This Is MS Multiple Sclerosis Community: Knowledge & Support

Hi Flora,That's a horrible thing to have happen when you're doing the right thing for yourself! I resent it when good behavior turns on you.
Anyway, I do use magnesium with good results, especially when I've been away from the pool for awhile. Many folks here are against pharmaceutical approaches, I'm not among them. I've had many a night where strange things happen from my knees down, bilaterally. It can be twitching, spasms, or even random toes deciding to stick up at a 90 degree angle from the rest of my foot.
My neurologist prescribed 5 mg valium taken as needed. It works perfectly. Drowsiness is of course a side effect, but it does not last to the next day, I just feel relief.

Also, I think that the benefits of exercise are so extraordinary for us, I would try anything to get back to the gym.

I know since having a lasting downturn in ms health, I have a low tolerance for frequent lung use (walking, running, talking too long, etc), and spasms come then, so I would imagine the connection exists. But before things got so nutty, I could take physical work with no issues. Hence my sometimes answer. Everything seems like a sometimes answer with this stupid illness!

hi coffee, if you can get a serum magnesium test, do. ensure levels minimum 0.90 mmol/L ('normal' range 0.70-1.10 so don't take 'your levels are normal' for an answer)

i've posted lots recently on ways to get dietary, lifestyle, and supplemental magnesium. mag is required for the biochemistry of muscle relaxation. if your calcium-magnesium ratio is off, you'll feel it in the muscles.

check out this little tale from a couple of years ago, re variable spasm depending on type of exercise (yoga, running, surfing), and links to magnesium:
general-discussion-f1/topic13515.html#p131638

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my approach: no meds so far - just balanced whole foods (partial 'paleo', much less outright elimination), science, supplements, & bloodwork
my regimen - www.thisisms.com/ftopict-2489.html
www.whfoods.com, www.nutritiondata.com

oh and by the way, coffee contains a lot of magnesium, but being diuretic, it depletes more than you absorb... so that's just an fyi

_________________
my approach: no meds so far - just balanced whole foods (partial 'paleo', much less outright elimination), science, supplements, & bloodwork
my regimen - www.thisisms.com/ftopict-2489.html
www.whfoods.com, www.nutritiondata.com

Thanks for the information! The good news is that this isn't the first decline, and that one eventually passed. Both came along with other problems, mainly this time, bad heartburn, or GERD. Similar to before. Heartburn and GERD left, the MS flare-ups went away, so I'm thinking solve one, solve both. My medical docs seem to agree, or at least want to wait and see what happens when the GERD leaves. Which is of course a bastard to get rid of. My typical luck; rarely have caught a cold in my life, no cavities before 23, and I develop MS, and have issues with GERD. I must have cut off a nun in traffic in a past life.

But thanks, I need to learn those specifics. The way it is now, I kind of just go along with whatever is suggested, and don't know enough to ask questions. I need to change that. Because sometimes I'm lost, or leave the hospital wishing more was discussed. So thanks!

Oh and the name is just what I've been craving for over a year, and will be having when I feel better, God Willing; and just a general love of mine. I have a lot of food loves, and coffee loves. Hence the GERD. The magnesium is interesting because that was in the Rolaids I took last time.