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Muscle spasms..at least I think that's what they are?

Posted , 3 users are following.

tony38011
tony38011

For the last couple of months I've been getting spasms in different parts of my body - arms from shoulder or elbow down, similar thing in legs and feet, also my whole torso on times. The best I can describe them is like when a doctor tests your reflexes by tapping your knee. They have become worse in recent weeks with my arm or legs jumping 6 inches or more and can on occasion be painful. They occur when I lay down and relax, especially as I'm dropping off to sleep. I experienced a bout of them, though not as bad as they are now, when I had sciatica 18 months ago and asked a doctor what was causing them. He said they were caused by the relatively high doses of pain relief I was taking at the time. I am currently taking regular pain relief - tramadol and anti-inflammatories as my RA is very active due to all my immune suppressing meds being stopped because of complications brought on by another chronic health condition. 

Much appreciated If someone has some experience with this condition and can confirm or not that these thing are indeed caused by pain killers, or perhaps related to my active RA as they are an unpleasent thing to have and are starting to concern me?  

0 likes, 9 replies

9 Replies

  • C2Anna
    C2Anna tony38011

    Posted

    Hi Tony, I have had this condition, and found it was caused by an extreme magnesium (magnesium glycinate -- not magnesium oxide..very important). I have been free from this painful muscular/nerve/spasm condition for 4+ yrs. In order for magnesium to be absorbed adequately even with supplementation, this needs to be taken and balanced with calcium and D3. All 3 need each other, in order to be adequately absorbed, to stop this condition. I take 4 magnesium glycinate, with 500 mg of calcium and 5000 mg of D3. Eventually you may be able to cut back to 2 magnesium daily with 500 mg calcium and 5000 mg D3 to sustain magnesium levels. I hope you take this very seriously and see improvement quickly. Taking the calcium and magnesiun at least 2 hrs apart is helpful as it can cause a tummy ache as it is broken down together all at once.
    • C2Anna
      C2Anna

      Posted

      Correction...caused by a magnesium (magnesium glycinate) "deficiency"..

  • C2Anna
    C2Anna tony38011

    Posted

    In addition, I could not find a doctor that could or would diagnose accurately....i researched this myself..blood lab tests do not show magnesium levels to use this doccumentation to treat..only 1% of magnesium levels show up in blood lab work..there is no way to measure the levels of magnesium which is the powerhouse for over 350 enzyme reactions affecting chronic inflammation and pain conditions across the board. Its interesting to me that a doctor would say your condition was a result of continued pain treatment, but didnt reveal the rest of the equasion that the pain medications deplete magnesium, and to supplement or prescribe this for you accordingly.
    • tony38011
      tony38011 C2Anna

      Posted

      Thank you Anna for your prompt replies. Interesting what you say about the doctor not mentioning that pain treatment depletes magnesium. When I queried the jumps - as good a term as any for this condition I guess, he asked where in my body did they occur and when I said a number of places he stated that it was due to the pain meds I was taking, and that was that.  

      I think I need to be very careful about taking any supplements as I have a few different chronic and ongoing health conditions, especially with calcium as it could have a detrimental effect with one of them. So I really need to see what my GP has to say first.

      Some of these jumps are really violent for want of a better term. One in particular woke me up the other night - it felt like someone had smacked me on the forearm with a blunt object. Were yours similar? It's getting that I try staying awake until I'm practically falling asleep sitting up before I lie down so I can avoid at least some these unpleasent things.

  • tony38011
    tony38011

    Posted

    Forgot to add that when the sciatica eventully subsided, I cut right down on pain relief and had no more jumps. Since my RA meds have ceased and I'm back on regular pain relief  they have returned, but are currently a lot worse than the ones I had with the sciatica.
  • lrevenden
    lrevenden tony38011

    Posted

    Hi, I've had the same sorts of muscle spasms. My rheumy has put me on Lyrica which has helped but not totally got rid of them. There was some talk of a secondary autoimmune condition like fibro myalgia but they haven't looked into this any more as the lyrica is helping
    • C2Anna
      C2Anna lrevenden

      Posted

      Magnesium has cured my fibromyalga condition..i discovered this on my own rhru research as the dictirs wanted only ti guve me pain meducation to cover the symptims (with sude effects) while the disease continues and prigresses.
    • tony38011
      tony38011 lrevenden

      Posted

      Thankfor the input.

      Another thing some of these spasms are  similar to is when you are dreaming that you are falling from a great height and suddenly wake with a jump just before you hit the ground. 

      I just hope there isn't something else wrong with me as I've got enough on my plate as it is and am fed up of getting one thing after another. Rhemy has suggested that I go on a low dose of an immune suppressor, but to date I've refused because it raises the risk of me getting sepsis again so have settled for slow release tramadol and anti-inflammatories, which help a bit but are nowhere near as effective as enbrel or methotrexate was. I'm having second thoughts though as my GP has told me that he doesn't want me taking anti-inflammatories regularly as I had a heart attack 10 years ago, which was probably caused by a regular intake of anti-inflammatories at the time. I don't think I can cope with the debilitating pain any longer as it's gradually getting worse and is wearing me down. If it wasn't for my wife helping with the day to day running of my life I would not be able to manage..full stop. 

      Apologies for my rant. I will be phoning the rheumy helpline on monday to ask about going back on an immune suppressor and about the spasms - will see what they have to say about magnesium defficency as well.

      Thanks again both

       

  • C2Anna
    C2Anna tony38011

    Posted

    Your heart condition is also a strong sign of a low level of magnesium in your body. Please research magnesium and heart condition.. It is a very important supplement for those who have had previous heart attacks, arythmias (what i also had) and other heart condjtions. I no longer have heart arythmias, painful leg and body spasms, or fibromyalgia with the use of magnesium (glycinate). Doctors do not tell you that magnesium is responsible for so many conditions, that if not treated properly with magnesium develop into other dehabiltating conditions. Please do your own research on symptoms of low magnesium, and also what magnesium is responsible for. As ive said, magnesium levels cant be measured as only 1 percent shows up in blood labs. The rest is suppose to be in muscles, bones and nervous system which cant be measured. I wish you could be encouraged to research the knowledge as doctors dont treat the causes or look for the causes of disease.. which is the only way to get to the real problem.
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