MSA - never heard of it before

Hello, my 87 year old mum has a dx of CBD/PSP but she suffers from very low blood pressure, constipation, difficulty swallowing, cold extremities, speech difficulties getting worse for 6 years or more, really bad falls for at least 10 years. Her postural hypotension leads to blackouts and she had a heart attack recently. I just joined the CBD community and came across MSA quite by chance. Low blood pressure isn't a feature of CBD. Any thoughts, suggestions or advice would be most welcome.

[chester2107]

they do sound like similar symptoms to MSA- the difficultly to swallow and the speech , my dad has had it for about 4 years and his speech is so bad now

[Hidden in reply to chester2107]

Sorry to hear about your dad, chester. Thanks for your reply.

[chester2107 in reply to Hidden]

thankyou and you

[Yanno]

Hello, so sorry to hear about your mum, whatever condition your mum has, they are all beasts.

As always, one thing I would suggest is to talk to the MSA Trust (msatrust.org.uk). Their nurses are very knowledgeable and will help with suggestions and may help you decide which condition your mum has. Sadly I think the prognosis of each condition isn't much different.

If you want to look deeper into the differences between CBD/PSP/MSA, you may find this link useful. It has some detailed scientific suff but also has some general slides showing the differences:- psp.org/wp-content/uploads/...

Hopefully you will find the answers you are looking for and either way I am sure you will find help, friendship and support within this group.

Take care, Ian

[Hidden in reply to Yanno]

Many thanks for the link, Yanno, I'll read it and try and understand it. I am not a neurologist and amateur diagnosis is understandably frowned upon by the health community but ...., Mum's blue/purple fingers and very cold feet are something I noticed that others didn't seem to. There are other symptoms that are more MSA than CBT.

[Paul_and_Sue_Wood]

Hi

The symptoms you talk about could be related to MSA, but unfortunately MSA symptoms are different in every patient as it affects different people in different ways and in different timescales.

As Ian suggests a chat with the specialist nurses at MSA Trust would be a great step for you as they have a lot of experience and educate GP's.

I wish you well on your journey through these horrible conditions and this forum is always here to offer experience and help, you are not alone.

Paul

[Hidden in reply to Paul_and_Sue_Wood]

Thank you. It is good to know that there is both expertise and more than one source of support out there. I am a novice although have been an informal carer for many years.

[Hellebelle]

Hi, my dad has MSA and he has everything you describe apart from postural hypotension. Many people who have MSA have low blood pressure but that is one symptom dad has never had. It is incredibly hard to diagnose these different conditions.

I really hope you get the answers you need and I send you lots of good wishes. Please let us know how you get on.

[Hidden in reply to Hellebelle]

I am sorry to hear about your Dad. I hope that you are all managing ok. I haven't been on this site for a while because I've been tied up totally with hospital and health professionals trying to make sense of a tricky system so that I can do the best for Mum. I have found her a very nice nursing home, she moved in last week and she seems happy so far. There are daily activities, a room with a view and the staff all seem very caring.