Hubby is right handed so is always using. I am noticing that his left arm when not being used sometimes looks more fixed in a down position by his side with his palm turning sideways. Could this be due to his MSA or just a coincidence? Sometimes the arm looks as though he has had a stroke then later he uses as normal.
Also does the writing hand act differently with time? Hubby has been visually impaired for some time but recently his writing has become smaller Thanks
micrographia or small hand writing is part of this beastly thing i am afraid
Oh gosh thanks that is major for hubby if his signature readability or writing is affected more. Extra problem is I have essential tremor (writing left hand) Guess we now send more xmas e-cards or maybe preprinted cards which is expensive.
can I suggest that you look into getting a signature stamp that he will be able to use when his signature might not match various records. It can be used in some situations but not all. Have a look online at the various options.
But yes all the things you mentioned are fairly typical of MSA
Both of those symptoms are very common in Parkinson's disease and the part of the brain that is affected in Parkinson's is also frequently affected in MSA.
Thanks these problems have only appeared over the last year and seem to be speeding up. I didn’t think I would need to dwell on dating any of hubby’s changes but now wondering if I should perhaps start a MSA diary . Only hospital appointments showing on our home calendar just now
H i,
I had the same left arm symptoms in March 2021 when GP diagnosed Parkinson's and one of the first questions he asked was about my handwriting which I had to admit had been getting smaller and spidery over the previous 3 years. I had assumed it was due to joint degredation from rheumatoid arthritis.
My Parkinson's diagnosis was changed to MSA in May this year.
Thanks hubby’s problems also started around September 2021 but with falls. No one so far has asked hubby about his writing size but he was asked to write his name by a doctor. With being visually impaired we just thought writing deterioration was due to his retinitis pigmentosa and double vision. There are many IT aids for visual problems but we haven’t yet seen any aids for writing on paper or legal forms eg passport.
Hello sadly that sounds familiar.
Sometimes dad's non-dominant arm was more functional than the other one. He lost his ability to write all together and this is something you might need to face.
I believe it's possible to just make a mark on documents in terms of signing them. (Or if you have power of attorney you can sign)
Kx
Thanks little did we think a year ago that we would be needing power of attorney. How life changes!
yes my dads hands got really bad and he couldn’t hold a pen to write eventually , does he use as ipad or something, maybe he could type ? my dad never used anything like that , but think it would have helped with commication
have you been in touch with msa trust.org
they are really helpful
Thanks, yes just registered with MSA trust so grateful for all this support. Writing emails etc on his computer has always been a challenge for hubby with his visual impairment , I normally help him as he can’t master siri and if trying there are usually so many typos. Sad to think that writing changes are another loss but glad that my ipad is one of my favourite toys. We have just got Alexa so I will maybe ask her if she could help hubby more?
many provisions are made by banks etc, your signature for postal votes etc. for this problem on a regular basis and recentlty i bought a house ten days after a serious stroke by a one off arrangement with my Solicitor who came to the hospital to witness my 'signature'. One simple cheap thing is to have joint accounts now while he is still able to do so. We put all the direct debits for household thngs into ths account and when he died that was one less thing to worry about and much easier for him than giving up the account he had opened as a very young man
freda
My husband cannot write at all now (was diagnosed end of 2020) and prior to that his handwriting had become very spidery over a relatively short period of time. If you haven’t done so already I would highly recommend getting Power of Attorney (you can do this yourself online for the fraction of the cost a solicitor/financial advisor would charge). As M can’t sign anything anymore it has been a lifeline having the POA so that I can sign on his behalf.
All the best
Sharon
MSA affected by Covid
Might it be MSA? 
School MSA Survey
So many things going on, are they all MSA?
Possible MSA diagnosis?
