My left hand and foot in severe Spasm

Hi All

It is now 1.35 in the morning , I have woken up from really severe spasms in my left hand, the middle finger is pulled down and refuses to move and the pain is so bad, i have tried running it under warm water, but it does not help,

I can push it straight, but as soon as i let go, the finger pulls down again and the pain is twice as bad as it was the first time

My Left foot has gone the same way, one toe is pulling down, i have been trying to walk on it, to make the toes stop pulling down, it will go away, but as soon as i get into bed again, it comes right back,

This is new to me with my hand going this way, I have taken Gabaspentin 300 mg about an hour before i went to bed, but seems to have done nothing,

I am so darned tired, and I have to be awake at 6am to get to work for 7am, i do not know how i am going to keep going with the lack of sleep, each and every night, usually due to my feet cramping

Has anyone any idea what the cramping or spasms in my hand is all about, it sure does look like it is not going to settle down any time soon,

Anyone have any remedies for this annoying problem, and it is part of the MS, or something completely unrelated

I am getting so sick of having to keep asking questions, you would think by now, that i would be starting to learn about MS, and what may or not may happen,


I know u guys are a wealth of knowledge, and have been through all this, I am still trying to deal with each thing as it comes along, but am finding it very hard,

I really have no clue what may be MS related, or just something, that is not to worry about, ignore it in other words and it will go away kind of thing, it worries me though because the last time i though like that, i ended up in hospital for 5 days, and that is something i really want to avoid at all costs,

Thanks for any thoughts on the matter

Tyler

[supermum_ms]

Hey Tyler,

Sorry your awake and in pain, we've only just had our dinner over here. You may not be having spasm but cramps, i just put this site up in the foot cramp topic, its full of relivant information. http://www.medicinenet.com/muscle_cramps/article.htm

Tips for hand cramp is to lay the hand flat and stretch out the muscles. For the foot or calf it says to lean towards a wall, with your heels flat on the floor and your forarms resting on the wall. This is to stretch out the muscles in the calf and feet. It does mention some meds and vitamins you can take but unless you already have them on hand thats not going to help you much.

I have done the flat hand trick, sometimes it comes back a few times before it stops, i also do the leg stretches about 3 - 4 times a day, i do think it helps but its not perfect, though i dont think anything is.

Hope you try it and it helps, so you can get back to sleep!

Cheers....JJ

[tyler911]

Hi There

Thanks for the reply, yep i have tried the exercises, i got them also from my Physical Therapist, but nothing is helping, it is now 3.25 in the morning, and i am not even going to try to get any sleep now,

I feel ten times worse with just an hour or so of sleep than i do with none, but i can say lord help the first customer that ticks me off tomorrow lol (or should i say in a few hours)

I just got out of a warm shower, thinking that may help, and also ate a couple of banana's in case my potassium is low, then get this, not knowing what else to do, I plastered on the veterinary gel, it is ice and and heat, not working yet though

I will also call the neuro in a few hours, his office opens at 7am and ask him if perhaps my prednisone dose needs to be adjusted, as I know this drug can cause potassium loss, and that might be the answer, who knows huh

Well going to try and concentrate on my book, if i can, i only have a few more hours to get myself all geared up for work

Thanks for the reply

Tyler

[supermum_ms]

Hey Tyler,

Sorry nothing is working for you, hope the book gives you some distraction whilst you tick away the time. I was going to say put your hand in a bowl of hot water and to give it a massage whilst its warming up. Sorry its such a problem tonight, maybe the neurlogist can help you in a few hours, well my finger are crossed :-)

Cheers........JJ

[essdipity]

Hi, Tyler. That sounds so bad! You really need relief, and before the weekend is here. Absolutely contact your neuro ASAP and ask for some medication for this. There are quite a few muscle relaxers that various members here report success with.

If you don't connect with your doctor, feel free to go to an ER. You have to be able to sleep or you can't function.

Considering you are diagnosed with MS and that your cramping is all on the same side, I think it's highly likely that that's what's at the root of things. If you haven't suffered from vitamin or mineral deficiencies in the past and you have the same diet, it would be odd for this to happen now, but still, look into blood work anyway.

The site JJ mentions has very good info. We also have Health Pages about muscle tone and spasticity, and if you use Search this Community to look up 'difference between spasms and cramps' you will see lots of helpful discussions.

Right now, though, getting relief is project number one. Please let us know how things go.

Sending good wishes,
ess

[tyler911]

Hi

It is now 5.05, just one hour to go before i would have gotten up anyway, I have been sitting here crying like a baby, not with the pain so much, though that is sure bad enough,
but just through sheer frustration, of not being able to do anything about it,

I have paced the floor most of the night trying to keep the spasms or cramps, out of my foot,

The cramp or spasm whatever it is in my left hand, has not cleared for over an hour, and the finger seems to be stuck at the pulled down position and the pain is terrible, all over my hand, gees i have never had to try and type with one hand before, and i seem to be spending all the time on spell check lol

In the meantime i will check out the health pages, and see what i can come up with, see if there is anything else i can do, I know for sure, i cannot take time off work today, we already have a girl off sick,

Will let u all know how it goes with the Neuro when he calls,

Tyler

It does concern me that they are on one side only, and just do want to let up,

I have called the neuro office already, and left a message with them, they will get back to me just after 7am, if I do not not go insane by then lol

I have never had mineral or Vitamin deficiencies before and my diet has not changed much, except now i eat so much more fresh fruit and veggies,

[supermum_ms]

Hey Tyler,

[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[HUGS]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]

JJ

[tyler911]

Hi

Ok so neuro called this morning at 6.55 am, he said he really needed to see me, as he was not happy with what was going on, I told him there was no way i could miss work today,

So I agreed to see him at 3pm when i finished work, well by the time i got to see him, my hand had eased up a lot, pain wise, but the finger still tended to pull down and stick there, and the left foot is weirder than ever, it now feels like my middle toe is missing

he ordered blood tests, to check all my levels, as i am a high dose of prednisone, so had them all done today, and he wanted a rush on the tests,

He checked my blood sugar and that is a little on the high side, probably the meds, so that will also need dealing with

he has put me on a few days of anti spasm meds, he said he really does not want me on any more meds right now, as i was **** so well on the prednisone, but for temp relief till they find out what is causing this,

In the office he felt the spasm going all the way down my left side, even though i only felt it in my foot and hand, weird huh, he said there was definitely something neurological going on

I have to go back see him on Monday but to e-mail him if the spasms continue, as he is concerned the way the hand totally distorts when the spasm hits

so basically that is it right now,
will keep u informed, on Monday what the outcome is

Thanks again for your replies and advice
Tyler

[Lulu54]

Tyler,
We are all glad you followed through with the doctor.  MS is such a hard disease to understand and predict - like you said you hate to go and not need the doctor, but sometimes if we don't we can make it worse.  

It was fortunate for you that the neuro could see your spasms and not just have to take your word.  Seeing is believing.

I hope you get a wonderful night of sleep  tonight.  Between your exhaustion and the new drugs, you should sleep well.

Check in tomorrow and let us know how you are , ok?

be well, Lulu

[supermum_ms]

Hey Tyler,

I'm so glad you went and saw your neurologist, I agree with Lulu "seeing is believing" its so much harder to make some one understand weird and how much of an issue it is, if they cant see it for themselves. Interesting that he could feel the spasm where you couldnt, its usually the other way around lol.

Fingers crossed that you sleep like a baby tonight.

Cheers......JJ

[tonyad]

  Becasue of having the hx of Sarcoid too, You may want to put a call in to Rheumy as well and let him know what is going on...per our conversation on his thought (wink).

    I will PM you with some info on reasons for that in both the MS and the Sarcoid..
Hope you are getting good rest tonight :)

TTYL,
~Tonya

[tyler911]

Lulu

went to sleep about 7 pm this evening, as i was exhausted not sleeping the night before

Awake at 2 am though, lol, Darn I just hate it when my sleep pattern is thrown for a loop, takes me a few days to get back into some kind of sane routine

The spasms are still there, but nothing like last night, , they are at a tolerable level right now,

yeah the spasms still being present when i went to see him was a big help, though he gets so mad at me, as he knows i never bother him until things get so bad, they are a little harder to deal with Forgot to mention to he also said that the infection i am dealing with on my hip, is probably contributing, as it is not healing, as well as they would like it too,

I am learning a little each day just how unpredictable this damned disease is, and I do not like it one little bit, though I know there are tons of people on here so much worse off than myself,

Supermum : Yes I found that strange too, but he seemed to think that i have lost a lot of touch sensation on that side of my body, (ha ha I was thinking oh yeah tell my body that when the pain strikes)  he did say though he has seen this before and it usually eases up with treatment, I am not sure if the coming off the betaseron has made things worse, I would not think so, and i was afraid to ask, in case he was going to say, OK lets start up again, and that's one place i do not want to go right now

Tonya :  Neuro said he would put in a call to the Rheumy and let him know what was going on, as you know it is sometimes hard to know what we are dealing with,  the sarcoid or the MS, will look forward to your PM, I am due to see the Rheumy again later this month, they have one more biopsy to do ( like i need anymore of there poking around lol)

Thanks again everyone for the wonderful support

I will eventually get my head around all this stuff,

Tyler

[supermum_ms]

Hey Tyler,

Bummer your awake :-(

I was just thinking how strange and weird, go hand in hand with all this, seriously i would never of believed most of the things i've had to deal with, without the experiences it's just too weird lol.

Oh i do have a question for you, i've always thought when my feet and hand lock up and hurt like the dickins, i'm having cramps but you've explained it as a spasm and i'm assuming so did your neuro. Now i do have spasms in my thighs, left calf and intercostal ribs, which i think go spastic on me and wont relax but now i've got confused about the difference all over again. sheesh i thought i had this one sorted but apparently not, did the neuro by chance make any comment about how he knew it was a spasm vs a cramp.

I suppose i'm mainly assuming cramp because the toes and fingers twist or lock up, which the other muscles cant do as dramaticly as the feet or hands can, but i think i may have lost the plot all over again lol.

Cheers.......JJ

PS Hows the book going?

[tyler911]

Hi

Yes sick of being awake again, the bed was soaked with sweat, like a freaking river, must be the meds, lol

The Neuro did not really say what the difference was, other than he could feel the muscles contracting, now i could not feel them contracting or cramping where he could feel it,

So basically i have never even thought about the difference between cramping and spasm, and i really do not know the difference, I was just using the term the Neuro used,

I call it cramps, as i know no better lol,

I will have to go and learn what the difference is, i will check out the web site you recommended,

Lost the plot lol, i never even got to the plot, ha ha, but i guess i am gonna learn huh,

Hope you are well

And thanks for your support

Tyler