Husband in his 40s almost can't walk and we don't know why

[CeciliaMars]

My husband is in his late 40s and is almost unable to walk the dog anymore, can barely put his own socks on and is going to have to give up his manual job. He has pain in his back, hips and legs, but it's not the pain so much that's the problem as the weakness and the feeling that he's dragging one side of his body. He also feels 'out of line' so that he over-compensates on one side of his body as the other is weak.
He has had an MRI, scans on his back and hips - and nothing has explained these problems. He has seen so many osteopaths, chiropractors, physios etc, and although they can temporarily relieve some of his discomfort, there is no answer as to why this is happening. Husband is increasingly depressed about this and is talking about needing a wheelchair in later life.
He ran lots of marathons in his younger years, and I wonder whether he's just done damage that is deteriorating over time, but it's frustrating that this is affecting so much of our lives without any real explanation. Has anyone got any advice or been in a similar situation? Thanks so much for reading.

Autoimmune illnesses can present like this.

Is he also stiff? I have just been reading about stiff person syndrome which Céline Dion has which creates pain in the areas you mention and trouble walking. Its an autoimmune response so I am guessing requires a blood test testing for autoimmune levels.

I find acupuncturists help with autoimmune issues.

I had a similar reaction to a live flu jab in 2003.

Also long Covid from March 20 and a massive crash from mild Covid June 22.

To me vaccine and post viral illnesses are exactly the same thing.

Something else to add to the list of possibilities- ankylosing spondylitis. I know someone who had/has this, it was awful but I'm glad to say they have a very effective treatment and are basically 'back to normal' now. Good luck

I was going to say this. A friend of mine, also 40s at the time, had very similar symptoms, especially the relatively slow onset culminating in barely being able to walk. He was diagnosed with MS but diagnosis was pretty quick so maybe this has already been tested for/discounted by the GP. I hope you get some answers very soon, OP. 💐

This advice is sound lumbar puncture needed weird infections can cause these symptoms too.

stayathomegardner flu vaccines are inactivated (nasal flu excepted). I've been giving them over 25 years and never known any to be live.

www.cdc.gov/flu/prevent/nasalspray.htm

Have they tested for Kennedys disease?

Polymyalgia is a possibility maybe??

Go to GP.
Get CT scan - rule out stroke as this can cause one sided weakness
Full blood count - see if there is any sign of inflammation (inflammation can sometimes affect the nerves that come off the spine. Undiagnosed bacterial infections can cause havoc.
Neurology opinion - full neurological examination
Check for deficiencies: B12, Vitamin D, Folic acid, Calcium, Magnesium, Iron
Check for Coeliac disease (late stage Coeliac (untreated) can lead to ataxia - not as well known as other symptoms it can also affect the brain.
Hopefully he has not been inhaling laughing gas? This can lead to some neurological problems as the gas affects the Cobalamin part of B12.
If rule out all possible medical, consider psychosomatic cause. What might person gain by not walking and needing a wheelchair. May not be conscious and may be vehemently denied, e.g. not doing something, getting something else (i.e. benefits of being in the 'sick role' - attention, special treatment, not having to do stuff, etc, etc.

I have functional neurological disorder, very similar to my symptoms.

Nasal flu spray only given up to age 18 in this country and only introduced in 2012- 2013.

I assume stroke and MS have been ruled out. Probably not but sometimes phycological issues such as extreme depression can cause the body to shut down - my son is currently in hospital as he was unable to walk or move and been diagnosed with autistic catatonia.

IME Sometimes people get this vaccine if they cannot be given the other one.

But pp said given in 2003?

Check out POEMS syndrome. Fairly rare I believe but I know of someone with it and they had similar problems with their legs which was a real puzzle to the doctors.

Have you thought about Lyme disease?

I know someone who had this and it took the doctors 15 yrs to realise it was spinal stenosis. Basically pressure on the nerve caused by shrinking bones in spine. It should show up on MRI but not until very advanced.

Good luck xx

Something similar happened to a friend at that age and it turned out to be something akin to Parkinsons. Adding my voice to the ‘private neuro consult’ suggestion, if that is an option.

I'd see a neurologist asap. My dad went like this and the nhs dismissed it. It was MND. Hope your dh is ok

When I said autoimmune illness I forgot to say look up polymyositis. That’s the one I would suspect.

I agree with the advice to go back to your GP, review what's been looked at so far, and discuss getting a referral. My thought is probably neurology but if your GP thinks rheumatology that's reasonable too.

Several reasonable potential diagnoses have been thrown around already, I'll toss another into the mix which is Charcot-Marie-Tooth. Not a great one for treatment options but would certainly open up a different range of suggestions for how to manage it.

But really, you need specialist input to sift the possibilities and work towards actual diagnosis.

Hi OP, I know Functional Neurological Disorder has been mentioned a few times in the thread - I was diagnosed with this in 2021 after a gradual increase of weakness in my legs ended up with me struggling to walk at all. After a wide range of tests over many months, this is what the neurologist told me I had, that there was nothing they could do and then discharged me. I didn't have much pain (none in my legs at least) and I'm very grateful for that. However, things have improved for me a lot. I was told to do yoga and have counselling which seemed odd but there is a lot of evidence to suggest that taking this approach can be very helpful, especially as there is no tried and tested medical approach available as yet. Here are a couple of links to useful websites - fndhope.org/ and www.stuffthatworks.health/fnd - which I've found really helpful. There's so many great suggestions on here, I just wanted to add my personal experience as there are distinct similarities with your husbands symptoms and the ones I had. FND has a huge range of symptoms so it can be hard to diagnose. I really hope you and your DH find some answers and solutions x