hi everyone im new to this i got diagnosed with ms in october. ive had 3 attacks already and at the minute im strugglin to walk my balance is quite poor and im struggling to know what to do im woundering if any ideas with what can help.
kirsty
Hi Kirsty
Welcome to the board. Sounds like you’re having a pretty horrible time - we can all relate to how it feels to have this stuff suddenly happening to us. Have you had any steroids? They’ll help you recover from a relapse. If not, give your MS nurse a call. Also, ask to be referred to a physio, and preferably one who specialises in neurological conditions. Whenever I have aphysio it always improves my walking & balance. The exercises they’ll do will probably be based on Pilates exercises, which are designed to improve core balance. Make sure you do the exercises at home if you can, as they’ll help build up your strength. If you’re not albe to get a physio, try a Pilates class. With a bit of luck you’ll be able to find an instructor who will be able to vary the difficulty of each exercise. Then you’ll hopefully be able to do each exercise at a level you’re comfortable with. Whether you see a physio or go to Pilates classes, make sure you take plenty of rests, and sit out an exercise if necessary. The muscles will obviously get tired from doing the exercises, so you don’t want to over do it - in the past when I’ve had physio, I’ve pushed myself sometimes but felt weaker the next day as a result, so personally I reckon it’s best to take things easy.
Hope you start feeling better soon. Let us know how youget on, and post any questions (or just how you’re feeling) as much as you need to.
Dan
Hi Kirsty and welcome. As above. My family bought me a Wii-Fit which has balancing exercises on it and it helps no end as well as the above. A bit like a balance ball but electronic and has games on it as well! (My daughter ‘borrows’ it for her dancing balance and the games)
hi kirsty
oh i remember that stage in my ms adventure!
as said already Wii fit with a balance board and pilates help no end.
it will take time until you get an appointment with a neuro physio and the wii fit can be done any time in your own home.
at the moment i’m just going to the gym 3 times a week. mainly treadmill - fast walking and cross trainer.
the best thing about the wii fit is it traces your centre of gravity. this was really bad in my case because my ms affected my right side and so my centre of gravity was really off.
i also saw an osteopath and found out that my hips were out of alignment to the point where one leg was shorter than the other.
in that very first appointment he got my hips back in alignment and although i walked in with a stick, i walked home without it!
be careful because if you are anything like me you’ll have some bad falls!
i looked like a battered wife, always with a black eye from my falls.
the best piece of advice i got was that you need to get to know your ms body and what it can and can’t do.
still learning 5 years later
good luck
carole x
I’d get to see a neurologist and think about going on Tysabri if I were you. You’ve had enough attacks to be considered for this effective, expensive drug. It slows down relapse rate and accumulated disability by 66%, on average. It also seems to be more effective if you have it early on in your disease.
thankyou for all your feedback really helped going too see if the ms nurse will send me physio and pick a wii fit and find a pilate class thankyou.