Stairs

Hi all

Quick question - I am able to walk, jog and run for upto 4 miles with no problem at all, yet stairs cause me so much pain and leave me so weak for a few minutes everytime. Is this an MS thing or just that those particular muscles are weak? I am fairly active but stairs are just killing me!

Until fairly recently, I could walk four miles, but certainly not run them!

If you are able to run four miles, yet struggle with stairs, I question whether it’s necessarily an MS thing.

I was once on some drugs that can cause lowered blood pressure. I particularly noticed it on getting to the top of the stairs, as I sometimes felt quite frail, and even faint.

It might be worth getting your blood pressure checked (and checking the side effects of any current meds), just in case you’re not getting enough blood to the head fast enough on some occasions.

Tina

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Ooooh - blood pressure - never considered that. I’m not on any meds anymore. I tried Copaxone and Avonex but had severe anxiety with both of them that I decided that I would steer clear for the time being. Took up running at the beginning of this year and have to say that I;ve really seen an improvement in my fitness, which in turn I hope will keep my MS at bay for a while but the pain when doing stairs has been really puzzling me. I will definitely check the blood pressure thing out and maybe start trying to strengthen those muscles by doing stairs as much as possible,

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With me, it was not generalised low blood pressure, but orthostatic hypotension - the kind that affects you if you stand up too quickly. Especially compounded if you then run straight upstairs!

When I checked, it was a known side-effect of some old-fashioned tricyclic anti-depressants I was on.

Actually these - especially amitriptyline - are often prescribed in low doses for MS.

The problem stopped when my tablets did!

Tina

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I guess that Tina has the right of it.
You need to get your BP checked when standing.
I doubt if an improvement in fitness will keep MS at bay - it will just make it easier to cope with.

Geoff