Good Morning!
I made sure to search the archives first, before posting so as to try not to be redundant to all of you :) It's been a while since I last posted, but previously I'd complained about pain in my hips and legs and the docs couldn't figure it out.
Well, after much blood testing and continued pain... and me calling them every single month explaining the pain is not going away, we HAVE to do something! I finally found resolution. Geeze. To me, it almost felt like I was crawling (literally due to the pain in my legs) on their doorstep asking for a reliever! But it took years for them to realize I was not bluffing?? I don't know what they thought. That it wasn't MS??? Whatever. I have my saving grace. I have MUSCLE RELAXERS - YAHOOOOOOO!
They weren't sure it would work because they weren't sure it was spacticity, I said - lets try it! Let's find out. After the first day, my buttox and legs felt like the day after being pummeled with boulders. I felt so much relief that I could sit and walk again without pain, but the muscles themselves were extremely sore.
The prognosis is that I have spacticity very deep and close to the joints. Spasms do not occur close to the surface where I can see or feel them jump or tighten, they happen so deep that I cannot notice when it is happening.
So, I have been managing by taking one relaxer a day. Here's what I've noticed and want to know if this is common among others with spacticity.
I'm moving and have been packing my house for the past week. Walking a lot, bending, lunging, squats, and all that mess. I didn't worry about over doing anything because exercise is supposed to be good for your spacticity, right? or so my specialist tells me. What I've found is that when I walk my dog a lot, use my butt muscles a lot - that is when I get the most sore and tight. That is when I need the relaxer almost immediately or more than once a day. Does exercise make this symptom worsen?
My second question is related to this symptom and the cold. I've been living in AL for the past 3 years and my husband may be getting transferred to Seattle in April. We're so excited to get back to civilization, coming from DC previously that I can't stop jumping up and down on the inside! lol But I read that cold weather can worsen spacticity symptoms. Is there anyone else that finds this true?
Thanks for listening, sorry so long. I just felt like sharing today :)
-Mayperl
I think the key is finding what you are able to do without bringing on so much fatigue that your day is shot.