Muscle spasms & leg cramps

Hi Bob I can't offer any advice on this one, hopefully someone else on this board will be able to answer your question.

Take care

hi bob ,ya leg cramps are bad painfull aswell, doctors dont seem to much about it my GP gave me some quinine tabs to try, its a bit better but not much , hope we can find something

re quinine thanks for the info i,ll go back to the docs, i,ll let you know what he says, prob take 2weeks to see him c u then

 I get muscle spasms,or dystonia in my right hamstring, right calf, right hand, right side of my neck, and my toes. I used to get them 50-100 times a day. My mirapex was increased from .25mg 2x day to .5mg 3xday. It helped so much. Now I only get them about 5-10 times a day. My right leg used to be so stiff and it hurt. I seem to have problems when the medication wears off. I also started physical therapy and due stretching exercises 2x day. That has helped. I know alot of people don't like mirapex, but for me it is doing a good job semi-controlling the rigidity, dystonia and tremors. The only negative is the weight gain. I have gained 20 lbs in the past year. That is kind of freaking me out. I am in the creatine study, and I read that creatine can make you gain weight. So now I will be a chubby person with semi-controlled PD. I was diagnosed 6/2005 at 52. The absolute worst symptom of PD that I've had was major depression and anxiety.It is so wonderful to have message boards to communicate with others going through similiar senarios. Best wishes. Calming

Hi Bob, thisis the Bear. May i quote from a book II found extremely useful in making sense of what was wrong with me before I went to see my GP [MD]? It's called the Parkinson's Disease handbook by Dr. Richard Godwin-Austen.
In the section on levdopa it states;
".......painful cramp [dystonic spasm] affecting especially the muscles of the calf or foot is a late side effect of levodopa treatment. It is usually worse in thee early part of the day , when it may interfere with walking and lead to considerablediscomfort.................many ..find that they can walk it off and it is seldom a case for altering dosage. In some cases it is necessary to try additional treatment to relieve the spasm..........te drug which is most effective is baclofen". This may be of use or no but elsewhere n the booklet it sates that in its ealry stages it was commoonly misprescribed as arthritis because some of the types of pain involvedare very similar and even vice versa. I can vouch for tht as I have one hip replacement and am awaiting another in August. It is still difficult sometimes to differentiate between what is causing my pain - arthritis or pd. It is the referred pain that causes the problem as it can crop up anywhere from the lower spinal region to the foot and ankle. I do find it incredible reading through the site the difficulty some people have getting good and consistent diagnosis or maybe I struck lucky. The point is made elsewhere on this site that half of al doctors came in the bottom 50% in their class adn it really is pot luck which half ours and yours came in. Take it easy Bob. The Bear.

I am very sorry to read about your problems with muscle spasms and leg cramps.  I have an atypical form of PD, but also have a major problem with muscle spasms and leg cramps.  My diagnosis is dsytonia in combination with atypical PD.  As you have probably well learned, dsytonia is an extremely painful form muscle condition.  For people that have not experienced it, dsytonia feels exactly like when you have a major muscle spasm or “Charlie horse” in the calves of your leg.  The only difference is that we get them in other major muscle groups and they can last from minutes to hours.  People not only have pain when the cramp and spasms IS occurring, but then the muscles are terribly sore and uncomfortable afterwards from being over used and damaged during the actual cramping.  I know several people that have dsytonia in association with their PD, and the majority experience good relief with the anti-spasmodic medication called Baclofen.  In the beginning, I was able to control my dsytonia taking Baclofen orally, in combination with my other PD medications.  As my dsytonia progressed, I maxed out on my oral dose.  In most people taking over 80 – 100 mgs daily, the adverse events over shadow the benefits.  When this started to occur, my movement specialist referred to for a pain management evaluation.  It was decided that an intrathecal pump implant would be the best way to deliver my Baclofen.  Because the pump has a catheter that does directly into the spinal column, the Baclofen can be delivered to the brain without having to cross the blood brain barrier.  What this means is that you only need 1/100^th of the oral dose to effectively treat the dsytonia.  I have had good success with my Medtronic Baclofen pump.  My dsytonia affects my back muscles, legs, and diaphragm.  Dsytonia can affect any major muscle group in the body.  Many people with PD and dsytonia also suffer from RLS and other abnormal muscle movements, like myoclonus and myoclonic jerks. Good luck, the key is to find a good movement disorder specialist that is familiar with all types of abnormal muscle problems and treatment options.    I also tell people that if they are experiencing pain with the PD, to get a referral to pain management. 

Stella.. that's very interesting that you said you have this in your diaphragm. How did you know that it was dystonia, and not something like an ulcer or some kind of gastrointestinal issue? I'm curious what it felt like, and if the dr knew right away it was related to the problems in your legs and back?

Hey all,

My neuro does not feel I have PD, but, some of the symptoms make it appear that I do.  I take Klonopin which is supposed to help with spasms and cramps.

Walking is always an issue, it may be time for PT for foot drag, but also try to remember to point your toes to your nose.  There is a lot to concentrate on so I am not allowed to walk and chew gum anymore.

Good luck

Jerry

MORNING it is 05.30ish in the uk and i am very pleased to have found such a useful site.I am 59 years young , dxd 9 years now ...have had to give up skate-boarding and pole-dancing but hey , reckon the world is a poorer place....hope my sense of humour not offended anyone.....

Yodapark,Welcome to Healing Well.Keep up the sense of humor.Have a great day in the U.K.Best wishes.Ed

Hi All!! Thanks for all the advice & info here. I have had Parkinsons disease now since 2003
when it was first diagnosed and I have the rigidity, spasticity in my left leg & thigh. When I
first started Dr., ing for Parkinsons, they started me on Requip, but later as of 2005 I started
on sinemet cr and went from 100mg 3x daily to 200mg 3x daily in 2006 until the fall of 2006,
when I started to have more rigidity problems and then my dosage was increased to 200mg 4x
daily and then Comtan was added 1x daily, probably largely as a result of some of my own
inquiries, I made to the Ask The Drs. Forum for Parkinsons.

I do feel that I have been getting around better than when I was on the 3X per day schedule,
except for an early morning dystonia problem in my left foot that I am still trying to find a solution for. My mother had Parkinsons and was on a lot of meds and I do think that a person
can end up taking too many things which cause side effects also. I did not agree with that
increase in the sinemet dosage and had some opinions on it given to me from the Drs,. from
the Ask The Dr. Forum. I still went along with it and am on the 50-200mg sinemet 4x daily.

Then they wanted me to start on Mirapex, which I did for a while at the lowest dosage level,
however, after my last visit to the Dr., they wanted me to increase the Mirapex, which I decided I didn't want to do until I had another opinion. Mirapex, may be alright for some, but
I have just read too much about it in the higher dosage levels, so I decided to get off of it at
least for awhile. The Drs. forum suggested Azilect which I started about a month ago from a
new Dr. who's a Parkinsons Specialist. So, I am on this now and in some respects, except for
the early morning dystonia in my left foot which is very crippling for a few hours, I seem to get
around alright. I may have to cut back on the sinemet or try and spread it out if I am having
OFF dystonia problems, which I suspect. Maybe the Azilect will have to be increased, I don't
know. Just would be nice to be freed from the Dystonia problem if that's possible.

Anyway, I appreciate all the ideas and input on this forum and maybe through a sharing of each other's problems we all can learn new ways of dealing with this disease. If anyone wants
to email me on anything, as I do like to keep up on whats going on with things, they can write
me at [email protected].


Thanks and Have a Great Day
Neil P.

bob, this is the 1st time i have looked up parkinson's on the internet. my brother for a long time had trouble with his legs and muscles in his legs. his muscles in his legs are moving about as though he has a little mouse running about in them! you can see his calves moving around constantly. he gets pain in his legs and when he walks he takes little shuffling steps and cant seen to gain control of his legs or walking. he has vascular parkinson's disease. the doctors have told my brother that it is all part of his disease