Muscle Weakness- is this typical of ME/CFS?

[kristianshaw]

Hi guys,

I've been ill now for a good 7 years and I'm 26 now. I've never really spoken to any other sufferers, although I float around on the forums every now and again but don't contribute often, not sure why! Anyways, I wanted to ask people for their experiences of muscle weakness around the body. By weakness i mostly mean where there is an obvious feeling of weakness all over, but also localised shaking or shivering of the muscles under exertion. For example, when i walk down stairs, my calf and thigh muscles shiver on my legs, as if they arent strong enough to support my body. If i try and do sit ups, my abdominal muscles also shake. Exertion makes it a lot worse, like if I'm tensing muscles to carry something with my arms for a few minutes, directly afterwards my arms feel like jelly, and if I pick anything up or even hold my arm out straight its very shaky.

Is this a typical symptom of M.E? Do you guys get this to the same severity? Its one of the most bothersome symptoms for me as it's a constant reminder throughout the day of the condition.

Thanks in advance

Kristian

 

[kristianshaw]

edit: sorry admin this should be in symptoms forum - ive posted a new one, please delete this

 

[joshi81]

i have it too muscle trembling on exertion.... have been tested for miopathy???

 

[alex3619]

Trembling on exertion seems uncommon in ME, but its not unheard of. Muscle weakness itself, particular delayed after a muscle challenge, is not only normal its probably a defining feature. It appears in ME definitions.

There are however probably a few diseases and genetic disorders that can give rise to similar symptoms. This requires a doctor who has knowledge of such disorders, which can be hard to find.

 

[Allyson]

Hi guys,

I've been ill now for a good 7 years and I'm 26 now. I've never really spoken to any other sufferers, although I float around on the forums every now and again but don't contribute often, not sure why! Anyways, I wanted to ask people for their experiences of muscle weakness around the body. By weakness i mostly mean where there is an obvious feeling of weakness all over, but also localised shaking or shivering of the muscles under exertion. For example, when i walk down stairs, my calf and thigh muscles shiver on my legs, as if they arent strong enough to support my body. If i try and do sit ups, my abdominal muscles also shake. Exertion makes it a lot worse, like if I'm tensing muscles to carry something with my arms for a few minutes, directly afterwards my arms feel like jelly, and if I pick anything up or even hold my arm out straight its very shaky.

Is this a typical symptom of M.E? Do you guys get this to the same severity? Its one of the most bothersome symptoms for me as it's a constant reminder throughout the day of the condition.

Thanks in advance

Kristian

Trembing on exertion is common in EDS though Kristian - I get it an weakness magnesium helps somewhat

do yu get ill afterwards too - PEM?

Ally

 

[Forbin]

This sounds a lot like what I experienced early in the disease - an odd sort of tremulousness in the muscles as though they'd reached the point of exhaustion. Imagine holding a heavy weight in your extended arm for a prolonged period. At some point your arm just begins to quiver and fail. It was like that except there wasn't the intense muscle pain that stressing your arm in that way would likely cause. It was mostly mild tremor and was probably most apparent at rest as a visible tremor in my hands, which I could not steady.

I experienced this most severely beginning within days of onset, so it clearly wasn't from de-conditioning. My legs occasionally seemed on the verge of collapse as well. I'd had the flu a couple of weeks prior to onset, so my physician thought it was some kind of reactive hypoglycemia occurring in the wake of a viral infection. Subsequent glucose tolerance tests, however, failed to show anything abnormal.

I believe that this all later settled down into a fairly constant sense of (mostly) internal "shakiness," very much like something I had previously experienced with strong cases of the flu. It would get worse when I used my muscles. This is pretty much what I would describe as "muscle weakness," but it may be different for others. It was, however, just one of a myriad symptoms I came down with at the same time.

Still, even if this sounds familiar, I would obviously recommend getting it professionally evaluated so as to rule out some other possible cause.

 

[Mij]

@kristianshaw do you also feel out of breath when this happens? I've experience muscle weakness, shakiness and trembling mostly in my leg muscles, but I think it comes on when I'm in a viral state, although sometimes it's difficult to know for sure.

 

[Aerose91]

@kristianshaw do you also feel out of breath when this happens? I've experience muscle weakness, shakiness and trembling mostly in my leg muscles, but I think it comes on when I'm in a viral state, although sometimes it's difficult to know for sure.

I have exactly this, and frequently out of breath from the slightest things. All of which, including chronic muscle weakness seem to get worse the less I sleep

 

[Mij]

@Aerose91 what helped me with this was loading up on magnesium.

 

[Aerose91]

@Mij

Thank you. My doctor has me on an electrolyte mix but I don't think it's enough It will be great if it's that simple!

 

[Allyson]

I have exactly this, and frequently out of breath from the slightest things. All of which, including chronic muscle weakness seem to get worse the less I sleep

getting short of breath on minimal exertion is called exertional dypsnea - I have it too - due to POTS I think

Ally

 

[Aerose91]

@Allyson
The more I learn about this disease the more seems to be centered around dysautonomia. Without this we would have a much, much easier time