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Spasms And Twinges: Warning Signs Of Worse To Come?
By Trevis Gleason
For about a couple of months before my diagnosing attack, my massage therapist noted that I had muscle spasms in my legs. I hadn't noticed them, couldn't feel them and when I looked to see what she was pointing out, it seemed kind of funny and interesting. Little did I know, right?
Day two of that exacerbation, when I went in to see her because I thought I had a pinched nerve causing my declining mobility, she pointed out that the spasms had stopped. I thought that was a good thing. Again, little did I know, right?
Noting that pinched nerve thing, I have always carried my stress in my left trapezius muscle. There had been a knot there for a few days, and I thought that was the likely culprit of my woe. (I'm seeing a theme here.) Little did I know, right?
In the years since that awful April, I have learned to "'know"' better. I have become more aware of my body and my mind. I have come to notice when things are happening that haven't before or, more importantly to this case, have before.
That painful knot in my left upper back came days before all six of my subsequent relapses in the next 18 months. I started to pay attention to that one as soon as I felt it coming! The leg thing, however, has been a little less reliable canary in the mineshaft of my MS.
To best
describe them, when they come on, these spasms are all over my legs and near constant. I call it "popcorn leg" as it looks as if, just under my skin, kernels of popping corn are exploding all over. Just under the surface, muscle tissue bubbles and boils to the point I also think of the old Ballpark Franks adverts where the sides of the cooking container bulge with expanding hot dogs. You remember, "They plump when you cook 'em."
Anyway… that symptom started to be more bellwether when my disease started to worsen/progress. On some occasions, popcorn leg would be a precursor of a slide in disability. Other times, it came and went without taking anything new away with it.
For the past couple of days, maybe a week now, it's been back.
I don't know what it will bring or take, I don't even know how long it will last - we never know if something like this will just become part of our MS portfolio. I do know that it frightens me a little and that I've been on edge about it since it started.
Do you have precursors - warning signs - as you look back at your disease progression? Much good seems to be done here when we share info about symptoms. Let's see if we can't bring some ease to others by sharing this.
Wishing you and your family the best of health.
Trevis Gleason
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