Kickas.org Forums Ankylosing Spondylitis General Discussion #1 AS Web Support Group Calf pain anyone??

hi all,
this is only my second post but i have been checking in everyday and reading all the wonderful and helpful advice.

just a quick question:
i have very bad pain in my calves and it is getting increasingly difficult to walk any kind of distance at all. the pain is always there in the background but is much worse when i am standing and walking. this being said i am finding hard to do the required exercise and i feel as if i am in a catch 22. can't exercise, problems get worse!!

any ideas?

thanks in advance.

Christine

Years ago early in my battle with AS I'd play a round of golf and get brutal calf pains and charlie hrose like calf spasms.

I started drinking lots of water or gatoraide and never had them again. I know the pains from my As made my stride abnormal and I know that walking long distances was more difficult for me than other folks so the increased fluids and potassium alne shouldn't have worked but they did.

thanks steve

that could be my problem. i know i don't drink nearly enough water so i really need to increase my intake

christine

Hi Chirstine,

Calf pain is one of those things that can make for a rough day and night. I used to be a runner running three miles a day, then I would also ride a bicycle about everyday also. I would get cramps during the day, but nothing like the ones I would wake up with at all times during the night. Steve is right about the Gatorade it puts back some of the nutrients including magnesium our bodies need. I used to keep a bottle of quinine on hand also to take when the cramps would not go away. We can not get quinine here anymore not sure about there. Another thing that helps me is a drug called klonopin. I could take 2 to 4mg at night before going to bed and not have the first cramp during the night or the next day.

Brent

Christine,
I have pain in my upper calf, almost behind the knee. The PT said it is my popliteus, which is a small muscle which runs diagonally across the back of the knee. The pain sometimes spreads down into the calf or into the hamstring insertions, those tendons on the inside and just below the knee. It is slowly getting better. It's really weird what irritates it. I can't ride my regular bike, but my stationary bike is fine. There must be just enough difference in my biomechanics to make a difference in how my popliteus is engaged.

If you can't walk, you might find you can swim or water walk. An exercise bike could also be a possibility. You might try experimenting a little and see what you can tolerate.

Is yours more like muscle cramps or more like sore muscles?

Karen

hi karen.

it is more like sore muscles. they hurt all the time but when i tense them or walk etc it is much worse. maybe i'm just unfit!! but it has only been happening lately so i am not sure. i have an appt with a new rheumatologist in Jan so i am going to bring up everything, i just need to remember to take a list. a long one!!

christine

Hey Christine,

Is it just in the muscle or does your skin feel tender or burn to the touch? When my lumbar flares up my calves get sore and it feels like something is thumping me behind my knees. During thoose flare ups my skin feels tender and burns when I run my hands up and down my calf.

Brent

Christine,
There are lots of possibilities as to what could be wrong.

If it's more like muscle pain, I wonder if it's enthesitis, an inflammation where ligaments or tendons insert into bones. AS causes enthesitis. I have it all over.

It could also be intermittent claudication: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Intermittent_claudication
I don't know much about it, but I don't believe it's related to AS at all.

Good luck getting this figured out.

Karen