Spasms are something everyone with any central nervous system problem will get. It can range from minor to major and I guess I'm somewhere mid range. Sometimes muscle spasms happen and whoops, your foot shoots out! I know that this is big problem with some people, I think its only happened a couple of times with me though. The other thing you get is pain. This can feel as if someone has taken a hammer to your kneecap for instance, yep it hurts that much. My spasms for the most part feel as if I'm being flicked by rubber bands, Ping, Ping, Ping, they zip around the whole of my lower body most of the time. But I've sort of got used to it if that's possible, and ignore it best I can. However a few times week it can be bad, really really bad. Last night was one of those time.
I must have woken up about 2-ish and felt a bit so-so. I lay there a minute and it started to come on. Now my big spasms occur around my groin, pelvis, hips, lumbar region, you get the gist. The pain comes on gradually and it gets more and more and more intense. Its so bad that I'm starting to breath heavily and my skin starts to prickle like I'm breaking out into a sweat. What I do is hook my arm under my legs and bring my knees up to my chin. This helps a bit I find because when you are in this position it opens up your spinal canal a little. There is also something comforting in this position as its like you are making yourself really small against something very unpleasant. To me it feels as if someone has a drill to my buttocks and is pulling my pelvis apart at the same time.Its very very hard to describe with any accuracy. As I have had a child this is far worse than giving birth ever was, take it from me this is absolutely the very worst it could be and ever has been. To be honest the pain is so bad I'm surprised I can stand it, any longer than the couple of minutes it seems is and Id probably be throwing up, I just want it to stop so very very much, please make it pass quickly, I cannot take it any longer. I can only lie there crying out in pain for probably about 3 minutes or so, and then it passes as rapidly as it came on. This is the only time I truly think I suffer.
I must have woken up about 2-ish and felt a bit so-so. I lay there a minute and it started to come on. Now my big spasms occur around my groin, pelvis, hips, lumbar region, you get the gist. The pain comes on gradually and it gets more and more and more intense. Its so bad that I'm starting to breath heavily and my skin starts to prickle like I'm breaking out into a sweat. What I do is hook my arm under my legs and bring my knees up to my chin. This helps a bit I find because when you are in this position it opens up your spinal canal a little. There is also something comforting in this position as its like you are making yourself really small against something very unpleasant. To me it feels as if someone has a drill to my buttocks and is pulling my pelvis apart at the same time.Its very very hard to describe with any accuracy. As I have had a child this is far worse than giving birth ever was, take it from me this is absolutely the very worst it could be and ever has been. To be honest the pain is so bad I'm surprised I can stand it, any longer than the couple of minutes it seems is and Id probably be throwing up, I just want it to stop so very very much, please make it pass quickly, I cannot take it any longer. I can only lie there crying out in pain for probably about 3 minutes or so, and then it passes as rapidly as it came on. This is the only time I truly think I suffer.
Treatment for this takes the form of a drug called Baclofen. Its the most popular antispasmodic and seems to work pretty well in most people. I'm sure it works fine in me as I don't have this as often as I could. For those who are plagued with very bad spasms you can have something called a Intrathecal Baclofen pump. This is put into your abdomen and then delivers small doses of Baclofen straight to the spinal cord area. Its ok don't panic, I'm nowhere near going to have this done, I probably never will , but its just something I have to put up with for now and the future. I'm hopeful that the frequency of these episodes will diminish in time.
Yeesh! I've gotten nerve spasms too, most recently in my arm. One doctor gave me Neurontin (gabapentin), which turned me into a rag doll. I found Valium (diazepam) just as effective--cheaper too!--but with no debilitating side effects. Another doc suggested Lyrica (pregabalin) instead of Neurontin, but I'll stick with Valium. And it makes me SOOO calm too...
ReplyDeleteBaclofen boasts this warning:
Do not stop taking baclofen suddenly. Stopping suddenly may cause seizures or hallucinations.
My dad had one of these. It worked pretty well for him most of the time. Unfortunately, where he lived the supply of the right strength of Baclofen was intermittent, so if they changed strength they had to reprogram the delivery rate too. Of course there's always the bit in the pipe of the old strength... so he'd regularly get either an overdose or an under dose. KBO
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