This Is MS Multiple Sclerosis Community: Knowledge & Support

Hi everyone, im new to this site. Im not really sure if this qualifies as a MS symptom but it's something i've been having for the past 3-4 months.
Every morning when I wake up my thighs are like...."sore" like they've never been stretched.

I usually attribute this to the fact that I sit 8 hours a day at my job, so when I go to bed my muscles are used to a different position (IE not stretched out). But after doing a bit of reading I noticed Muscle weakness is a major symptom of MS.....but I wasn't sure if that's how I would describe it.

The only other related symptom I have is Headaches (but i've had those for 2 years.....and got an MRI a year or so ago and it came back clean) so thats probably unrelated.

But does this sound like something familiar, or is muscle weakness like feel completely different. My soreness usually subsides mid-afternoon and I can exercise fine. (and Im not fatigued usually....except when I don't sleep well ahah). I hate to come on this board and ask this, since im sure you guys get it all the time, but you guys/gals would know best.

soreness and cramping of muscles could be a low level of magnesium in your system. ms patients do tend to be low in magnesium.

_________________
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

hmmm, well I had a blood test done 3 or so weeks ago (it was for an unrelated thing, a stomach ulcer) and I everything came back fine. It's only my Legs (mainly thighs) my arms and everything else feel fine.

really? a magnesium test for a stomach ulcer? i would have thought they would do h.pylori testing or similar for something like that.

well if they did get you a serum magnesium result, FYI the normal range is 0.70-1.10 mmol/L but people can get into issues with low magnesium when levels drop below 0.90mmol/L.

it doesn't have to be felt in every muscle. magnesium has 300+ different jobs to do in your body and it's not typical for all 300 wheels to come off at the same time.

_________________
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

Well it was like a Complete Blood report, everything from CBC to Potassium and everything in between (tbh Im not really sure why they did it). but it was like 3-4 pages long worth of tests.
My main question though was when people say "Muscle" weakness that is associated with MS is it more of a soreness.....or something else?

Hi

I have muscle stiffness and in the morning it's like walking with two wooden poles. I take baclofen for spasms - the spasms can make the muscles tight and if I forget a pill I can barely move my legs.
What I consider to be weakness is the muscles giving out and not controlling what my legs do.

Ah okay thanks for the info. They don't really feel stiff, and I can walk/run just fine. They just always feel slightly sore. I don't have spams at all either. Im just trying to see what everyone elses muscle weakness feels like so I can rule MS out. (since I dont seem to have any other symptoms of MS).

When you say stiffness I assume you mean that your muscles are like contracted in a permanent position so they can't flex at all?

They are contracted but not in a permanent position. Until I take my baclofen they do feel inflexible and from what I understand over time they can become fixed.

Ah, is it very painful? or just more annoying?

it's kind of a spectrum of the same dynamic. soreness would be a slight cramp or minor contraction, while the stiffness and spasiticity experienced by many ms patients would be a stronger contraction, and tetany would be at the major contraction end of the scale.

fortunately magnesium is a muscle relaxant that does not only that, but 299 other good things for your body.

and it works on mild symptoms all the way up to the nasty end of the spectrum:

Randomised, cross-over, placebo controlled trial of magnesium citrate in the treatment of chronic persistent leg cramps
http://navehpharma.co.il/download/mg_and_leg_cramp.pdf
"There was a trend towards less cramps on magnesium (p=0.07)." (personally, i'd recommend magnesium glycinate)

more research titles:
"Magnesium sulfate for control of muscle rigidity and spasms and avoidance of mechanical ventilation in pediatric tetanus."

"The effects of magnesium glycerophosphate oral therapy on spasticity was studied in a 35-year-old woman with severe spastic paraplegia resulting from multiple sclerosis (MS). We found a significant improvement in the spasticity after only 1 week from the onset of the treatment"

_________________
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

Ya I mean it's def. not an extreme soreness, it's just kinda something I notice but it doesn't inhibit me, so you don't think this is a MS symptom?
i'll check out the magensium links...because my diet isn't the greatest so it's very possible that could be a cause.

I take supplemental magnesium and cringe to think what it would be like without it. Jimmylegs has very good info on nutrition. For myself, the MS is progressing so I anticipate that the rigid (seems to accurately describe what my legs feel like) sensation is worsening due to that. They are only sore (like an overworked feeling) before I take the baclofen and supplements.

MS is an interesting disease, has many symptoms and can take years to diagnose. If you don't have any other symptoms I would say make sure you are as healthy as you can be.

Jimmylegs has a few threads on optimizing vitamins etc and these are really good ways to help be healthy. A good diet and making sure your body is utilizing the vitamins and minerals properly will do you more good in the long run.

Ya I mean....i've looked up symptoms and it's the only thing that even seems remotely related, but it goes away by mid-afternoon.....and it's just a small soreness no stiffness or spasms or anything.

yeah i wouldn't chalk up sore legs to ms right away. could be low magnesium if you think your diet may not be the greatest.

you can read about some of the healthiest dietary magnesium sources here: http://whfoods.org/genpage.php?tname=nutrient&dbid=75

in my experience, the best supplemental form is magnesium glycinate. hth!

@munchkin, a couple quick questions: can you tell me how much magnesium you take each day and in what form? also, assuming you're also doing d3, how do you time your magnesium dose(s) in relation to your d3 intake?

_________________
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

If you're sitting for 8 hours a day, then I think that your symptoms could be directly related. It's important to get up every so often and walk around a bit if you can. I remember reading a recommendation about this on a health site somewhere, but can't remember which one it was right now (perhaps it was the Mayo Clinic's site). Try going for a short walk every hour just to stretch your muscles. Sometimes it's just the simple things that can make a big difference. For example, years ago I when I was in grad school, I used to ride my bicycle home late at night after studying in the library. I would go to sleep right away. I started getting intense pains in my quads in the middle of the night that would wake me up in agony. This was solved by just doing some simple stretching after I got home. Result - no more pain.


NHE