Left side pain, stiffness, twitching....

[devsmomma]

Question about arm/leg pain. (I have a "possibly MS" diagnosis waiting on neuro appt.) My left side feels like its been run over by a truck The worst pain & discomfort is in my arm and leg.

My left arm feels like I've thrown a ball for hours for lack of a better way to explain it. Just feels tired and sore ~ been like this for 2 months and only getting worse with no injury type problem causing it. I also notice discomfort when picking up items..mostly things with a little weight to it.. 1/2 gal. milk, coffee pot..lighter things like a can of veggies is fine.

I noticed the other day when I was talking to another person and holding a normal size cup of tea when I went to unbend my arm to set the tea cup down it hurt - never had that happen before so thats a new thing! It was like the muscles stiffened up and didn't want to straighten back out. Ouch!

My left leg has a lot of similar problems as my arm. Painful when unbending, getting up if I've been sitting for a while expecially if I've had my legs folded up underneath me... bad habit I know!

I get pains that feel almost like I'm getting a cramp but not quite if that makes sense in both the arm and the leg. alot of twitching & a buzzing feeling in both. I get the same symptoms on the right side to but to a much lesser degree than the left although I have noticed the symptoms on the rights side seem to be picking up.

My question is... is there anyway to relieve some of the pain?? the only meds I've got at the moment is requip for RLS and tramadol as needed for pain so I can sleep. With directions to not take it more than 1-2x a week. Not doing so well with that. Have to call the dr. I'm up to taking it 4-5x a week. ughh.

I have trouble with tylenol.. I can't sleep when taking it. I'm also sensitive to ibuprofen. doc won't let me take either now. So I'm at a loss as to what to do to control the pain or at least take the edge off it on my worst days. Hoping someone can recommend some specific type exercises or something???

I'm trying different stretches to help but haven't really found anything that works. My chiro has given me pages of different types of exercises but they all seem to aggravate something somewhere on my body I walk a fine line between trying to be active and relaxing. To much of either and I pay for it Help! need some relief somehow.

[knuckle]

Try taking a Magnesium supplement as it should calm down your muscle contractions and twitching. Magnesium is an essiential nutrient for proper muscle function and most people don't get enough of it in their diet.

I used to experience twitching / jerking in my legs, usually when lying in bed, lasting for hours sometimes. Since taking 800mg Magnesium daily they went away.

Lack of Magnesium can lead to many other problems as well and I suggest you google "magnesium multiple sclerosis" and "magnesium miracle" for more information.

[JoanFrances]

Hello Devsmomma

Sorry that you are going through this.

Don't know what to tell you to stop the pain, but wanted to let you know that I understand. Just recently I told my Dh that we were going to have to switch to half gallon milk containers. But even that won't help when at times I can't pick my coffee cup up either.

Thank you Knuckle for the magnesium tip, I will look into that.

I am very surprised that my DD didn't tell me about that one, she is always telling me what I need to "fix" my MS, LOL

[whalelover]

Sorry, getting in on this a little late but your post caught my attention. I've been having pain in my left arm for months now and it feels exactly as you described. I like the "throwing a ball for hours" analogy. I too have trouble picking things up or gripping anything. Sometimes it is localized in one part of my arm, other times it spreads all over my arm and into my shoulder and back. My neurologist wasn't convinced that it's from MS (I've just been diagnosed recently) but my PCP is. Very painful at times, hard to pick things up, hard to sleep especially if I roll over on that side unconsciously. The only thing I have found so far that helps is AC&C (or 222s) - the over the counter codeine medication from Canada. I think you can get it via prescription in the US. There are different versions with a different anti-inflammatory based on what you can take that you aren't sensitive to. The main thing is that the codeine does seem to help with my pain. It doesn't completely get rid of the pain but definitely calms it down enough so I can sleep. I'm hoping it will just get better in time...
Good luck! I hope you find something that helps.