muscle weakness

[woodsy180]

can someone explain the symptom called muscle weakness?   I have been experienceing this i think.  I had an MRI and it came back normal but I continue to have this weak muscle feeling in all 4 limbs.  It doesn't, however, affect my strength level...it's just a sensation.  So how do you describe the term "muscle weakness" when reading about MS symtoms.  Thank you.

[twopack]

Thanks Shell!  Addi managed to get Lulu and me pointed in the right direction to find the HP.  Thanks for your excellect work on getting it done and thanks for saving me from a big homework assignment :)

I guess I need to go back and check out our Health Pages again.  They offer so much good information.

Mary

[sllowe]

Excellent bump, TwopackM. We made it an HP!

http://www.medhelp.org/health_pages/Multiple-Sclerosis/Weak-vs-Feeling-Weak/show/1146?cid=36

[twopack]

Quix gave us an excellant explanation concerning this subject.  I'm going to bump it up so you can read it.  The topic name will read "Question for Quix prompted by former response..."

http://www.medhelp.org/posts/Multiple-Sclerosis/Question-for-Quix-prompted-by-former-response/show/1111431

Mary

[sllowe]

Hi Woodsy,

Welcome!  In addition to what's been said as causes of weakness in MS, true muscle weaknes can and does occur in the absence signal glitches (due to damage in the CNS) too simply due to underactivity and minimal use of limbs.  

You can kind of think of it as, one issue can feed the other. So at that point, muscle weakness can be a secondary condition to the primary disease.

We tell the doctor things like, I feel so feel weak, it's hard to move my legs, and, it's hard to carry a gallon of milk. The doctor will assess the strength and the muscle, the muscle itself and ask about activity levels. Lisa alludes to multiple reasons and she's so right - it really can be a combo platter (w/out the shrimp, lol).

Hope this helps,
-Shell

[COBOB]

Although you hear about "muscle weakness" as a symptom, the typical patient complaint is loss of grip strength, heavy legs, walking in lead boots,  walking in mud, etc.  In MS, strength may be reduced, but the muscle may be fine.  MS prevents the muscles from working  like they should:   If the muscle stay abnormally contracted (hypertonia), you get loss of motion, loss of strength and pain. This is spasticity.  

MS can also block signal from causing the muscle to activate.  In truth, the muscle is fine.  MS is a disease of the central nervous system.  Much of the abnormal contraction of muscles is not due to motor control, but a loss of sensory feedback (proprioception) to the brain, so the brain doesn't know the muscle is already contracting or the position of the extremity.  Spasticity, balance issues, foot drop can all be related to this loss of sensory feedback.

If the muscle were truly weak, that would be a myopathy.    .

Bob

[LisaJF]

Hi Woody and welcome to the forum.

I am glad to hear that your MRI is normal.  I am sorry you are going through the symptoms of muscle weakness.  I do hope that you are going to follow through with your primary care doctor and/or neurologist if this should continue.

On a side note, muscle weakness is a perceived or true lack of muscle strength that can be felt generally from one limb, to all four limbs and can be one-sided or both sides.

This is a heavy question to answer because I think there's a lot of answers to it.  Unfortunately, I cant gather my thoughts enough to type it out to you but your concerns will be addressed by many here.

Again welcome to the forum