Muscle Spasms in early MS

[dinglesnort1]

Hi Folks:

Is there any particular pattern or indicative marker associated with MS and muscle spasms (hands, legs, abdomen, upper torso,etc..). MRI's have shown
periventricular white matter disease following a series of small strokes some
as old as (a guess) 15-18 years and as new as 9 months ago.
Muscle spasms, cramps are appearing with more severity and dispersion as time goes along.

Just curious as Neurologist has noted the area involving white matter but
has shrugged it off when questioned.

Regards,
Stan

[lady_express_44]

No, no patterns.

I have had them in my limbs, shoulder, feet, 'backside', back . . . virtually everywhere. They can hurt a little, a lot, or not at all.

I think I recall spasticity (which causes spasms) as a symptom of strokes too. :confused:

Cherie

[newlyb12def]

Stan,
Spasticity is most common in the legs of MS patients, but can happen any where. Like Cherie said, no real pattern there, but...

There are patterns of white matter lesions (size, appearance, and location) that radiologists use to get an impression of the cause. They also consider the patient's age, and why they were referred for the MRI in the first place.

You didn't mention your age. White matter lesions (vascular) are more common with age, but would indicate something else may be going on in a young patient.

Good luck,
Kay

[dinglesnort1]

Hi Kay:

I am 65, have had approximately 8 small strokes over the past 15 or so years.
I have had migraine headaches since a teenager but apparently about 15 years ago I began experiencing what I call short-term migraines lasting only about 6 to 8 hours instead of the usual 3 days. It has been determined that these were really vascular thrombii since I am hypercoagulable. Discovered this accidently in 2003, I take Lovenox and aspirin for this.
The white matter lesions could be from anything but spasticity and debilitating muscle spasms have been and are becoming more frequent
and widespread. They were confined to the legs for a couple of years but now they are everywhere.

Regards,
Stan

[newlyb12def]

Stan-
I found a link that you may be interested in:
http://www.strokerecoverycanada.com/srcEnglish/english/SpasticityMadeSimpleNewsletter.asp
If your neurologist is focusing on prior strokes as the cause of your white matter lesions, they may be contributing to this spasticity. Strokes can cause both.
Whatever the cause, you should be receiving some sort of treatment for the "generalized spasticity".
Medication, physical therapy... something.
Make an appointment with your doctor to discuss how your symptoms are affecting your life. Treatment might improve your quality of life and help prevent things from getting worse.
Good luck. I hope that you and your doctor can come up with a successful plan to nip this in the bud.
Hope this helps.
-Kay