thanks for your description of the pain in my legs caused by muscle contractions. i wish that muscle relaxers worked for me - they have had no effect, and i only use one of them, more because it makes me sleep. nothing i have found has any effect at all on the actual cramping, which i now just accept as part of the disease. i did notice that when i took a 6 week hiatus from my chemo, that the leg cramps diminished dramaticaly - now that i am back on it, the cramps have returned. yes, there is pain associated with ms. it is just not easily described or treated or understood - even by neuologists.
Yes !! Finally someone else writing a cohesive blog on MS Pain .. while I have been experiencing the neuropathy from the beginning as months went on the heaviness in my calf's , the burning pain in my shoulder blades were deemed 10 years ago as "Fibromyalgia" and so I sought out a Rheumotologist .
While my pain is so overwhelming at times I take my meds , I struggle and do my stretches I still am under the care of one of the best Rheumotologists in S. Florida .. Dr. Catherine Kowal since inception had little knowledge of MS and how the pain associated with it worked ..
She took the time to study MS and she found that as more and more people came to her with muscle pain and spasms that a percentage had MS in common .. I am blessed to have her as some neuro's today still do not believe that the chronic pain I have is related at all to MS .
So thank you Lisa for validating what I have been experiencing for the past 10 years on this site . If only ALL neurologists could be as open to hearing what an MS patient has to say perhaps we could find better courses of actions .
Thanks .. AGSerra
Lisa,
That was a good explanation about the pain and ligaments.
A new symptom for me during a flare is the inability to lift my arm even a little bit. It feels like it's coming out of the shoulder socket. Within a few hours (or a day), some times less than an hour it's perfectly fine!
I KNOW that I did NOTHING to this arm to cause this sort of situation. And I am quite sure that the fact that it resolves so quickly and weirdly, only to recur again during another neuro attack later, means that it's not my arm so much as my brain.
Ditto leg. In fact, now that I articulate it, it's the same thing that's been happening randomly to my leg for a few years now. First knee, then hip....and now other hip.
thanks for the validation. Just conversing about it has helped me see a pattern today. That helps me put this in perspective.
take care,
la
I am not diagnosed with MS but have been diagnosed with Essential Tremor associated with "white matter brain disease". Apparently I don't meet the threshold for a formal diagnosis.
One problem that I do have is extreme facial pain. This comes about sometimes when I exercise and even more frequently when I take a long bath or those rare occassions where I have tried to sit in a sauna. I get a sharp pain that feels like a needle jabbed into the tip of my nose or around my upper lip just to the left and below my nose. It only lasts half a minute or less but it will bring tears to my eyes. This is the most excruciating thing you can imagine, but when it's gone it's completely gone - no residual ache or anything.
I have other sensory "issues" (feel of cold water dripped on my body for example), but nothing particularly painful compared to the feeling in my face.
Thank you for listening.
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My neurologist says thre is no pain with MS. He can kiss my you-know-what! Although I was already diagnosed with Fibromyalgia, by the time the MS diagnosis became a sure thing the amount of pain I was in 24-7 almost made me lose my mind. Never think that MS does not come with pain. It most certainly does. I am unfortunately one of the percentage that experiences pain every minute of every day. Pay good attention to your body and learn the signals. Like when the pain level is climbing although I am doing nothing - a sure sign I am late in taking my pain medication. There comes a time when I have to make a decision-to clean the bathtub or not? I know if I do, I will be screaming in pain within an hour of finishing. Know that your choices have prices, and decide if you want to incur the cost. I know that doing particular things will require a payment in pain, so I am careful in my choices. I generally pay the price of increased pain about 70% of the time. I am not ready to take everything lying down yet! lol But really - it is important to listen to your body, observe everything (write it down if you need to-start a diary) so that you will know what the consequences will be and if you want to accept them. Life will be a little bit easier but not necessarily less painful! It will allow you to plan your days a little better and to think ahead. Lots of love to you all!