pregnancy, spasms, safe treatment

[burntsienna]

hello. I'm 37 and have been dx with MS for 17 years. My mobility is currently quite good although I was a wheelchair user between 2011 and 2013, I did a lot of physio and gym work and regained my legs. I am currently 21 weeks pregnant with my first pregnancy (I adopted my first child 6 years ago) and had my anomaly scan, and everything seems to be good and healthy with baby. I am not taking any medication during the pregnancy other than occasional paracetamol (acetaminophen) for pain and nightly clorphenamine 4 mg (antihistamine approved for use in pregnancy). I have never been able to take standard DMDs because I am severely side effect sensitive. I have been off of all symptom meds (gabbapentin, lofepramine, amantadine) for about a year in prep for being pregnant. So far I have had a relatively healthy pregnancy (other than a miserably nauseous and exhausted 1st trimester - pretty normal), and am continuing to work. (part time)

SO, my question is, I have started having leg spasms which aren't severe nor are they really disabling, but more very uncomfortable, inconvenient, occasionally painful. Before the pregnancy, I have experienced them a few times before but never so constantly and for such a length of time. Are there any symptom treatments for spasms that are safe to use in pregnancy? I've been so wanting to stay as drug free as I can during it. Thanks for reading and your suggestions.

[jimmylegs]

hey there have you ever taken magnesium to help deal with the low levels often seen in ms patients? it can be useful for spasticity and is an essential mineral nutrient.

coincidentally a friend of mine is in the first trimester atm and suffering with nausea. i noticed with a little research that women with morning sickness have lower magnesium and zinc levels. (slightly lower on average for copper too, but not significantly so)

Copper, zinc and magnesium status in hyperemesis gravidarum
http://informahealthcare.com/doi/abs/10 ... 0020022113
"plasma Zn and Mg levels were lower in patients with HG"

these three metals are all low in ms patients as well. have any of your docs ever tested your serum levels? if you do get a test, aim for at least 120 ug/dL for serum zinc and 2.3-2.7 mg/dL for serum magnesium. for comparison, in the study above the women with morning sickness had serum zinc closer to 80 ug/dL and magnesium down at only 1.8 mg/dL.

if you want to try boosting mag status with food, aim for 600mg per day while you are dealing with spasticity.

if you can't get all the way, you can try getting part of your daily needs via a magnesium glycinate supplement (eg orange naturals mag glycinate 180mg).

if you are not comfortable with an oral supplement, you can try soaking in an epsom salts or magnesium chloride flakes bath. you could even mix up a cup or more of mag chloride flakes into a cup of water and then apply the solution (magnesium 'oil') topically to the affected muscles.

[gibbledygook]

I too suffered from spasms which for me are definitely made worse if my bladder is full. The only way I could stop the spasms at night was to ensure my bladder was voided and that often meant peeing into a large container standing upright as the pregnancy progressed as it was the only way to void properly!

Best of luck with it.