How is Muscle Weakness defined? Is there pain associated with true muscle weakness?

[julia111]

I have difficulty climbing stairs . . . I usually start out ok, but the higher I go, the slower I get and the pain sets in . . . and it gets worse as I climb . . . and depending on how many flights I need to go up, sometimes I just barely get there .  . . but, when I do and get to rest my muscles they bounce back and stop burning.

Other examples . . . arms burning when I shampoo my hair . . . fold just a few pieces of laundry . . . and even after tearing just a handful of stems off spinach leaves . . . and then if I just put my arms down and rest them for a few seconds that's enough to return to my work . . . for at least a few seconds before they tire again!

Muscle weakness???

This is a far departure for me - I've actively played sports up until a year ago.

Thanks for your help,

Julia  
(dx. Fibromyalgia)



  

[julia111]

Thanks so much for your comments!  

Quix, that's a great explanation and it is much clearer to me now.

Richard, I hope those stairs are good to you this week!  My six year old really wants to live in a house w/ stairs, but I think she'll settle for a tree house in the back yard!

LA, I hope your pain is minimal this week!

Best wishes,
Julia

Julia

[LATW]

My right leg is my weak side. My leg does not hurt but it is starting to give me some pain/trouble in my hip.  

LA

[OperaMBA]

The stairs are definitely my nemasis when I'm in the throes of an episode.

My house has a straight shot staircase up to the second floor and the last half are always a challenge.

Going down, I always hold on tight with both hands!  Like I tell my two boys "no matter what you do, gravity keeps happening!"

Richard
OperaMBA

[Quixotic1]

No, there is NOT pain associated with pure muscle weakness.  The muscles just don't do their job, but they are not painful.  However, Julia is correct in saying that spasticity may also be at play.  It is not unusual at all in MS for weakness to be accompanied by spasticity.  This can be extremely painful and may show up with repetitive use.

Now, having a set of muscles that are weak can lead to other things being painful.  Muscles that are supposed to do their job but don't, lead to you using other muscles for the job.  This can cause problems in the joint or the back from the change in posture.

Remember there are two type of nerves in the body (mainly).  These are motor and sensory.  They run in opposite directions.  If the motor nerves don't carry the signal properly from the brain to the muscles, you get weakness or paralysis, but no pain.  If the sensory nerves aren't functioning properly they carry no signal or an altered signal from out in the body TO the brain.  In this case you get numbness or paresthesias.

You can be having paresthesias and weakness from the same area of the body.  This would be from lesions affecting both the motor nerves to the muscles and the sensory nerves to the brain.

Quix

[julia111]

Hi!  

Sorry to hear that you deal with the same problem, but glad to hear you are eating your veggies too!

I think I remember hearing from Quix that pain from repetitive motions can be caused from spasticity, so maybe that is what we are experiencing.

Are you diagnosed?  Do you take anyrhing for Spacticity?  I get it in the back of my legs too!

Best wishes,
Julia

[mary_kay]

I can definitely relate!  I have the same feelings in my muscles when I try to do anything repetitive. Burning muscles, sore muscles on the backs of my legs and rubbery on the fronts. When I am chopping vegetables, my wrist turns over - kind of like turning your ankle only it's my wrist of the hand holding the knife. I look forward to the responses to htis question.
Hope you see some improvement and feel better,
Mary Kay