Spasticity in legs?

[Barbkane]

I've been dealing with spasticity in my legs for about a year now, but thought it was all part of fibro. The nuerologist does not believe I have fibro after all, but just the beginning of MS. Still waiting to get the MRI results, hopefully in the next week or so.
The spasticity has gotten really bad and between the insomnia and leg cramps, sleeping is impossible. He put me on tizanidine 2mg, three times a day. Sometimes it helps, but not always. Any sugesstions to help with the cramps and twitches?

[FourPaws]

If you can tolerate the heat, it can help to have a warm/hot shower or bath. Other than that I'm on baclofen which helps a lot, but doesn't get rid of it. Different people react differently to each drug so sometimes it's a matter of trying a few and seeing which work for you.

I've got fibro and MS and it can be a treat when they're both acting up. Hope you have answers soon!

[happy23]

stretching helps spasticity

try stretching just before lying down. I also get relief with baclafin and a warm bath soak with epsom salts. If you dont want to soak in epsom salts to absorb magnesium you can take a daily supplement of magnesium.

Hope you feel better.

[andreagwolford]

PT

Physical therapy works in terms of treating muscle spasms. I found this link really informative in regards to knowing different ideas for PT http://www.mstrust.org.uk/downloads/exercises.pdf. Hope it helps!

[SmartyPants196]

Leg spasms

I've been dealing with spasticity in my legs for about a year now, but thought it was all part of fibro. The nuerologist does not believe I have fibro after all, but just the beginning of MS. Still waiting to get the MRI results, hopefully in the next week or so.

The spasticity has gotten really bad and between the insomnia and leg cramps, sleeping is impossible. He put me on tizanidine 2mg, three times a day. Sometimes it helps, but not always. Any sugesstions to help with the cramps and twitches?

I also take tizanidine but also take baclofen and neurotin to help get rid of the spasms in my legs. Another blessing is a sleeping med called ambien, it makes it so i sleep through any leg issues, i get horrible leg crushing pain, in the middle of the night, the ambien takes me to sleep and i stay there, getting more sleep helps with fatigue. keep trying different meds until you get what's right for you. Sleep takes you away from all of it.

[rdmc]

I've been dealing with spasticity in my legs for about a year now, but thought it was all part of fibro. The nuerologist does not believe I have fibro after all, but just the beginning of MS. Still waiting to get the MRI results, hopefully in the next week or so.
The spasticity has gotten really bad and between the insomnia and leg cramps, sleeping is impossible. He put me on tizanidine 2mg, three times a day. Sometimes it helps, but not always. Any sugesstions to help with the cramps and twitches?

I'm not a doctor, or pharmacist, but the dosage he has you on is not a therapeutic dose ... Google dosage of zanaflex, and you'll see what I mean.

Now he may intend to titrate the dose up, and depending on your circumstances you may not be able to deal with the side effects, sleepiness, etc....so you'll need to stay on a low dose.

I used Zanaflex for years with pretty good results, and I did tweak the dosage a lot depending on how alert I needed to be. Plus some of the drowsiness effect does wear off after you take it for awhile.

All that to say, you have plenty of room for your physician to up the dose, which should help relieve your spasticity. and if you're taking it at bedtime, they do usually have you up the dose because you're going to be asleep anyway, so drowsiness doesn't matter.

Also remember that Zanaflex is an incredibly short acting med. because I have to stay awake to work, I did better with small doses, 2 mg, but taken at closer intervals...every 4 hours.

Of course all things to be discussed with your physician. After many years Zanaflex quit working for me and I went to Baclofen...and eventually a pump. But considering I took it for years With good results, I called it my "walking around pill"... I think it's a good med.

PS...there has been some discussion about the brand name being more effective than the generic..I had one neuro who would only prescribe the brand name. But I also used the generic and I really didn't notice that much of a difference for me.