Louise,
I can understand your paranoia about being suspect of your pains. Take comfort in how rare this is and that it is a recessive trait not likely to have been passed to you or your sister. I am constantly wondering if my aches and pains are related to this or if they are just natural aging pains. I did a lot of housework yesterday and my feet and back are killing me.
The weakness in my arms seem to be mostly the upper arms. They get tired quickly with any overhead tasks. I gave my husband a hair cut and with in ten minutes my arms started aching. I really wouldn't have thought it was related except that I had an EMG test done and they tested my calves, thighs, hands and upper arms and the test showed abnormalities in all areas. I do a lot of typing at work and sometimes my shoulders will start hurting.
Take care,
Donna
--- In
dysferlin@yahoogrou ps.com, Louise Needham <louiseneedham@ ...> wrote:
>
>
> Hi Donna,
>
>
>
> I guess I assumed that having children made things worse because my mum started showing symptoms at her first pregnancy, and they got worse after her second (me). Also, my aunt had no children and is only mildly affected at age 56. However, this is probably a coincidence, and just shows that everyone is affected differently. My mum's walking has been affected for a long time, but I don't think her knees started bending like that until about 10 years ago or so (when she was in her early 40s). But even that was at least 10 years after symptoms of LGMD started. It probably depends how big the mutation in your gene is, and how much wear and tear you put yourself through.
>
>
>
> Since mum was diagnosed, we've been told that it's unlikely to get passed on. But because the mutation is not known they can't test my dad for carrier-status. I feel stupid for thinking it, but me and my sister get paranoid every time our legs hurt!
>
>
>
> Is it your upper or lower arm that is weak (sorry I can't remember the proper names for the muscles!)? Also, do you get pains in your hands? My mum has quite strong arms (which helps), but has been mentioning having pains in her hand recently. This might be pressure from using her walking sticks though.
>
>
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> Best wishes,
>
> Louise
>
>
>
> To:
dysferlin@yahoogrou ps.com> From: deejlouise@. ..
> Date: Sun, 19 Apr 2009 20:29:29 +0000
> Subject: [dysferlin] Re: Non-dysferlin LGMD
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
> Louise,
>
> I live in Iowa, USA.
>
> You are also the first family I've come across that has what I have. Doctors just know that I don't have dysferlin deficiency and that I have many of the same symptoms as those that do. Along with my tip-toe issue, I have a lot of fatty infiltration in my back muscles as well as muscle weakness in my calves, thighs and arms. I mentioned that my brother is showing symptoms, but he hasn't gone through any of the tests that I have been through. I don't know of anyone else on my mother's side of the family that had this, so it must have been a long ways down the family tree. Because this is on the recessive gene, no one really thought about it being passed down, since my mom was definitely not related to my dad.
>
> I'm very interested in how pregnacey affected your mother. I would still like to have children, but because of my age (39) and not knowing how pregnancy would affect my body, I wonder what I could possibly expect to happen. I know that LGMD affects people differently so I know that how pregnancy affected her, may not affect me in the same way, but being prepared would make it easier to accept. I shouldn't have waited so long to start a family. :) I'm not totally convinced that pregnancy has anything to do with the progression of LGMD since my grandfather suffered quite severely from this and obviously he didn't give birth! You cannot assume that because your mother had you, that she was worse off. Also, how old was you mother when her knees began bending crazy? How old is your aunt that suffers with this?
>
> Regards,
>
> Donna
>
> --- In
dysferlin@yahoogrou ps.com, Louise Needham <louiseneedham@ > wrote:
> >
> >
> > Hi Donna,
> >
> >
> >
> > Thanks for replying so quickly! You're the first family I've heard of who are dysferlin-positive as well, and it sounds like you have similar symptoms. My mum was the first one in the family who had this (as far back as we know), but now that my aunt has it at least we can assume it's recessive and not a new mutation. It seems like such a rare thing, the specialist kept asking if my grandparents were related since they must have both been carriers! (They weren't though).
> >
> > Since the muscles in my mum's thighs are so wasted, she can't support herself with her knees bent the right way. So I think it just started happening when she was walking, her knees started hyperextending backwards because she couldn't support them. The specialist we saw a couple of years ago said if she carried on walking like that, eventually her knees would dislocate. He gave her braces to wear that stopped her knees bending, but after walking like that for so many years she couldn't get used to them. My aunt seems to be affected much less severely, her knees don't bend back, but her muscles are a bit weak and she can't stand on tip-toes. I think it affects you worse if you've had children, which makes me feel awful!
> >
> > My mum has used walking sticks as long as I can remember (I'm 21), and her walking has gotten gradually worse over the years. She still manages to go short distances, but I was worried she was exerting herself too much, and now she uses a wheelchair for the more strenuous things like shopping. My mum still stays active - swimming is a good thing for her to do because she can use her arms mostly.
> >
> > Just out of interest, where abouts are you? I'm in Newcastle, England.
> >
> >
> >
> > Best wishes,
> >
> > Louise
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> > To:
dysferlin@yahoogrou ps.com> > From: deejlouise@
> > Date: Thu, 16 Apr 2009 00:13:08 +0000
> > Subject: [dysferlin] Re: Non-dysferlin LGMD
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> > Hi Louise,
> >
> > What your mum and aunt suffer from sounds exactly what my grandfather suffered from. They didn't have a diagnosis for him back when he first started showing signs. They just diagnosed him with muscular dystrophy. He started showing symptoms when he was in his late 30's and was wheelchair bound by his 60's. When I was a little girl, he was already using a cain to walk. His knees would bend back too. I wasn't close to my grandfather as my folks were divorced and he lived in a different state. But I do remember those few things. I now am suffering from some non-dysferlin LGMD. I'm 39 years old and started noticing symptoms about 2 years ago. I've under gone several tests, but all tests show that dysferlin is present and functioning. I have 4 brothers and one of them (a year older than me) is also developing symptoms. I only seem to have issues with toe walking as my calf muscles have wasted away to practically nothing. My brother, however, mentioned burning sensations around his knees, which I'm wondering if this is perhaps the beginnings of the crazy bending of the knee. He has also mentioned issues with tip-toe. I would be interested in keeping up with your mother's progress, as she seems to be on the same path of progression I'm heading towards.
> >
> > I'll stop rambling now...
> >
> > Donna
> > --- In
dysferlin@yahoogrou ps.com, "louiseneedham21" <louiseneedham@ > wrote:
> > >
> > > Hi I'm Louise, this is my first post.
> > > I don't have LGMD, but my mum has suffered with it for about 25 years now. Interestingly, she only started to show symptoms during her first pregnancy, aged 28. Now at 53, she is making the transition from walking sticks to wheelchair, but hopefully she won't be completely dependent on the chair.
> > > I'm trying to find out more information, because my mum has one of the rare types of LGMD where her dysferlin function is normal. It is not known what gene mutation causes her condition, but they assume it is recessively inherited and that me and my sister will not be affected. My aunt is just starting to show symptoms now, at 56 and going through menopause! I was just wondering if anyone knows anything about it, or even knows someone that has this.
> > > My mum has a lot of muscle wastage on her thighs, and when she walks her knees bend back at a horrible angle. However, her arms don't seem to be affected. Like most of you, she can't stand on her tip-toes and falls over a lot.
> > > Any information would mean a lot,
> > > Thanks, Louise.
> > >
> >
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> >
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