can anyone shed light on my mums long term illness? bit desperate....

[chamaeleon]

she used to smoke and drink heavily (now quit smoking) but otherwise healthy. then tore her calf muscle badly. since then she has painful, weak legs, cant walk at a reasonable speed and is tired all the time. she say the muscles in her legs pulse and twitch often so she thinks it might be circulation but that has been checked and is ok. this has gone on for months now and no one knows what is the matter.

any suggestions would be welcomed, we dont know where to start really, doctors, neurology, mri etc etc have all drawn a blank and she is getting really depressed. she cant work, cant go out, she just feels useless.

has she had her thyroxine levels checked ? Alot and i mean alot of women over 50 develop problems with their thyroid ,however as it is something that takes along time to take effect (the lack of thyroxine ) the symptoms are often overlooked . My mum seriousley thought she was going mad ,she was knackered all the time ,no energy ,felt terribly depressed but for no reason, couldnt concentrate ,pain in her limbs etc . I eventually went with her to her GP who checked her thyroxine levels and they were very low ,she started on thyroxine and has been her old self ever since . Plus if it is her thyroid she will get free prescriptions for the rest of her life

restless leg syndrome ,
poor circulation - namely peripheral vascular disease-specifically intermittant claudication-very painful and common in smokers ,
ms
me
depression
How old is she-could it be old age /arthritis/.
I think you should ask for second opinion if its affecting her like you say.
Has she tried gentle leg exercises to improve circulation.Swimming ?
Support hoisery and elevate legs higher than heart ect.

When she tore her calf muscle was she off her feet/mobility significantly impaired for any length of time? If so maybe she has some muscle wastage or just weakened muscles. This would take time patience, and physio to right itself.

How long ago did she quit smoking /drinking?
was it a 'choice' or were there health issues which cvompelled her- am asking if she is suffering from depression ike previous ooster suggested- untreated depression can greatly affect peoples ability to cope/recover from health problems and th general sense from your Op is an 'ME' type syndrome, with body and mind both involved. Might be worth your mum asking to try antidepressants/counselling/referral to me specialist just to rule out.

Sorry post a bit short but am in middle of cooking dinner!

When she tore her calf muscle was she off her feet/mobility significantly impaired for any length of time? If so maybe she has some muscle wastage or just weakened muscles. This would take time patience, and physio to right itself.

How long ago did she quit smoking /drinking?
was it a 'choice' or were there health issues which cvompelled her- am asking if she is suffering from depression ike previous ooster suggested- untreated depression can greatly affect peoples ability to cope/recover from health problems and th general sense from your Op is an 'ME' type syndrome, with body and mind both involved. Might be worth your mum asking to try antidepressants/counselling/referral to me specialist just to rule out.

Sorry post a bit short but am in middle of cooking dinner!

thanks for replies. she is early 50s but diet is pretty rubbish (tho not overweight), she still drinks too much, never done much in the way of exercise. she quit smoking after this happened, not sure why other than ds constantly having a go at her!

she is having thyroid tests done atm, so fingers crossed, that sounds like the nicest 'option'.

peripheral vascular disease sounds fairly awful but she did smoke a lot for a long time so i will mention it to her. she isnt keen on exercise as she was using the hospital gym but this made her feel worse the day after, but that fits with pvd. she wasnt very mobile after her calf tore but it wasnt for that long and she has had more than enough time to recover from that, its the fact its taking so long that makes us worry

she is getting depressed because she is doing nothing, she wasnt before this happened. she has a docs appt today to ask about happy pills so that might help the symptoms but not the cause.

am working my way through all suggestions on google, i really appreciate all your ideas

She might have neurological damage from the drinking - that would get worse if she is still drinking. Prolonged over consumption of alcohol damages the nervous system. Does her doctor know how much she drinks? I am so sorry to hear this - she is so young.

omg, frogs that sounds lots more serious i dont know if doc knows, but tbh i cant see her stopping. thats scary

Sorry chamaeleon - I am not deliberately trying to scare you. TBH the internet is not the place to be diagnosing anything, but, it is important to be honest with the doctor about her alcohol consumption. I think the torn calf muscle might just be coincidental. The thing that alcohol does is to stop you absorbing nutrients from your food, in particular vitamins. B vitamins are especially important for a healthy nervous system. If her diet is rubbish, and she is drinking a lot of alcohol, she may actually be malnourished. Malnutrician can cause some very nasty illnesses, but these are comparitively rare, and the doctor may not necessarily think of them unless he/she is aware of the alcohol problem.

Sorry - malnutrition - my spelling is not good this evening.

sounds like some of the symptoms of ME to me!

can i just reiterate what someone else on here has said that all we are offering are possibilities ,there could a thousand and one reasons for your mums ailment ,infact given her previous lifestyle it might be a combination of things . Get her to be honest re her alcohol consumption ,if you think its too much it probably is ! that way the gp can help her cut down . I really hope your mum gets the help she needs and feels better soon