Having trouble walking

Hi, Deb. I'm sorry you are dealing with this. Do you walk daily? If not, you can lose muscle tone that way. You do have to keep moving. I used to be more sedentary. I got so that walking was more difficult and I could see the writing on the wall. If you don't use it you lose it. So I started walking. I headed out the door with great expectations but only managed to walk four houses down before I had to turn around to make it home again. I could have quit but went out the next day. I think I even took my cane with me. I was able to walk a little further! I continued with this and now I walk a half an hour each morning which is equivilent to a little over a mile. I can walk further but that's what I definitely do daily.

I have a neighbor who moved in months ago. She has a wheelchair mount on the back of her SUV. When I went to introduce myself we got talking and she has fibro and also disc problems. I suggested walking and she said she couldn't do it. I pointed out that she walked to the front door. Anyway, I told her the story above and she tried it. Well, she walks daily now and yesterday I saw her jogging! She said she feels so much better and I'm sure she will continue with this. She said she has lost 15 pounds plus it has helped with depression also. So do give this a try. You have to keep it up.

Now if you are having extreme weakness in your legs, be sure to talk to your doctor. You might want to be checked for MS. You can have fibro and Ms. I don't want to frighten you but you need to know what is going on so you can get the help you need. You can go to the MS forum and ask questions there, also. We have many of the same symptoms as several other illnesses like lupus and Lyme disease. I am assuming you have had these ruled out.

I hope this has helped you some and not frightened you. You most likely just need to get moving again. When I lived up north I bought a walking in place video so I didn't have to walk in the snow. Too dangerous for me with osteoporosis. Do let us know how you are doing, though. Don't just lurk now. We do care about you and want to know how you are.

Sherrine

I had that problem when I first got fibromyalgia. Especially if I was inactive for a long time. (I slept for two years). It took me a long time to walk anywhere. But I built my strength back up and I can walk now. I try to walk daily. I don't do a lot, but I do...

I hope you get the strength back and that the exhaustion goes away.

Hugs, Karen...

Thank you all for your responses! I'm going to try the walking little by little each day. I think my main problem is pacing. I try to be good at it, but some days I just push myself to the limit and then realize it's to late! Then I pay for it the next day and the next.....I babysit my three year old great niece two days a week and boy do I need those in between days to try to recover. That's just it though, it's becoming harder and harder to recover! My legs and even arms feel so shaky, weak and like jello along with the pain. I'm having severe pain in my left outer thigh, and somehow I believe it's related to my back or my butt, I sitting on my behind makes it hurt worse at times. I asked my Doctor about MS a few months ago and he kind of brushed it off saying....if it walks like a duck, and quacks like a duck, then it's a duck, relating it to the fibro. I have been tested for Lupus and Lymes eight years ago when they officially dix my fibro. about two months ago, I woke up with a severe pain in my left foot and could hardly walk on it, went to the ER, since it was so early in am and Dr's weren't in, the pain was so bad. The ER looked at it, and said, Oh maybe Lyme's Disease, did blood work for it and sent me home. Well as the day went on, the pain spread up my entire leg and in my entire life I had never had pain that bad, even with all the fibro pain. Went back to the ER and this time did ex-rays of hip, found nothing, Titer had come back from Lyme's -was negative. Only had a little swelling on top of foot. They gave me oxycodone , which was wonderful because it took the pain right away! Next day it was mostly gone and my PCP thought it was gout. Didn't know gout came and went that quickly, but since then, it's that leg that gets really painful. My DIL is a physical therapist and wants me to go see a physicist? Dr who specializes in pain and PT. But I am worried what if it is MS, how do I get my Dr. to look into that further? So many questions!

Deb, if the Lyme tests were done by a conventional lab they may not show accurate results. Specialty labs like IGenex are the only ones that show everything. The first Lyme test, the ELISA is only about 50% accurate, and the Western Blot (conventional one) is only about 60-70% accurate. A good resource is the International Association of Lyme and Associated Diseases.

Just remember- keep pursuing an answer. There is a reason for the pain, it's your body telling you something isn't right. Know your truth. Don't let the doctors get you down. Wishing you well, Susan

The CDC has eliminated some of the bands from the lab tests because there was a vacine at one point that used those bands. IGenex shows all the bands. You'd have to read up on it, it's complicated. But if all the bands are not shown and the person didn't have the vacine than the person may be positive but the test comes back negative. Lyme is a very complicated, political, issue.
You can also watch the documentary Under Our Skin for info.

I just watched the video Under Your Skin. It really made you open your eyes up to this disease. Insurance co. Didn't want to pay claims for anything to do with Lyme. Most dr said it was all in your head because of insurance refusing to pay. Lot of people severely disabled and died because of it. A very interesting documentary. It you want to know about Lyme, it's a must watch.