Left Leg Pain and Weakness 4+ Months

[GinniferLynne]

I continue to have pain and subjective feelings of weakness for about 4 months now in my left leg. My left thigh measures 0.25" (around knee) to 0.75" (fatest part where the thigh meets the torso) smaller than the right. These differences have continued to be this way for now about 3-4 months (since I measured them first)

In normal circumstances, like all the wise people on this board have previously said, differences in limb sizes can be normal but since there is more twitching, pain and feelings of weakness in the left leg, I continue to be concerned that the difference in measurements is due to atrophy.

My question is this :If this was atrophy, would there be a lot more change in 3-4 months i.e. the size difference increased a lot more ? Or, would one have to wait for a lot more time before atrophy as a cause of the size differences can be safely ruled out ?

It is distressing for me to stuggle with this. Thanks for reading and replying to my post.

 

[ydav3yat3s]

I feel for you SC. Please please please stop measuring yourself.

It's clear you're trapped in a rough bout of anxiety, and this is something you are dwelling on immensely. I'm not alone here in saying I've been there too. Try to face it head on and say "to heck with it, I won't measure myself anymore". Let these strange symptoms play out as they will....because that's exactly what they will do, they'll just play out, regardless of how many changes we make to our lifestyle or what types of medicines we take, we still have to live with the symptoms. They won't disappear no matter how much we will them to, and thankfully they're benign, and for many of us, they've subsided greatly over time.

As for your legs: (and no more measuring after this!). Think of people who break a limb and must be in a cast...usually the time frame for a cast is six weeks. I had a friend who had foot surgery in college. She was in a cast up to her knee for six weeks. When she got it off, the bottom half of her legs were almost freakishly different in size. Now this was just from inablility to use one of the legs due to the cast. Imagine how much further her leg would have atrophied if there was total nerve death.

Also imagine how much more atrophied her leg would have been after four months in a cast instead of six weeks.

Subjective weakness happens all the time to people, even without BFS. It can stem from any number of conditions, or purely from anxiety.

Try to put the thoughts out of your head. As long as you can take a step and do the most simple of neuro tests (like heel and toe walking), you are not 'clinically' weak.

You will reach a point, like many here, where you will find peace with BFS. When you reach that point, you'll find it's a blessing. It'll take time, and it will take proactive action on your part. i.e. Stop measuring and researching and dwelling....and instead just try to roll with it and live on despite the symptoms. That allows time to be your friend, and will get you that much closer to living peacefully with BFS. We're here to help you get there as fast as possible. You have to take some steps of your own though, and a great first step is to put that measuring tape away.

-Amy

 

[KrackerjacksyBeel]

Hi.

Maybe this will help.

My husband suffered a syndrome called cauda equine. A disk literally blew out and the "matter" went into his spinal chord and rested on the nerves.

Before surgery, he could not lift up on heel/toes (as the nerve was already damaged). Within ONE month, his calf muscle atrophied to 1/2 the size of his right calf. The sugeon told him after the nerve stops sending signals to the muscle, the atrophy is pretty fast.

I realize this is not exactly the same as a motor neuron disease, but it's not that far off from a nerve ending dying, etc.

Ginny

 

[vimini]

Thanks for your support and replies.

The problem is definitely not psychological or anxiety related. I do get kicked in the rear by my wife (a physician) to exercise but does one exercise with pain ?

Amy : what you talk about is disuse atrophy (that starts setting in within 2 weeks of not using the limb). However, the atrophy that happens in this disease is Neurotrophic. Anyway, I just pray that the leg differences will just stay that way.

Thanks for listening and replying (I cannot even begin on this subject at home - my wife just blows her fuse at the mention of the twitching or related subjects).