P.S. I am 53 years old.
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