By Silvia on Monday, June 18, 2001 - 04:26 pm:

Hi,

I recently diagnosed with HMS. At first it started as pain in my low back/hips and right leg. But now
I'm experiencing pain in upper back, neck, shoulders, knee/foot. I was pain free less than a year ago and in a matter of months all this chronic pain came about. Is this normal with HMS? (getting pain in so many places in a short period)

Also, besides the pain I get trembling sensations inside my body around my joints. Does anyone else get this? A nurse at my doctors office said they are due to the weak ligaments.

And one more question. Is it normal for the pain to radiate. The pain in my knee causes radiating pain down my leg, I don't understand why this happens since the problem is supposed to be at the joint.

Any input would be appreciated,

Thanks,
Silvia

By Gwen on Tuesday, June 19, 2001 - 04:49 pm:

Silvia, from what I have been told having pain
radiating is very common. It is usually a result
of both a joint being out of,alignment and causing
extra stress on the joints above and below it and
also from the nerve that passes through the joint
being pinched by the misaligned bone.

I also get the trembling, particularly in my legs
at night. I find after this that my legs feel
weak and sore as if I have been doing hard
physical exercise such as cycling or climbing a
steep slope.

Another symptom I have started to experience over
the last year or so is twitching muscles. It
started in my calf muscle, just one particular
group of muscle fibres would twitch (and I could
see it happening) for about 10 seconds. Now it is
happening in more fibre groups in my legs, my arms
and on my torso. It is only brief but quite an
irritating sensation when it happens.

I find that all my symptoms vary both in intensity
and distribution around my body. I can have
periods with very little pain and only in one area
then it will either spread to many joints or stop
in one place and start up somewhere else.

I don't think it is a seasonal variation either.
Warm weather doesn't necessarily improve it nor
winter make it worse. I suspect there are more
subtle causes such as barometric pressure,
humidity and changes withing my body caused by
hormonal fluctuations.

By nicolene on Tuesday, June 26, 2001 - 06:15 am:

Could HMS have any effect on your eyes ??

By silvia on Wednesday, June 27, 2001 - 11:15 am:

Nicoline,

It may have an effect on your eyes if you have a hypermobile neck. This can cause a syndrome known as Barre-lieou and one of the possible symptoms of barre lieou is blurred vision. I'm not sure if this is what you might be experiencing. I was diagnosed with barre lieou by my doctor who explained to me it was due to the loose ligaments on my neck.

By helen on Thursday, July 26, 2001 - 05:04 pm:

hi i was diagnoised with hms this week the pain is in my knees wrist and elbow all on the right side of my body. is this normal to be one sided or will it continue to spread. this was the first time i have heard of hms and am a bit confused as my dr has reffered me to a phisiotherapist and also to have insteps made for my shoes any advice most welcome

By Mei on Friday, July 27, 2001 - 06:21 am:

Hi Helen,

Could it be you are lefthanded? Often symptoms start on your non-dominant side. Most of my problems start left (I am righthanded) but gradually spread to my right too. Physiotherapy can do a lot of good but when the therapist doensn't understand hypermobility it can also do a lot of damage. If the therapy causes injury it is not good. If the therapist takes it at your body's pace it may actually prevent problems. I loved my insteps they helped me a lot before I needed special shoes.

By Emma F on Thursday, August 02, 2001 - 03:18 am:

Helen,

I too get the pain mostly down my right side, but am right-handed so kinda contradicting what Mei has said above. However, I know my spine is not fully straight, and has a slight curvature to one side, I am thinking this could be part of the problem. I think the body compensates for that curvature, so puts more weight and pressure on one side of the body. I do get pain on my left, but nowhere near as much as the right; I have ankle swelling and extreme pain in the left SI joint.

I hope this gives a little light on the subject!!
EMS