Leg Issues in the Cold with MS

For the last year or so my wife's MS has caused her Right Leg to stiffen during Cold Weather.  She can literally walk outside and if it's cold enough, her leg will go stiff and she almost has to swing it to walk.  She's only had this issue in the last year, and we think we finally figured out why.  We lived in Colorado for a short time last year and she fell twice.  Both times she fell flat on her tail bone and come to find out she cracked her tail bone.  Since that time she's woke up almost daily with her hands or feet tingling and then had her Leg stiffen and other minor Tingling in her body.  It finally hit us this last week at the Chiropractor that we hadn't really addressed that issue so we talked to our Chiropractor about it.

Well, the Chiropractor started doing some testing and not only were her hips twisted but her tail bone was off so the Chiropractor adjusted all of it.  When she was adjusted it initially shot pain through her and she was worried that it may do more harm than good.  But, after she was adjusted and left the Chiropractors office she began to notice some major differences.  For the first time in almost a year her hands and feet were almost completely back to normal, and her back felt much, much better.  I encouraged her to go back multiple times last week to keep everything in alignment so she went back 3 times and was going to go back a 4th today but she overslept.

It still amazes me that MS can mess with her body so much, and from a fall over a year ago she is still having issues.  Now that we've figured out what caused the issue, it will be easier to fix.  My wife had literally bought different pillows and tried other things because she thought one of those was the culprit.  I guess I say all of this to say that you never know how a fall or injury or other trauma might affect your Multiple Sclerosis.  My wife's MS has been badgering her for over 24 years now, and we are still learning.  Oh, if your legs stiffen in the cold you may try thermals because that's what my wife's been doing the last few weeks.  Once she had the thermals on her leg didn't stiffen up as bad and she could still walk OK.

I guess the question I would ask any MS patient is, have you had any Injuries in the past that could be causing some of your problems?  Have you had a bad fall, car wreck, skiing accident or some other injury?  I know that my wife is extremely sensitive to any changes in her body and her MS lets us know quickly if anything is wrong by exacerbating.  Leg issues seem to be common in MS, but I really think there are ways to combat the problem without Meds.  She's been MS Drug free from the beginning and for the most part I think my wife does amazing.  She's definitely stronger than I think I would ever be having to deal with MS daily.  We are still determined to get her health better and better, and have a Ski trip we want to go on in 2015 and already have a Cruise planned that I know she will need to be in great shape for.  What are you doing in 2015 to fight back against this crazy disease?

Figured Out Why My Wife Was Dragging Her Leg With MS

Over the last few weeks my wife has been dealing with leg issues due to her MS.  Her legs weren't hurting or painful, but they weren't working right and were cold and partially numb.  I wrote a post the other day about finding a new Chiropractor.  If you haven't read the post, you can read it by clicking here.  The first visit to this new Chiropractor I figured out why she had been dragging her leg.  The Dr. was putting her through an initial exam and when she checked her leg length her right leg was literally an inch longer than her left.  No wonder it was dragging!

Our new Chiropractor adjusted her hips and for the first few days she really struggled because her body had been out of alignment for so long.  After a few more visits she is now doing really well and can actually lift her right leg.  For days she couldn't lift her leg high enough to even put her shoe on, but now she is able to raise it almost as high as her left.  Every day she is walking better, moving better and all of the cold issues along with the numbness are now gone.  It still amazes both of us how her alignment affects so many different things in her body, and how easily it can be fixed with an adjustment. 

Over the years we've heard all the advice about how my wife's MS must be progressing and how this is just a part of the natural progression that she would lose functions and have issues.  We will continue to push back against this thought process and not accept that my wife's health is going to become worse, and continue to find ways to help my wife feel better and have more control over her MS.  So far we have found some very specific things that help my wife and we continue to learn more everyday.  I would encourage anyone else that has MS to listen to your body, and look for treatments you feel comfortable with.  That's what we've done, and we've had success.  Most people don't realize my wife even has MS because we've found treatments that work for her.

Found A New Chiropractor For My Wife's MS

If you haven't read my last blog post, you can read it here.  Over the last week my wife was having cold feet, strips of cold from her hip to her feet and was dragging her right leg.  She wasn't having pain really, more of a numb/cold feeling in strips and areas of her legs and feet.  Her left leg seemed to be having more issues than her right leg, but she has been dragging her right leg since she started to have issues.  So, she went Monday to a new Chiropractor that did something similar to what we've done before but she didn't respond as well to the adjustment as she had in the past.  On Wednesday, we decided to try a different Chiropractor.

After searching for a Pro Adjuster Chiropractor in the area, we found one not too far from where we live now.  So, we loaded up and went through a consult and some x-rays and then she had her first adjustment at the new Chiropractor.  It was a little unnerving to see the Dr. check her feet length and her right foot was literally an inch longer than her left foot.  The Dr. adjusted her including adjusting her hips, which was causing the issues with her foot length, and she was feeling better immediately after the appointment.  We drove home and she was fine for a few hours until her right leg started hurting. 

She took an Advil and within a few hours the pain went away.  We knew that she would be "feeling" the adjustment since her body was so out of whack.  What's so interesting is watching her fatigue go away and the feeling come back in her body after the adjustments.  Today she was much better.  She can still feel the issues in her hips but isn't dragging her leg and has had much more energy.  She will go back to visit the Dr. on Monday and we will see how far out of whack her body is by that point.  Just another day living with MS! :) 

Cold Toes and Legs With Multiple Sclerosis

OK, so it may sound a little odd but my wife has cold strips down her leg, and certain toes that will go cold from her MS.  The last few days she has had MS leg issues, meaning that they are hurting and she has numbness and a cold feeling.  The cold is a stripe down the side of her leg from her hip to her toes.  It's really strange and when this happens she struggles to stay warm.  She has to either take a hot bath or get under an electric blanket to warm up.

We've also noticed that when these MS attacks happen, she becomes very fatigued and very emotional.  We recently moved back to Texas so we don't have our normal treatments in place, and are currently looking for a Pro Adjuster Chiropractor in the area.  We found a Chiropractor that does something similar but not quite the same, and after being adjusted today she had improvement but not the level of improvement we are used to.  My wife commented earlier that she didn't feel like she normally would after an adjustment. 

We have wondered through the years what a different type of adjustment would do, but we have always found a Pro Adjuster and she has continued to have similar results with each new Chiropractor.  So, after talking with others that haven't had the same results we have had with Chiropractic it has made me wonder how effective different methods of Chiropractic are on MS.  We know what has worked for my wife, and for me and my daughter for other issues, and we will find the right kind of Chiropractor in our area.  My wife has an appt on Wednesday with a Pro Adjuster Chiro to see what she thinks, and we will get things in place for her treatment. 

Seeing Vegas with Multiple Sclerosis

Two weeks ago I was invited to speak at a conference in Las Vegas, NV, so we loaded up and headed that way. We had never been to Vegas so we wanted to make sure and give ourselves some time to see the sights. The first night we arrived around 4 and headed out on the town. We drove to Cesar's Palace and started walking from there, knowing that my wife could struggle to walk to all of the areas we wanted to see. We took in the Volcano at the Mirage, walked over to Treasure Island and took in the show there, then headed on to the Eiffel Tower and saw the Bellagio fountains from the top of the tower. What an awesome sight to hear the music and watch the fountains from above. After quite a few hours of walking I turned to my wife and asked about her legs. She said she felt fine and we made our way back to Cesar's Palace and our car. On our way back, things got a little tricky, and I thought I might have to carry her.

We had made it through most of Cesar's Palace when her legs finally decided to give up. Her left leg started dragging and she found herself almost tripping many times. I was a little concerned because we had quite a walk left before we were going to be back at the car, and I could tell that her legs weren't cooperating. She seemed to "feel" OK, but was stumbling and struggling to walk at all. We were joking that most people probably thought she was just drunk, like most of the other people in the hotel. We finally made it back to the car and headed to our hotel, where she went straight to bed. Her legs ached a little that night, and she tried to rest as much as possible for the next day.

The next day we went to the event I was speaking at and she had to sit for quite a few hours. After sitting for some time, her legs began to get out of control again. She kicked the seats in front of her as her legs jumped uncontrollably. She was so frustrated by that point and couldn't seem to get control of her legs. When we got up to leave, she noticed that she began to walk funny. She would lift her left leg up very high and walked very differently than normal. After walking to the car we decided that she probably shouldn't do much else for that day. Frustration set in again! She was so mad that we were in Vegas, by ourselves, and she was being limited by her Multiple Sclerosis again.

Over the next three days she struggled with everything from jumpy legs to achy legs to even struggling with stomach pain and headaches. The over stimulation of the lights, sounds and activity in Vegas was so hard on her body. Just about everyday she had a dull headache, and with the leg issues, it was a struggle for her to enjoy very much of the trip. She struggled with her body keeping a constant temperature, and would need the A/C blowing full blast at times, and then the heater warming her up later. Her MS was truly wreaking havoc on our Vegas trip, but she worked through the issues the best she could and we still walked some more and saw some more. I guess we have learned through the years that there are going to be times when we are going to have to create some down time so that we can enjoy our time actually participating in whatever we are doing. Our trip to Vegas turned out OK, but it sure is a struggle to watch her have so many issues within just a few days just because of the amount of walking and activity.