IhavePLS
Distinguished member
- Joined
- Apr 17, 2011
- Messages
- 279
- Reason
- DX UMND/PLS
- Diagnosis
- 12/2010
- Country
- US
- State
- Pennsylvania
- City
- SW
Hi all,
In the thread started by ShiftKicker, some of us mentioned the strangeness of this disease, and how oddly unfamiliar the symptoms can be. Along these lines, are you able to describe what walking is really like for you? How does it feel? Can you describe the feeling/ sensations you have when walking? Do you have a "scissors-like" gait? Does spasticity increase the longer you walk?
I do not have a scissors-like gait, but I do walk at times as if I'm very slightly drunk. It's not a staggering ("Wow...that guy drank way too much, man!...it's a wonder he can even walk!") kind of gait, but it's one that I feel. I'm usually OK when I first starting walking, but after I've walked a block or two, my pace slows, my steps become shorter, and each step doesn't feel the same as it used to feel in the "good ol' days"-- rather, I have the feeling that I'm "balancing" on my legs. Sometimes subtle, and at other times not, my legs feel like they're not wanting to move straight forward, but they seem to want to flop to the left or to the right (***) I suppose that when people say they have "bad balance," they must be referring to this sensation (?).
I was really taken aback by this bad balance "sensation" -- it feels really strange. Add to the tendency of the legs to "wander," the spasticity, pain, and leg heaviness, and presto: You have just described the plight of a walking PLSer!
My mother-in-law has "balance" issues - but she never really complains about them. I suppose I've taken her balance issues for granted over the years, but now I wonder: Is this the same sensation that she has felt every day for so many years? If so, it goes to show that you never really "get it" until you've actually "got it" (bad balance, that is).
Thanks! Mike
*** I hope this is not a descriptor of a "scissors-like gait" -- or the beginnings of one!
In the thread started by ShiftKicker, some of us mentioned the strangeness of this disease, and how oddly unfamiliar the symptoms can be. Along these lines, are you able to describe what walking is really like for you? How does it feel? Can you describe the feeling/ sensations you have when walking? Do you have a "scissors-like" gait? Does spasticity increase the longer you walk?
I do not have a scissors-like gait, but I do walk at times as if I'm very slightly drunk. It's not a staggering ("Wow...that guy drank way too much, man!...it's a wonder he can even walk!") kind of gait, but it's one that I feel. I'm usually OK when I first starting walking, but after I've walked a block or two, my pace slows, my steps become shorter, and each step doesn't feel the same as it used to feel in the "good ol' days"-- rather, I have the feeling that I'm "balancing" on my legs. Sometimes subtle, and at other times not, my legs feel like they're not wanting to move straight forward, but they seem to want to flop to the left or to the right (***) I suppose that when people say they have "bad balance," they must be referring to this sensation (?).
I was really taken aback by this bad balance "sensation" -- it feels really strange. Add to the tendency of the legs to "wander," the spasticity, pain, and leg heaviness, and presto: You have just described the plight of a walking PLSer!
My mother-in-law has "balance" issues - but she never really complains about them. I suppose I've taken her balance issues for granted over the years, but now I wonder: Is this the same sensation that she has felt every day for so many years? If so, it goes to show that you never really "get it" until you've actually "got it" (bad balance, that is).
Thanks! Mike
*** I hope this is not a descriptor of a "scissors-like gait" -- or the beginnings of one!