Post-Polio Syndrome v Charcot-Marie Tooth

[Forester]

I am struck by the number of times people with CMT mention other health issues...which reflect my own experiences. I suspect that most CMTites have a packages of health problems to deal with and it makes me wonder if there is a causal link between some of them.

I will list a few of mine in a moment...just to see if the list compares with anyone else's...but I wanted to tell you about PPS or Post-Polio Syndrome.

A while back, when we had a proper "family" Dr in our local practice...a man you could talk to and who knew you well...I spotted an article in a magazine, by a Doctor Stuttaford, discussing PPS, and I was struck by the similarity of the symptoms he outlined to my own. So I took the article to my GP and asked if he thought I could have PPS rather than - as we had always believed - CMT.

He studied the article, and referred back to my old records and, next time I saw him he pronounced:

"You seem to be particularly fortunate Douglas, in that you have PPS and CMT, which makes you unique in my experience." Seemed quite funny at the time! Has anyone else heard of - or suffer from - PPS?

My list of aggravations includes: CMT...PPS...Temporal Lobe Epilepsy...Sleep Apnoea...Tinnitus...Stroke (recovered) ...Diabetes (type 2)...and stubbornness, type A1...as well as alcohol intolerance...how does that lot fit with your list?

[Amanita]

Hi, Forester,

Personally I think the non-CMT health issues we have to put up with are purely a matter of chance/bad luck. Unfortunately you seem to have a pretty bad dollop of that. The two (unrelated) episodes of cancer I have had (which fortunately were both dealt with successfully) were certainly nothing to do with my CMT, any more than is my short-sightedness.