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Spasticity effects me greatly in my legs and I'm stretching all day long to try to maintain the range of my muscles (it's a battle that I am, I'm afraid to say, losing very slowly). One thing that I have found which helps greatly for foot drop and clonus is to sleep with my feet flat against the wall at the end of my bed. I turned my bed around to face the wall just for this (perhaps I should get a bed with a foot board (is that what it's called? The opposite of a headf board).

It is tricky getting my duvet in between the soles of my feet and the wall so that my feet don't freeze...

Anyway, the first time I tried it, it provoked lots of clonus/restless legs, and I really had to persevere. Even getting my feet flat against the wall wasn't easy at all. Now I've been doing this for eighteen months and my foot drop and clonus both are much, much less. It's made a big difference.

It's only common sense but I found it helpful and I thought maybe someone else out there might too ☺

I have muscle weakness in my legs as well. Presently in physical theraphy twice a week.

Another MS'er in my PT group wears Plantar FXT on both her feet during PT and also sleeps in them. You can order them online from Foot Smart. com the order # is 30055 plantar FXT $39.99 each. She swears by them.

L do you ever take magnesium against spasticity? magnesium is required to release tension in the muscles - calcium is required for contraction. i find it helps reduce spasticity in my muscles.

VodooDoll wrote:I have muscle weakness in my legs as well. Presently in physical theraphy twice a week.

Another MS'er in my PT group wears Plantar FXT on both her feet during PT and also sleeps in them. You can order them online from Foot Smart. com the order # is 30055 plantar FXT $39.99 each. She swears by them.

I'd never heard of these! That looks like a much better solution - I shall get some for sure. My physiotherapist gave me some boots which do much the same thing - they are huge and I don't bother with them much because they are such a pain to put on. They are something like ski boots.. . But these look great. Thanks for that.

jimmylegs wrote:L do you ever take magnesium against spasticity? magnesium is required to release tension in the muscles - calcium is required for contraction. i find it helps reduce spasticity in my muscles.

I do take magnesium, yes, I wasn't aware that it helped spasticty - I'll make surenot to miss my magnesium supplement from now on...

ah, well yes it does help with spasticity
how much magnesium do you normally take, when you take it? what form is it? the recommendation for ms patients is 600-1200mg per day of a soluble form (i can't imagine taking 1200 in one day without spending all the following day on the toilet... but maybe some people can absorb it better than i can!)
my pills are 250mg mag citrate, and i take two per day, and sometimes try for three. it's a good one to take at bed time.
do you also take vitamin d3? because if you do, make sure to get some of your daily magnesium intake at a different time than the d3. d3 is a mag hog and if you take them together the d3 supp will snatch it all up and you won't have any mag going to its other important processes like relaxing your muscles ;)
hope this helps some

L

I tried the Plantar FXT and was not impressed - my toes were crunched in the sock. The idea is great but I think you need something more stable and the flex should come from the foot, not the toes (just my opinion).
I sent mine back for a refund. Read the reviews - you may still decide to buy it and you may like it.

Good luck

Sharon

jimmylegs wrote:ah, well yes it does help with spasticity
how much magnesium do you normally take, when you take it? what form is it? the recommendation for ms patients is 600-1200mg per day of a soluble form (i can't imagine taking 1200 in one day without spending all the following day on the toilet... but maybe some people can absorb it better than i can!)
my pills are 250mg mag citrate, and i take two per day, and sometimes try for three. it's a good one to take at bed time.
do you also take vitamin d3? because if you do, make sure to get some of your daily magnesium intake at a different time than the d3. d3 is a mag hog and if you take them together the d3 supp will snatch it all up and you won't have any mag going to its other important processes like relaxing your muscles ;)
hope this helps some

OK! Thanks for that! I took double Mg (400mg - tablet) with no vitamin D3 and I'll space them from now on. I'm feeling pretty good from them I think... I shall see how much Magnesium my body can tolerate over the next few days although, like you, I don't think my threshold is very high.
I just mentioned this in another thread (http://www.thisisms.com/ftopicp-45286.html#45286) but here is a Magnesium-deficiency-causing-MS-based-on-the-vascular-theory theory of the disease (to which I don't subscribe, I don't think) http://www.goldwarp.com/MultipleScleros ... iency.html [/url]

Sharon wrote:L

I tried the Plantar FXT and was not impressed - my toes were crunched in the sock. The idea is great but I think you need something more stable and the flex should come from the foot, not the toes (just my opinion).
I sent mine back for a refund. Read the reviews - you may still decide to buy it and you may like it.

Good luck

Sharon

Thanks Sharon! Maybe I shall stick with my wall... Has anyone else experience of these Plantar FXTs?

hey there L, hope you get some good results! keep us posted
what form is your mag again? is it mag oxide?
as far as ms theories go, i think the folks that are looking for one single cause of ms are on the wrong track. too complex for that!

jimmylegs wrote:hey there L, hope you get some good results! keep us posted
what form is your mag again? is it mag oxide?
as far as ms theories go, i think the folks that are looking for one single cause of ms are on the wrong track. too complex for that!

Magnesium Oxide, yup. Is this recommended?

I don't really get how the wall helps or the booty things. My husband's spasms are so strong, he wouldn't be able to stay foot against the wall, and when they spasm, they are flexing, so how would it help if he kept the foot flexed in the boot? I usually try to fight the flex, if I'm awake, but I'm not as strong in the feet as his foot is....sometimes I wake him up, because it's driving me crazy...is that mean?

feed him magnesium at bedtime wawh. seriously.

I hear ya' Jimmylegs (by the way I always thought you were a man until one of your recent posts...). He has that magnesium drink (which I like too). We haven't had much of a difference, but perhaps he doesn't have enough...I'll have to measure what he does......
and then get back to you.

Thanks

ya sorry lol - the "jimmy" thing messes ppl up. ha! it's a seinfeld joke actually - thank my ex - a girlfriend of kramer's had the jimmylegs.
i want the magnesium drink, i like it too! soon as i finish up my pills, that's going on the shopping list. but i think the dosage per serving of the drink is low. try 600mg per day magnesium, if you can!

whyRwehere wrote:

I don't really get how the wall helps or the booty things. My husband's spasms are so strong, he wouldn't be able to stay foot against the wall, and when they spasm, they are flexing, so how would it help if he kept the foot flexed in the boot? I usually try to fight the flex, if I'm awake, but I'm not as strong in the feet as his foot is....sometimes I wake him up, because it's driving me crazy...is that mean?

I was trying out the Plantar FXT to keep my foot flexed at night in hopes that it would help with foot drop. I do not believe the boot or the sock would help your husband with leg spasms.

Sharon

whoops i missed this originally:

Magnesium Oxide, yup. Is this recommended?

mag ox is one of the less well-absorbed forms. try mag citrate. also go for increased magnesium-laden foods. seeds, nuts, dark leafy greens. magnesium supplements are hard to absorb because magnesium from food is absorbed in the lower intestine, and most supplements get tied up into combinations that can't be absorbed, much higher up in the GI tract.
i have a new c-complex product that by chance includes potassium and magnesium ascorbates. i am hoping that this helps some. the pharmacist that turned me on to magnesium last year, later advised that potassium and mag go hand in hand. i don't eat bananas, the poster child for potassium. but if you like them, go wild ;D
a link to the magnesium drink that wawh mentioned:
http://www.calmnatural.com/product/18340500002
wawh, looks like the 3 tsp dose provides the daily 600mg recommended (by embry) for ms patients. perhaps your hubby needs to add b6 and potassium to really get it working?