Muscle Spams and Neuropathy

Posted by jeanniem @jeanniem, Jun 10, 2021

I was diagnosed last year with small and large fiber neuropathy. Originally, the neurologist said that he thought it was a slow-moving peripheral neuropathy. Since then, it has been suggested that this is an atypical polyneuropathy. And things are advancing at a pretty regular basis.

One symptom that has increased significantly over the last couple of months is muscle spasms. I am having them in my lower leg and foot and there is one spasm in particular that just won't stop. It is beginning to last longer and longer. For those of you that have neuropathy, is this a common symptom?

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@jeanniem, You will notice that we changed the title of your discussion a little to better describe the discussion so members who have experience can share it with you. I have idiopathic small fiber PN and have had leg cramps and muscle spasms in the past but not as frequent as you are having. I know hydration can play a part in cramps and muscle spasms so I try to drink lots of water during the day. Another thing that helps me is to keep my legs moisturized with a good lotion to keep the skin from drying out. The peripheral nerves are close to the skin and I believe keeping the skin from drying out helps the nerves. Here's some information you might find helpful.

"Does neuropathy cause muscle spasms?
What are the symptoms of peripheral nerve damage? Symptoms are related to the type of nerves affected. Motor nerve damage is most commonly associated with muscle weakness. Other symptoms include painful cramps, fasciculations (uncontrolled muscle twitching visible under the skin) and muscle shrinking." --- Peripheral Neuropathy Fact Sheet | NIH: https://www.ninds.nih.gov/Disorders/Patient-Caregiver-Education/Fact-Sheets/Peripheral-Neuropathy-Fact-Sheet

"Mar 29, 2021 — In contrast, motor neuropathy will produce symptoms of muscle weakness, uncontrollable muscle twitching, loss of balance and reflexes, lack of ..." --- Peripheral Neuropathy Symptoms - News Medical: https://www.news-medical.net/health/Peripheral-Neuropathy-Symptoms.aspx

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Hi. Very sport to hear about your symptoms 😢🙏🏻 It’s truly awful when it starts. I’ve been sick 20 plus yrs but only got real bad after my second surgery. I’ve been on very strong meds since n now supplements too. I can barely move. Try to get massage any way possible in th bad places.
Magnesium oil is good.
Calendula oil or evening Primrose good fr muscle pain.
Heat n soaking in epsom
Herbals fr pain. ( recommended by an alternative med Therapist at my pain dr)
Primrose oil ( I take 3 3 x/ day) 1300 mg. U can start lower n see how u feel.
Lemmon balm (1 cap 1-3 / day)
Kava ( this one aggravates some folks so start low. Mine are 800). Also helps tremors n twitchies . Mine are constant.
Get the best gravity osmosis water filter u can afford. Toxins makes all this worse.
Organic food as much as u can. It’s hard when u can’t cook. My husband is a blessing. He’s switching too because he’s had cancer.
B vitamins ( whole food). Easy on the gut n has made a big difference.
Whole food vitamins only.
Alpha Lipoic Acid 1 cap 1-2 / day (helps pins n needles) mine r so bad it makes me cry. Burns like I’m on fire.
I Joe this helps honey.
Read, read, read. I take some prescriptions but trying to get away from mainstream Drs. I can’t get anyone to even test me all this time. Prayers fr u honey. Do your best to read naturopathic n holistic Drs.
Acidic body ph makes it worse too.
Blessings🙏🏻

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I have atypical sensory and motor polyneuropathy caused by the Pfizer vaccine. My initial symptom was muscle spasms in my foot, which began within 2 weeks of the first vaccination. I did not get the booster, and my nerves are healing and my symptoms are improving.

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I have SFN and polyneuropathy. My feet and toes cramp so hard that they curl under. I haven't found anything that helps. I take 8 mg tizandine at bedtime . That helps knock out everything overnight but I can't take it during the day because it makes me sleepy. Some people may think that is a lot but I have been on it for over 10 years.

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Muscle spasms are incredibly abundant in polyneuropathy, neuropathy of any type from my understanding. Mine is severe and profound therefore I feel Burning all over. Fortunately during the lunchtime and until around 8 o’clock the pain level is only around a number seven, after that it shoots up to a hard number 10+ just started taking alpha lipoid acid but came across website information which showed that it’s given intravenously for three weeks and a dose of 600 mg for nerve pain. That’s the next question on my pain management doctor and he won’t let me try anything because we don’t have anything presentlyThat’s affective against the profound nerve pain, narcotics don’t touch it nor muscle relaxers.

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Slightly different topic, but I have started having (mild) jerking and twitching in my hands, but only in the mornings. I can feel it in my thighs also, but with my hands, I can see a visible twitch. It goes away after the first hour of the day. I think it might be myoclonus, but my neurologist isn’t ready to call it that. I am also having a test today (VNG) to see if my new morning dizziness is possibly inner ear. I’m afraid these two new symptoms are a sign of my SFN progressing.

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@budreaux

Muscle spasms are incredibly abundant in polyneuropathy, neuropathy of any type from my understanding. Mine is severe and profound therefore I feel Burning all over. Fortunately during the lunchtime and until around 8 o’clock the pain level is only around a number seven, after that it shoots up to a hard number 10+ just started taking alpha lipoid acid but came across website information which showed that it’s given intravenously for three weeks and a dose of 600 mg for nerve pain. That’s the next question on my pain management doctor and he won’t let me try anything because we don’t have anything presentlyThat’s affective against the profound nerve pain, narcotics don’t touch it nor muscle relaxers.

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Welcome @budreaux, Thanks for posting. You are not alone trying to navigate possible treatments to help with the pain from all of the different neuropathies. It's good to see that you are advocating for yourself and working with your doctor. It's good to ask questions. Here are a few references you might find helpful:

Information on alpha lipoic acid:
--Linus Pauling Institute » Micronutrient Information Center:
https://lpi.oregonstate.edu/mic/dietary-factors/lipoic-acid

The Foundation for Peripheral Neuropathy has a list of supplements that help with neuropathy pain included in their list of complementary and alternative treatments:
-- Complementary and Alternative Treatments:
https://www.foundationforpn.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/08/Complementary-and-Alternative-Treatments-Revised-2020-final.-1.pdf

Google Scholar (https://scholar.google.com/) is a great tool for finding medical research links and has the ability to sort the links by year to get the latest information.

Have you done any research on alpha lipoic acid?

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@julbpat

Slightly different topic, but I have started having (mild) jerking and twitching in my hands, but only in the mornings. I can feel it in my thighs also, but with my hands, I can see a visible twitch. It goes away after the first hour of the day. I think it might be myoclonus, but my neurologist isn’t ready to call it that. I am also having a test today (VNG) to see if my new morning dizziness is possibly inner ear. I’m afraid these two new symptoms are a sign of my SFN progressing.

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Just throwing this out, have you had Covid or vaccination?

Many people are experiencing “new” “odd” things in their bodies after having Covid or vaccinated.

After vaccination, I started with chest pains, shortness of breath, dead leg, and then joint pain severe in both wrists. The next morning I woke with carpal tunnel in both hands (never had any symptoms prior) my hands and forearms were so swollen and I couldn’t use them!

A week later I started having twitching and muscle spasms, numbness in legs.

A year later, unemployed, selling my house, and no answers for anything I’ve been going through.

Many Drs say it’s from the vaccine but have no advice on what or where to get help for my debilitating symptoms!

Hoping you get better and not worse. Having strange things happening within your body is terrible!

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@pacer3702

I have atypical sensory and motor polyneuropathy caused by the Pfizer vaccine. My initial symptom was muscle spasms in my foot, which began within 2 weeks of the first vaccination. I did not get the booster, and my nerves are healing and my symptoms are improving.

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This is fantastic news! I have had terrible trouble after vaccination and went a month or so improving after months of specialist and tests! I’m currently battling terrible neuropathy again extreme weakness.

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Hello,

I’ve had zero symptoms of neuropathy until I was vaccinated.

Did your neuropathy increase after getting Covid or vaccination?

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