I have had a weak left leg since an attack in January. In the last month I have had a sore hip but then the next day it will be a sore/aching thigh, then sore hip, now today the ache has moved down nearer my knee and round the back of my leg.
Is this something that is going to get progressively more painful until I eventually can’t walk? I just don’t understand what’s going on with it and why the ache/soreness is moving all the time? I mentioned it to my consultant on Monday and he said yes it was definitely MS but didn’t offer me any ideas of how to treat it?
Hi Tricky,
I can’t really explain what’s happening either, but first of all, I do not think you should assume any symptom is going to get progressively worse until you can’t walk. I know that’s a possibility we all have to live with, but I don’t think you can go through life always expecting the worst. A pain is just a pain, and not a reliable predictor of whether you will lose mobility. In fact, the shifting nature of it to me suggests not. If it was some kind of progressive damage, then how would it get better in one place, but move somewhere else?
If your leg is weak, it’s possible this is throwing your gait out of kilter, and causing secondary problems of musculo-skeletal pain. Muscles and joints are probably having to work in ways they normally wouldn’t, to compensate for the weak leg. So they may be getting tired, they may be getting injured. Are you having any physio to try to strengthen the leg? And does the pain respond at all to ordinary over-the-counter painkillers, such as paracetamol or ibuprofen? If it does, then you are probably dealing with musculo-skeletal pain caused by the extra effort of walking with a gammy leg.
Tina
x
Hi Tricky
I think Tina’s explanation is the most plausible one. I’m suffering the exact same thing with my left leg. The odd thing is it was my RIGHT leg which was affected by the relapse earlier in the year. When my left leg started experiencing problems at the back of the knee, in the calf and hip I thought it was probably due to altered gait and asked GP for a referral to physio. I was quite certain this wasn’t another relapse as it was just a tight calf muscle and back of the knee and a tightening/numbness at the bottom of my foot and heel. It wasn’t stopping me from walking completely. The ‘quack’ wanted to give me further steroids and referred back to my neuro causing me all sorts of problems there - I’ll spare you the details!!
Anyway, there is such a long waiting list for physio that I’ve resorted to doing what I can remember of the basic warm-up yoga stretches in my legs twice a day. It really hurt when I first started doing them but my legs are improving so much that I’m considering cancelling the physio as I think that by the time they get to me I will be making such good progress there won’t be much more they can do for me and they will have far worse patients. I’m getting cramp in my feet much less often and the tightness in my calves is much reduced. I’ve explained the stretches I do on Everyday Living on a query asking what to take for cramp other than tonic water (if you’re interested!).
In fact, the only really bad day I’ve had this week was the day after I drove my son’s car. He has a manual car and the effort of using a clutch was enough to set off the uncomfortable feeling in my hip and knee again! In fact I thought my hip was going to give out on me and I would collapse in a heap! All back to ‘normal’ today though.
Tracey x
Thank you ladies. I have been doing some exercise as my hip had been so sore recently and I think I may have overdone it, as by the morning my leg didn’t feel too bad, but was very painfully achey again by the evening. I thought this was a sign of things to come so I just did a walk to and from school yesterday and my leg felt fine, so maybe I’d just over-tired the muscles.
I have my pelvic MRI on 17th August and hopefully it’s nothing more than other muscles compensating.
Thanks for your help and advice 
x