Sunday, May 12

Discouraged with my physicallity

Okay, it's official... I'm discouraged in that I'll be able to walk normally (without limping or wobbling due to balance issues). As you know, I've been having a lot of trouble walking for about a week now. Prior to that I was walking pretty well. I could actually go up and down stairs most of the time without my left leg shaking because my calf muscle would spasm. My thigh muscle was doing it's job fairly well in lifting my foot off of each step as I went up. Then last week I tripped on the last step of a flight of stairs, twisted my ankle and landed sideways on my left hand thus straining a finger on said hand that was carrying something (which I didn't drop. FYI). Ever since then my left ankle doesn't seem to be regaining is strength, so my ankle-muscle is unstable and easily twists if I'm not real careful, and my knee feels like there's no muscles in it. Now when I walk, my left foot often drags on the ground and my left thigh muscle quivers as I lift my leg/knee/foot, thus causing me to trip easier than usual (as seen in the video in my last entry). Not only that, but because my equilibrium is all fucked-up it's as if I have no balance (like a sober drunk might be).

Oh, and the reason I'm discouraged is because I went to the exercise room here at the apartment complex just a little while ago thinking I would try to exercise my legs (mostly my left). Anyway, I rode a stationary bike for a few minutes and the whole time my left leg shook as though the muscles were too weak. Same thing on The Elliptical machine, so I wobbled back to the apartment feeling somewhat depressed because it felt like a waste of time trying to exercise. The only thing that gives me some hope is that prior to last week I didn't walk too bad. So I'm hoping that my left ankle will get stronger, my calf muscle will stop being sore and that my left knee becomes more stable in the next few weeks.

http://ramblemans.blogspot.com

6 comments:

Lee said...

you need to give this time Todd. I don't know recovery times for people with MS after somsething like this, but if you strained or sprained something, that needs to rest a bit. Can you just do some gentle stretching and massage on it for a while? Sending lots of healing thoughts.

Todd said...

Time- I know it'll take some,I just don't like it. lol. Been trying to do some stretching and massage, but I just don't feel like I can not do things like walking a lot, because there's no one else to do the things that require me to be on my feet while doing them. Basically it's the whole "no rest for the weary" syndrome. *sigh*

They are not aware said...

I agree with Lee, I think you got injured on top of the ataxia. You need to give the injury a rest. Make E wait on you when possible. Have you iced it?

Todd said...

I did ice it a couple of days ago. probably should do that every day though, huh?

TheyDHD said...

Try arnica, and do rest like everyone is saying. It really does help. *hug*

Todd said...

Thanks for the Arnica Suggestion. I'm starting to think it's mor4 of an MS exacerbation than an ankle/leg issue specifically. Maybe in the beginning is was because I tripped and fell, but I think that was just the start of an exacerbation.