Falls accelerate progression?

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Gorby

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Joined
Nov 5, 2015
Messages
114
Reason
DX UMND/PLS
Diagnosis
08/2015
Country
CA
State
BC
City
Vancouver
I try not to fall, but it happens now and again. My latest was 3 weeks ago. This time I broke my collarbone. The collarbone is healing nicely, but I seem to have lost an unusual amount of function in my arms and legs. Has anyone else noticed a jump in their progression after a trauma (physical or otherwise)? If so, is there any hope that my arms and legs will return to their previous levels after my body heals from the injury?
 
I'm sorry to hear about your fall (remember our #1 rule!) and hope the healing continues. Some people return to baseline and others do not. It would be hard to predict, but nutrition, hydration, respiratory support (if you need it), extra sleep/rest, avoiding exertion, massage/heat for microcirculation and gentle/non-exhausting range of motion/stretching exercise would be some of the approaches to improve the odds. A little extra protein powder in a shake, avoiding high sugar/fat/fiber foods that take a lot of energy to take in/digest, things like that. Pretend you have the flu.

Has the loss of function been linear over the last 3 weeks or was there a sudden drop the day after your fracture?
 
My Chris had many falls, and 2 of them with serious injuries.

I'm afraid that these 2 falls did indeed hasten progression. He did heal to a degree, but he ruptured the main tendon in the shoulder of his good arm and the joint froze up very quickly. Even with heat, magnesium and then on to massage and ROM once the pain settled that became his bad arm and was the first to become completely useless when it had been the slower progressing side.

I'm sorry to hear you had this injury. It is just so important to listen to your health team and carers as they warn that you are unsafe (meaning you in the general sense, talking to all PALS). A single fall can change the quality of life you will have for the rest of your life and they happen so suddenly.

My Chris used to think that he was alright if he just concentrated hard enough. He couldn't quite grasp that even if that were true, it only took a split second of not concentrating fully and he was over and injured.

I hope you can regain some of what you lose.
 
I have PLS so my progression is (thankfully) more subtle than with ALS. But, the fall did seem to cause a sudden change (i.e. the day after). I went from occasionally using a cane to feeling like I need a walker. Part of that I'm sure is psychological (fear of falling again), but also I am getting more spasticity in all my limbs. Maybe it is my body's way of saying that I should have been using a walker in the first place.

Thanks for suggesting the protein shakes. I have to confess that I've always been prone to skipping meals.
 
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