Hi, I've only just discovered this site and it has shed some light on why my husband keeps having muscle spasms.

He is not paralysed in any way, but has a spinal cord injury C5 and C6, he had an operation to help, but it hasn't. When he walks any distance or uses his hands/arms etc the tendons go really tight in his elbows and behind the knees and he says it is like really bad toothache, it has caused him to walk with a weird sort of limp and he has to keep stopping because of the intense pain. He also stumbles and falls. He takes a massive cocktail of tablets including baclofen and amitriptyline. He is determined to try to walk for as long as possible, even though the doctors estimate he will be wheelchair bound in a few years.

He is having trouble peeing and it is causing him high blood pressure which is also now controlled with tablets, but all the tablets are causing liver problems.

Now to top it of whereas he only used to have mild spasms he is now having really strong spasms especially in the evening and night time, his shoulders go really tight and then he starts shaking. They frighten you half to death and each one lasts a few minutes but they have been going on for hours at a time.

Does anyone else experience these symptoms and have you found anything to help ease them, it is driving him mad. (and leaving us both very tired)

He is still trying to work a few hours a day, but because all pain is internal people treat him as if he isn't really in as much pain as he says, just because he still wants to work.

Any advice would be great from others who know how he feels.

I have the same problem with my shoulder's and arms shaking (like a really fast vibration) especially when I go to bed. Has anyone recommended he try Botox injections? I had Botox injections in my legs, but it didn't seem to work well for me, but I heard it helps a lot of people. I only had it once, but usually it takes a couple of treatments to figure out the right dosage. It is given about once every 6 months. Hope this helps.

Thanks for the suggestion about botox, we watched a program about it yesterday for people who have spasms which weren't caused by spinal cord injury, some had two electrodes drilled into their brain also.

We are waiting to see the neurosurgeon again soon, so we will have to ask him.

Do you find it frightening and very little explanation about how, why and when, we do.

Keep in touch, I wish I had found this site earlier, we may get our sanity back now, at least we can speak to people who understand from his and my side of this situation.

Hello

I can't find the post I started recently, but I'm thinking of getting some straps to help keep my legs down when they go into spasm. My only reservation is that falling out of my chair is not an unusual occurance (I'm accident prone!! ) and I'm worried that if I have my legs strapped in when I fall out, the chair will come with me and I won't be able to get back up again!!

Has anyone got any ideas of what I can get? If there are any that would unlock if I were to fall etc?

Thanks!

Ali

you could try velcro staps or self release belts velcro works wonders. I use a lot of velcro when i have to keep my patients from falling out of chairs and self release belts are not considered a restraint