Difference with Walking problems

[Wobbly]

Hi all, question for you.  I have a difficulty with balance and walking. I use a cane mostly.  Do you find you have good day and bad days.  

Days when your walking and your foot is turned in more then other days.  Or your walking stance is wider one or two days, then different.  

I find when I see the Neuro they say your walking is not like your last visit.  

Is this normal, I didn't ask I know I should have.

Any help would be appreciated.

Thanks
Wobbly

[Wobbly]

Thanks for the replies, I understand abit more now.

I have to realize when I tire myself out, my balance or leg strength changes.

Take care
Wobbly

[kwarendorf]

Hi Wobbly -

When it comes to MS I'm not sure "Is this normal?" is a valid question :-) Nothing about MS is normal, meaning if you ask 100 people with MS to describe their disease you will hear 100 different stories. The one that matters is your's!

For the most part my gait is OK. If you saw me on the street you'd never guess I had MS. There are things that can make it awful, to the point of not being able to stand, let alone walk. These things are predictable, and can be managed. The first is core temp. As long as I keep relatively cool I'm OK. The second is overexertion, which may lead to increased core temp. Once upon a time I could walk 26.2 miles in about 6 1/2 hours. Now I have days where .2 miles in half an hour can cause problems :-)

I would start to keep a gait journal. Note what was going on good days and bad. You may be able to identify thigs that aggravate your gate problems.

Kyle

[supermum_ms]

Hmmmmm it probably depends on what they actually meant..........if they were meaning your normal gate has gotten worse or better since your last assessment, that wouldn't be unusual but if they were meaning your normal gate style is now weirdly different eg foot drop was in your left foot but now your left is normal and you've got foot drop in your right foot instead :D, then i think that kind of thing wouldn't be usual.

My balance and gate issues (human string puppet) have been very consistent, since that particular issue first started with my big band of 09. I did use to get it back to almost normalish, and doing my string puppet impersonation again when ever i over did it and toasted my self :D. I had a fairly static 3-4 hour window of activity, before it would kick in again but i've been down to well under an hour for going on a year now.

A few months before Christmas i was hell bent on improving my window, lots of leg muscle strength training, various leg weights etc and i still only got to the end of my street before i lost it. One thing i know for sure is that repetition, heat and fatigue, with out fail will always screw me up, my balance and gate are just more obvious lol kinda hard to miss the seemingly drunken human string puppet, falling over and flashing her butt trying to get out of the hedges lol

If you've been relying on a cane since your last gate assessment, it would actually make sense to me, for some notable changes to get picked up on when tested with out it. It's not that unusual for a person's gate to alter simply to accommodate for the walking aid they've been using eg walker - shorter steps and forward lean, cane - side lean and unbalanced on weaker side (oops my mind blanked but you'll hopefully get what i'm trying to explain)

cheers.......JJ

[immisceo]

My walking and gait is always tested in my neurological exams. My first multi-focal episode (that led to my original CIS diagnosis) involved the total loss of right foot dorsiflexion, leading to a pronounced 'stoppage gait'. It went away after about a week, thankfully, but on occasion my right foot gets 'heavy' or 'laggy' and can clip kerbs, pavement, etc. It's part of my occasional pseudo-relapses.