Muscle Cramps

Hi, I've searched through this site and haven't found anything quite like
the problems I'm having. The basic problem involves muscle cramps with
occasional weakness in the right hand. I am a 45 year old male. The first
cramp I ever recall having was when I was young, around 8 - 10 years old. I
came in from the cold (I grew up in Michigan) and my feet were very cold. I
took off my boots and curled my foot. My foot cramped up and I was in a good
deal of pain and was unable to straighten my foot. Also at around the same
age, every so often I would arrive at school and would be unable to hold a
pencil with enough of a grip to write.
  For quite a few years the cramps were limited to my feet and calf. I could
cramp them at will my curling my foot or contracting my calf muscle. Over
time the cramps started to cause problems in other parts of my body. For the
most part they would only occur when I my muscles were contracted. After a
while I was able to cause a cramp to almost any muscle in my body simply by
positioning a particular body part so the muscles in the area were
contracted. The weakness in my hand has shown up periodically my entire
life, sometimes several times a week, sometimes not for weeks at a time. The
weakness usually passes in a matter of minutes and full strength returns to
my hand. About five years ago I awoke one day with numbness in my left arm
that persisted for several hours. I went to my doctor and he admitted me to
the hospital for 3 days. I went through constant neurological testing,
EEG's, blood tests, Cat Scan, X-rays, etc. He was trying to determine if I
might have had a micro-stroke. In the end, he decided that there was nothing
wrong and I was discharged. I have not suffered from any prolonged numbness
since then although my limbs to seem to "fall asleep" very easily.
  Now, the cramps have gotten to the stage that a simple shift in body
position will bring on a painful cramp. Repositioning myself will relieve
the cramp although sometimes the process of stretching to relieve one cramp
will bring on another one in a different muscle. These cramps can occur
anywhere, feet, legs, arms, hands, sides, back, neck, chest, etc. I do not
suffer from night cramps.
    I do enjoy a liberal amount of salt on my food, people even comment to
me on the amount of salt I use. What effect this may have (if any) I don't
know.
  Since these cramps have been with me for almost 40 years now and appear to
be getting worse I wonder what the future may hold and if this problem could
even get to the stage where it becomes debilitating. Although I am more
sedentary now ( although I play quite a bit of golf) than in the past, when I was
younger I used to ride a bicycle 100 mile a week and was thin and trim.
Other than the apparent progressive nature of the cramps, no exercise or
dietary patterns seem to have altered the condition.
  No doctor I have ever told this to seems to be concerned with this, but it
is becoming a constant concern as I move about throughout the day. The
common response seems to be that "everybody get cramps sometimes" and a
shrug when it comes to the weakness in the hand. I have a hard time
believing that this amount of cramping for no apparent reason could be
'normal'.
  I would appreciate any insight as to possible causes for this along with
any suggestions as to what might alleviate the symptoms (supplements, etc).
Also, any idea where this could lead if it continues to get worse?
  Thank you.

[CCF Neuro[P] MD, RPS]

Dear Bob:

Sorry to hear about your muscle cramping.  There are a couple of things that I think may be causing your problems.  Have you had an ischemic forearm test?  This is where they place a turniquit (sp? I'm post call, forgive my spelling) around your arm as they ask you to squeeze a rubber ball, then they take blood samples every several minutes.  If they haven't done this test yet, you may ask your neurologist to perform this test.  There is a condition called McCardle's that is an enzyme deficiency that has muscle cramping as a symptom.  Another entity that causes muscle cramping is mitochondrial disease.  Certain blood tests, and genetic DNA testing can indicate if you have one of these.  There are a few muscle diseases that also cause cramping, and a simple muscle biopsy will be the diagnostic test for these.

Sincerely,

CCF Neuro MD

[Dana]

I wonder if you could explain what mitochondrial disease is and the prognosis for this disease.

[Jan Bailey]

Dana,
     For a very reader friendly site about mitochondrial disorder, check http://www.imdn.org/mitowhat.htm (mostly about children) and http:www.mdausa.org/publications/Quest/q65mito.html (about adults)  another site is http:www.mdausa.org/publications/Quest/q64mito.html
Good luck...a mitoldie