Hi all
Does anyone else out there suffer with weak thighs / stiffness.
The feeling is difficult to describe. My muscles don’t actually feel tensed to the touch but they give the sensation of being kind of tired, achy and stiff.
Due to this my legs feel extremely tired and weak after 10 - 15 minutes of standing or walking.
I have had this now for about 6 weeks and it started during back during the warm weather spell.
As some of you will know this is all still new to me so I still have a million questions.
I’m not sure if I have had my first relapse during the warm spell or the timing was just coincidental, All this happened within weeks of my suspected diagnosis. Coincidence or bad luck ?
To get to my point does anybody else have this sensation and if so is it likely to be permanent or something that will wear off with time.
I have tried to exercise and strengthen my legs hoping that would work but it doesn’t seam to be helping.
I also get a similar sensation in my upper left arm occasionally but that comes and goes with no indication of anything in particular I am doing to set it off.
Are there medications that will help ? I have heard mention of Baclofen ? on here, I may well have spelt it wrong.
Next question is if I could use such a medication would I go to my GP or to my Neurologist. I don’t want to waste either of their time unnecessarily but I also don’t want to interfere or step on anybody’s toes.
Any help at all would be appreciated
Best regards to all
Dave
Baclofen is a muscle relaxant, it would make you a bit wobbly, sometimes stiffness is better, you have greater control over your walking. The warm weather does have a profound effect on MS in my experience, it makes me very tired and weak, and exacerbates my symptoms, you could ask your neurologist or MS nurse for advice, although my doctor prescribed it for me, I just take one at night to help me sleep, as I have spasms (stiffness)in my back and neck.
Morning DaveC336,
I’ve pretty much had this from day one of my diagnoses, so 18yrs and I’ve taken Baclofen all this time and have never suffered with the wobbly feeling, or feel it’s made me weak, without it I’d be like the tin man from the wizard of oz.
It was my physio that first mentioned Baclofen and then the MS nurse recommended it too. I was sent to Sheffield Hallam to see a new neuro a couple of years ago, to see if I could get Satifex and he did say the stiffness is a good thing for me, because without it I’d be in a wheelchair permanently , sadly I am now anyway. If you do decide to try Baclofen, my advice is go really slow, I think for some they take too high a dose too quickly and that is what causes the problems, the tablets come in 10mg, there’s a line down the middle, so they can be easily broken in half and this is what I did, I started off on 10mg, coped with that and then slowly over time increased my 5mg each time, I do that for at least 2wks and then increased a bit more, sometimes the powers that be tell you to take too high a dose straight away, it was the best advice I was given to go slow. Anyway the choice will be yours if you are offered it, good luck.
Jean
Hi Dave
It’s mainly my right leg that is affected by MS and yes I get stiffness and weakness. I’m not using any treatment but usually spend a few minutes every day doing some stretching exercises - sometimes stretching my right leg to the point that it gets slightly painful. Also when walking, which I can’t do much of , I find that squatting every now and then seems to help a bit. I’ve no idea whether it makes much difference but I sometimes give my thigh muscle a firm, deep massage - dig my fingers into the muscle.
I did speak to my MS Nurse about Baclofen and her general view was to be careful with it- its a general muscle relaxant- so I decided to continue with exercise for the time being.
Get a physio to check you out and suggest some muscle strengthening exercises. Whatever you can manage is an awful lot better than nothing.
If exercise was a pill everyone would be on it.
Hi DaveC336
Yes, I have stiffness in my quads in particular; lots and lots of stretching before getting out of bed in the morning; its gets bad if I spend either too much time sitting down or too much time standing - I start walking like Frankenstein’s Monster. Squats do (oddly) help a bit, don’t know if they could be considered a form of stretching too. I’m not on medication for it; just adapting to it for now and will re-assess if it gets any worse. Always a bit worse after hot weather/too much exercise, but eases up when things cool down again.
Thanks to all, @whammel @Hank_Dogs @TheresaB @greenhouse @Busybee1 You’re advice is very much appreciated.
I take on board the advice about the Baclofen being an overall muscle relaxant.
After a little consideration maybe it may not be such a good idea. I only want to ease my thighs really so I don’t want to introduce a new problem elsewhere if I can possibly avoid it. Shame there is no magic cream I could just use but never mind. A nice thought though.
As for exercise I have been doing 10 minute sessions throughout the day on my exercise bike (whilst in front of a fan to save overheating). I am finding that with a little resistance this targets my thighs and will hopefully strengthen them a little. Whether that will help or make things worse we have yet to see. If it doesn’t help my legs I can’t see it doing much harm elsewhere, I find it easier than walking and at least I am already safely at home in case there is an issue.
I will also try some stretching and squats now to see if it helps.
A soak in a hot bath would be nice but that just wipes me out these days.
I am due to see my neurologist in a couple of weeks so I will also discuss it with him.
Once again thanks to all for taking the time to assist.
Dave
P.S you could also try Magnesium tablets . They seem to help a little with muscle weakness/ tiredness.
I signed up for a session with an NHS Physio but the wait list was so long I also had a couple of sessions with a private physio. The physio actually worked for the NHS but was doing some private sessions at the weekend (not on NHS premises). He was quite upfront and told me he had no experience of working with MS patients but gave me a couple of exercises to do and I think they have helped.
When I did finally see the NHS physio she was someone who worked with MS patients. Her basic advice was to carry on and also do a couple more exercises to strengthen leg muscles.
Raising the matter with you Neurologist and MS Nurse is definitely good.
Hello there,
I get weak thighs and tight calf muscles these days, I do the odd toe-heel walking sometimes and both feet tend to turn inwards, almost club feet like.
I’ve been told by Physiotherapist to up my Baclofen from my daily 15mg to 30mg and also keep up the physiotherapy exercises, hope that does the trick, good luck sorting the old pins out @DaveC336 
JP
Hi again all
WELL who would have thought big brother was actually real eh ???
After posting on here about thigh stiffness / weak legs yesterday.
I went on Facebook last night and the very first video that came up was of a physio explaining how to ease spasticity in the thighs !!!
The video was from a physio called Trevor Wicken, 26 years experience as an MS physio apparently.
Web site THEMSGYM.COM
Ive had a Quick Look this morning and he does various exercises for spasticity, foot drop, balance etc etc.
There are also a series of his videos on YouTube and the exercises can also be downloaded as PDF from his site for free.
I must admit it looks promising and I will be giving it a try.
I obviously can’t recommend the site too much etc as I have only just seen it myself but it may be of interest or help to others if interested.
There will probably be a lot more on you tube I guess but I haven’t checked yet.
Hopefully there may be something on his site to help others.
Best of luck and regards
Dave
@Hank_Dogs
I do take magnesium tablets every day but I’m not sure they are actually doing anything to be honest. I will carry on just in case though.
Thanks
Dave
Thanks for the info about MSGYM. I’ve had a Quick Look and as you say it does look as if it could be very helpful. I will try some of the sessions.
Thanks again !
That tends to be my approach - so long as they aren’t going to do any harm I take things which might be of some possible benefit.