Stride/gate

[Shel]

Hi,
I’ve noticed I don’t keep up with my husband while walking anymore-and i feel “off “ when Just walking. It’s a weird thing. Anyone else??

 

[sunkacola]

Hi Shel,

do you mean gait? (gate is what you open to get into the yard )

Sometimes my gait is off. It's a thing that my hips do, and I don't know how to explain it to anyone, it's just a weird thing, and it's more a discomfort and disfunction thing than actually caused by serious pain. I know it makes me walk in an ungainly way. Can you tell if it is coming from your hips or your back, or feet or what?

As for not keeping up, well that's not unusual at all. When a person is in pain, they tend to move more slowly. Although, I do find that if I start out a walk slowly and then gradually build up to a brisker pace, it almost invariably makes me feel better.

 

[Shel]

Yeah, sorry gait. I just sort of feel un balanced. I don’t feel it coming from anywhere. I just walk differently now. I suppose I walk slower because of the constant low level pain.

 

[JayCS]

I can't remember whether it was fibro or the jabs when I stopped being able to walk with my wife. Except for short very slow walks I usually need my cycle. A week or two ago I managed 30' fairly slowly.
Regarding gait my wife said she thought I walked strangely when she first met me, possibly that was from my back/spine. When the orthopedists checked me, they did find that my spine is slightly more crooked than I thought.
But in the meantime I feel I have several reasons additionally, of course local pains in knee or feet, usually one-sided, then generally the Ache, but also like you say unbalanced, not feeling it coming from anywhere. Sometimes I also feel it's in my head, feeling "off" in my head. So I often practice walking in a normal "cool" way.
Plus since my severe vertigo attack I am supposed to practice tight rope walk to train my sense of balance. Sometimes I have an imbalance from maybe a slight dizziness, previously to that I thought it was my body being imbalanced, and now sometimes I feel no dizziness but I still have to put my arms to the side like when walking tight rope to make sure I don't fall (like manouevring in the garden).

So if you're wondering if there's anything to do, what I do first is try to influence it in my head, relax/un-tense my muscles all over, twist-stretch legs but also arms, and what I do generally is all kinds of exercises. I used to take more breaks when walking, putting feet up, but my wife prefers me to take the bike.

 

[Shel]

Thank you for your response and understanding. I too, stretch multiple times daily. I feel my muscles tightening up. Yesterday I worked in a nursery for 2 hrs. Eight under the age of 2. Needless to say, I’m shot. I’m thankful that I feel ok while I’m living life-it’s just afterwards.

 

[SweetWithSour]

Oh my gosh yes! I'm always asking "why are we running?" He has started slowing down for me now, most of the times, and on my very slow days he'll lovingly take my arm providing some extra stability, but more of a way for me to set our walking tempo

 

[Shel]

Yes!

 

[dw1256]

and i feel “off “ when Just walking

I have been experiencing this for years now. Sometimes when walking with my wife and daughter I feel like I could just fall over. I don't know if it is actually noticeable to anyone.

 

[Shel]

It is something we notice that others with us may not at first. I’m sorry you’re experiencing. Glad to know we’re in this weird thing together. Have a terrific day!

 

[BlueBells]

Hi,
I’ve noticed I don’t keep up with my husband while walking anymore-and i feel “off “ when Just walking. It’s a weird thing. Anyone else??

I have been experiencing this for years now. Sometimes when walking with my wife and daughter I feel like I could just fall over. I don't know if it is actually noticeable to anyone.

Hi @Shel , @dw1256

I've always preferred walking by myself as sometimes I walk quite quickly, but other times slower is about my limit, as I feel a wee bit off balance, or find I wobble a bit.

Like @dw1256 , I also feel like I may just fall, and at times over the years I have, but that's when I've tried to keep pace with others. That was mostly during school years. I've been like this for as long as I can remember.

Actually, I'd describe it like the legs go jelly-wobbly and seem to tangle each other. Rather embarrassing.

Interesting thread you've started, @Shel

 

[Shel]

It’s hard because I have certain markers for MS, but not enough to diagnose. (Too much to write. Lol) So, I’m always hoping to hear from fibromyalgia friends. That helps me feel less afraid that what I have may be MS. Thanks for your response.

 

[BlueBells]

Hi @Shel

You've been here about a year longer than I have. I am already feeling so much more positive, just knowing I am not so alone. I understand your comment about hearing from fibro friends.

It sort of feels like "coming home" (to the little gremlins )

I was actually checked for MS, bipolar, spoke about dementia and Alzheimer's. When I was 12, doc just said "bad nerves" and put me on high dose valium! That was around 1968. No idea what's changed, probably Ritalin would be the go-to drug now. I think there is a bit of ADD in there, not diagnosed, but the boxes tick. Might just be fibro

 

[Shel]

It’s so difficult, isn’t it?! I’m very thankful that my new normal of pain, still allows me to function for the most part. There’s limitations and recovery days, but I still feel fortunate. Have a wonderful day!!

 

[JayCS]

I feel like I could just fall over. I don't know if it is actually noticeable to anyone.

It is something we notice that others with us may not at first.

I'd describe it like the legs go jelly-wobbly and seem to tangle each other. Rather embarrassing.

Yeah, like you Shel to me there seems to be a margin where only I feel it, or my wife, but since my vertigo attack I'm taking it more seriously and spreading my arms out to keep balance when it gets too much, and that's when everyone gets it. That's not during usual walking, but manoeuvring around something. Getting on and off my more sporty bikes needs to be carefully prepared, so I keep away from cars and usually close to walls for that.

Your description BlueBells fits to me as well. Except embarrassing: good to lose that mode completely, and I have. Firstly by putting self-care first. Secondly because it makes my invisible condition visible. Thirdly because feeling embarrassed doesn't help, it worsens.

Going deeper I've been noticing this with how I drop or almost drop things, so an arm thing too (of course?). The rest is pretty detailed, short version:
Dropping things like wobbly walking is to me a (brain-)body-foggy (impaired proprioception), but with the arm fog I tend to improve for the worse, and best for me in the end seems to be to just "let it go" and keep calm.

I put dropping things under "Foggies" on my blog a few days ago. Then wondered if it isn't more "body fog" than "brain fog". Since it's got to do with proprioception, "the sense of self-movement, force, and body position." This "is mediated by ... neurons located within muscles, tendons, and joints." So at the moment I'm thinking it may be best to think of it as "brain-body-fog".
For others this might not be so conspicuous, but my brain is able to do so much thinking when it's left to itself, but when it has to interact with other people via direct talking (remembering words) or with my body, that's when the fog starts. So I can't say I have brain fog. Either it's body fog, or brain-body-fog. I'm not sure how much brain is actually involved. And what we sense I think matters more than how scientists describe proprioception. But it seems technically parts of the brain are involved, however not as we tend to think of brain fog as more the conscious part.

Now dropping things I get something a bit different with my arms than my legs:
When I try to move something the body fog can nowadays often make me slightly misjudge where it is or where I'm wanting to put it. However additionally to that I sense that and when I try to correct it, it always falls and so I feel it actually usually makes it worse. I can react either placid or with a small gasp which makes my wife overreact "what's up, what's up?", which also just irritates additionally, cos it doesn't help. Talking about it helps calm the reactions about the reactions. If I were as careful as when I'm getting on or off a bike, it wouldn't happen, I'd prepare focus, everything in me would concentrate - probably increasing strain, blood pressure, overdoing it. As it is I usually just let it happen, and try not to be annoyed, even if it actually is annoying, even if it might take me more time and strain, because the chances are fair that it won't happen and the strain of considering what might happen every second I am moving wouldn't be appropriate....
My wife is sometimes amazed how calmly I just wipe the stuff up slowly, without the least wince. If she gets uptight, I just say I'm doing my best and try not to even wince inside from that either.

 

[Shel]

Yes! So nicely put. Thank you. Yes, I feel the need to take more time to process getting off a bike etc. I refer to it as I feel less coordination, too.