im finding it hard to walk about due to my leg muscles, very heavy to move about and no strength at all, anyone else dealing with this and how do you cope.
Dee
Hi, I get this, not only in my legs, but back and neck, everything is so tight and hard to move, is this the same for you ? when I try and walk I have to keep stopping to take a rest, even though I walk with a walker indoors, I take Baclofen, but it doesn’t always help.
I have really tight leg muscles, and stiffness in legs & back. I do gentle stretches and massage . I have to stop when walking a few paces because my right calf is permanently tense and tight, oh the joys !!! :((((
Sounds exactly like me, legs, back & neck.
I also take Baclofen but it don’t help really, I think I just take it out of habit these days.
You could try a stepper machine ?
When I tell my physio that my thigh muscles are too tight to lift my legs she says its not the thigh muscles that lift its the hip flexo muscles that do the majority of the leg lifting and a stepper will help strengthen these muscles.
Try Googling hip flexo muscles .
Another exercise for these muscles that is simple and dont cost anything.
Just sit up nice and straight on a sturdy chair and practice standing and sitting without using your arms to push you up, just use your legs and hips muscles.
Also use your stairs, just step up and down off the bottom step , gradually building up the number of steps, saves buying a stepper.
Dee J, any updates? i’m in a similar situation and wondering how you’re doing by now? have you found what works for you?
thanks everyone else for recommendations.
Hi
Botox injected into tight/spastic muscles helps to turn off and calm the spasticity . Usually lasts around ten weeks for me
Hamstrings for me. Raw at the moment. I try and exercise them by doing steps, but then fatigue takes over. Recommended Baclofen, but warned that if that eases my spasticity then I may struggle to walk .
So pain it is.
i noticed early in my ms life that my legs were abnormally heavy.
like the trunks of oak trees.
the odd thing is my legs are thin!
Heavy legs with very little lift in them, thats my issue.
When people ask what it feels like its hard to explain that feeling, the only way I can come close is explaining that it’s like being in a swimming pool and the water is above your legs if you try to walk you can feel the force of the water not allowing your legs to push forward, the harder you try the more resistance comes back from the water.
If that makes any sense
yes jactac it makes perfect sense.
i went for hydrotherapy with an ms group.
it involved a lot of walking in the water and my quads are really hard now.
I liken it to walking in quick drying cement…not that I’ve ever walked in quick drying cement.
Jan x
In my previous ambulent days, the first symptom I had was heavy legs…I felt I had tree trunks for legs and hauling them to walk was like climbing a mountain.
Baclofen can help, but too much and you topple over…like I did so often.
My friend has a baclofen pump in her abdomen which delivers micro dosages, without causing falls.
Boudsx
Yes - one of my worst symptoms, causes me real problems, extreme pain because of how tight all the muscles in my back and legs are. I also have a hyper-mobile replaced knee which does not help!