Grrr now my legs feel like concrete with pins and needles

[Youarethecure]

So I had a scare of a relapse a few weeks ago but it was just a psuedo relapse. Everything got back to normal but as of thursday my legs have been like heavy weights but at the same time I have pins and needles from my stomach down to my toes. Two of my fingers on each hand also have pins and needles as well. I have had these symptoms before, other than the heavy concrete feelings in my legs.

Now I have not changed much other then last wednesday I took a potassium vitamin and my chiropractor really really really stretched my legs out for me. I also did a very full and good leg work out wednesday. Which I normally split and do different parts of my legs throughout the week.

This doesnt feel lik a relapse and I literally just got my mri like a couple weeks ago and all was fine..... Obv it still could be that though.

Could this be just my symptoms bothering me again? Am I overdoing it with exercise and work? (managing a restaurrant 54 hours a week) Could it be because I have taken a little break from th gym to let my shoulder repair?

Could it be because of too much vitamins? I take mag, vit d, b12, zinc and a multi.

Along with that I eat a proper anti inflammatory diet, take copaxone, exercise and weight lift 4 times a week. I am 25, male, first problem at 19 and many problems a year ago leading to my diagnosis. I am basically symptom free most of the time.

Thanks as always,

Chris

[ElliotB]

It 'could' be any of the things you have listed or none of them. MS is a complex illness. Some people 'do nothing' and are in general symptom/relapse free and others like you and I are highly proactive and may still have symptoms and relapses.

You may have to adjust your lifestyle a bit.

[Youarethecure]

I honestly dont know what more I can do lol.

It is what it is. I can still walk and stuff im just numb from the stomach/back down and my two fingers on each hand.

Most importantly, it is not too bad at all. I am here now mid shift of 12 hours in a hot restaurant on my feet banging through the day.

Could that be adding to my issues with this disease? I dont want to overwork my self in a bad way

[Scott1]

Hi Chris,
That heavy concrete feeling would fit in with fatigue. I'd try coenzyeme Q10 for that. Use a practioner brand if you can access one. Start at 150mg at night and increase by that amount each second night. I stayed on 600mg a night for a long time but find 750mg works best for me. My thinking is set out in the regimens section in a post called "Beyond Avonex and Valtrex". I wouldn't stop doing what you do as long as you can manage it but you might need a few adjustments as my post suggests.

Regards

[Youarethecure]

I will look into that, thank you.

[HarryZ]

Am I overdoing it with exercise and work? (managing a restaurrant 54 hours a week) Could it be because I have taken a little break from th gym to let my shoulder repair?

At 54 hours a week managing a restaurant and having MS certainly puts you in the category of overdoing it!

My wife (passed away in 2007) worked in the management area of Critical Care for many years. Long hours, high stress etc etc. Didn't take anything for her MS during her working years because there was nothing to take...not that she would have. I tried to get her to back off from the heavy duty workload but she loved what she did and she opted for quality as opposed to quantity of life.

The MS, as it almost always does, caught up with her in her late 40's/early 50's and she eventually had to give up her work. She ended up with a variety of different ailments before passing away at age 57 in 2007.

Living with MS is a fine line between too little and too much. Only you can determine what is best for you. Whatever your decision, the best of luck and best of health fighting this lousy disease.

[CaliReader]

Hi Youarethecure,

I have heat sensitivity. I try to stay cool, or all my symptoms get much worse. Your symptoms could be an ms attack (flare, episode, exacerbation), or they could be heat related. Try walking into the walk-in fridge or freezer and see if it gets better temporarily.

If you haven't yet, I would explore the cooling clothes you can buy. there are hats, vests, wristbands, neckbands, all designed to help with staying cool. These were originally developed for miners and construction workers. If you find the industrial versions, I bet you might find something to help.

[HarryZ]

I have heat sensitivity. I try to stay cool, or all my symptoms get much worse. Your symptoms could be an ms attack (flare, episode, exacerbation), or they could be heat related.

My wife had the same problem with heat which ended up causing extreme fatigue as well as heavy duty weakness in her legs. If she sat in the sun for 5 minutes, bingo...she would turn into a wet noodle quickly.

But in 2001, she started using the alternative medicine Prokarin and the symptoms from heat got dramatically reduced. She could even sit in the sun for over half and hour and not feel any ill effects. Certainly allowed her far more options for dealing with the disease. Prokarin, like any other MS medication, helps some people a lot, some a little and others not at all.

[Youarethecure]

The thing is heat has never bothered me even in the slightest. Nor has working too hard. I have never felt worse or had symptoms get worse because of either of those things. At least right not there on the spot, maybe an overall accumulation could have added to all this but i dont know.

I am in (hot as fuhhh) south florida, the restaurant, and go in the hot tub almost daily.

I have noticed many many times now, when i get rocking rolling at work or at the gym it makes me feel better. If I ever have fatigue or brain fog it tends to go away or lessen once I get a nice jolt of doing work or heavy lifting.

Cooling down has never really seemed to make my symptoms go away either. Although I aint going to lie after work last night me and my employees did the ice bucket challenge and I think I liked doing it a little too much lol. It felt really good after a hard day of work.

Thanks everyone for your insight.

[Youarethecure]

Ohh and im pretty sure I am starting to get my feeling back in the legs. Im getting the random jolts and pains i normally feel. My fingers stomach and back seem the same though but the legs went first out of all of them. Hopefully its already on the path to getting better w/e this crap was.

[HarryZ]

Wow, start to feel better when you increase your work and exercise load!! MS affects people so differently and is such a complex disease. I'm sure a number of MS patients would love to have the same reaction as you do after increasing your work load. Just go with it and do what works for you.

[Youarethecure]

Yeah going to test it, on the way to the gym now for a nice chest work out !

[Kronk]

Your regimen sounds a lot like mine Chris and I gotta say we will not kill MS no matter what diet, supplement or drugs we take. But by staying fit and healthy the relapses may be smaller and we may recover faster. Take some pride in the fact you are doing everything you can to fight the illness and stay healthy. Right now as a person with MS, I am fitter, stonger, taller, smarter and better looking than all of my friends... er... well the first three anyways

You don't control the rules of the game, but you do play your heart out to win it. Hopefully the relapses will be smaller and the recoveries faster.

Cheers,
Ken

[Scott1]

What do the soles of your feet feel like?

[ElliotB]

"The thing is heat has never bothered me even in the slightest. Nor has working too hard"

That was 'then'. Things are different now. You may need to make some changes to some of your activities.

I have always exercised but out of necessity I needed 'cooler' venues than I was used to. I now swim 50 minutes a day (usually at 5am) in a temperature controlled South Florida pool and wear a cooling vest as necessary when walking or biking outdoors in the heat. I also ice skate (used to play hockey 'then' but cannon any more' With humidity levels often at 100% during hot Florida summers, being outdoors in the extreme heat can be difficult for me. I am careful not to exercise to the point of getting hot, but equally careful to be sure to exercise many hours every day. I always feel better on days I exercise a lot as compared to days that I don't.

As I mentioned previously, you may need to make some changes to your lifestyle, especially with regard to heat.

Kronk's comment "I am fitter, stronger, smarter..." says it all! Well put!!! Anyone with MS needs to be fitter, stronger and smarter - it is an absolute necessity, not a want.