havng to fight yourself to walk sounds like at least
mild cp to me. i am no dr. 

--- Mary Katherine Powers <[log in to unmask]> wrote:

> I still wonder that.  I hope you don't mind all
> these emails.  it's 
> hard to talk to people IRL because they - I don't
> know - just usually 
> tell me to move on with it.  except for my
> therapist, who has wondered 
> about the CP also.
> 
> this sounds strange, but what I HATE the most is
> that when I walk, I 
> fight myself.  I guess this is stiffness?  My lower
> legs front (shins?) 
> don't want to move and I have to push them.  It's
> this battle of who 
> will win, me or my legs, and I'm telling you, I feel
> absolutely 
> ridiculous because I'm talking about walking a city
> block or two at a 
> slow pace.  but I'm in this fight; does that make
> any sense?  the 
> harder I push, the worse it gets.  I'm hoping the
> stretching will help. 
>  it's seemed to help so far.
> 
> I had a scary experience last week where I took two
> short walks two 
> days in a row (Mon and Tues) and on Wed when I woke
> up, I felt like 
> someone beat me with a baseball bat.  I was stiff
> from my lower back 
> down to my ankles, and eventually the stiffness
> traveled upward to my 
> neck and I got a bad headache.  *everything* hurt. 
> stretching seemed 
> to help with that, but I had a hard time with
> climbing stairs, taing a 
> shower, moving from a sitting to a standing position
> and back again, 
> and just about everything.
> 
> sometimes when my hands get tired I feel like I'm
> fighting them too to 
> get the typing done, but I have much better arm/hand
> use than leg.
> 
> I just don't like feeling that I'm in a fight when I
> walk.  Is that 
> stupid?
> 
> MK
> 
> -----Original Message-----
> From: [log in to unmask]
> To: [log in to unmask]
> Sent: Fri, 1 Sep 2006 9:14 PM
> Subject: Re: I'm new here - muscle stiffness
> 
>     Mary, you might just have a weird case of C.P.,
> because Premature 
> birth,
> balance, co-ordination and stiffness problems are
> symptoms of C.P., and 
> mild
> C.P. can sometimes fool doctors.  Each case of C.P.
> is as individual as 
> the
> individual.
> 
> -----Original Message-----
>  From: Cerebral Palsy List
> [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf 
> Of
> Mary Katherine Powers
> Sent: Friday, September 01, 2006 8:19 PM
> To: [log in to unmask]
> Subject: I'm new here - muscle stiffness
> 
> Hello,
> 
> I hope you don't mind my being on this list.  I'm
> new.  I do not have
> CP, but I have issues with chronic muscle stiffness
> that cause pain and
> make movement difficult.  I'm doing physical therapy
> for it.  I was
> hoping to get some suggestions on dealing with
> muscle stiffness that
> might help.
> 
> what I can do is limited, so the stretches have to
> be really gentle.
> I've tried doing stretches too hard and had a lot of
> trouble moving
> after that.  I've been told to take it easy and
> build up slowly.
> 
> I have chronic pain in my legs, back, neck,
> shoulders, arms, and
> occasionally fingers.  I'm overweight and I've been
> told that although
> that does not help, it's not the cause of the
> problem.  I was told I
> was out of shape because people much more overweight
> than I am have
> more mobility.  I agree with this, but my muscles
> have always been
> stiff.  It's just the way I am.
> 
> I can walk but it is difficult.  I'm hoping the PT
> will make it easier.
> 
> Also, I was a preemie (11 weeks early) and I have
> the typical balance,
> coordination, etc. problems.  my vision is not great
> and I have no
> depth perception.  that really is not the problem
> though, it's the
> muscle stiffness that gets to me.
> 
> any suggestions on dealing with muscle stiffness
> would be appreciated.
> when I tried googling it, all kinds of information
> on all kinds of
> different conditions, like Parkinson's, came up,
> none of which I have.
> 
> another strange thing, and I was wondering if anyone
> could comment, is
> that I've had no luck going to "regular" PTs who
> were recommended by my
> doctors.  they are at places like "sports and
> spinal" and some other
> group, and they tend to be very cursory, don't
> understand what I'm
> talking about, and then circle a couple stretches on
> a piece of paper
> and tell me to do them, and usually I can't do the
> stretches they want.
>   It's weird.  I went to someone today at a place
> called Pain and
> Rehabilitation Medicine and I spent $250.00 for an
> appoinment that
> lasted about an hour.  It was like night and day -
> he was excellent.
> he does not take insurance and still he has a
> waiting list about 2
> months long.
> 
> Any experiences like that, where the "regular" PT
> places recommended by
> doctors just don't work?  I find that odd, like they
> should know a bit
> more about what they are doing.
> 
> thanks,
> 
> Mary Katherine
>
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