Fall - my muscles turned to water

[Trenny]

Has anyone had a collapse, rather than a fall? My muscles turned to water and I collapsed, scraping some skin off my elbow as I skidded along the kitchen carpet. I felt it coming and tried to reach a stool. Is this a TIA, perhaps? I didn't lose consciousness, though. After about five mintes I crawled to a chair and was back to normal after a short rest.

[PMRpro Ambassador]

And did you call the emergency services? Or 111?

If there is any chance it might be a TIA then you need to do one or the other. Immediately.

[Trenny in reply to PMRpro]

Yes, my husband did the first time it happened and two paramedics arrived. They gave me a glass of water and said it was low blood pressure. But I am not entirely convinced and would like to hear from anyone who has had a similar experience.

[piglette in reply to Trenny]

I actually passed out. I was shopping at the time. I know I suffer from low blood pressure. When I phoned my GP about it she said "You'll live".

[SnazzyD]

Hello. If it is low blood pressure your brain doesn't get enough blood so you tend to blank or feel very spaced out before collapsing. If your body just felt limp but your head was ok, I'd say it was something else. TIAs also originate in the head and are also a lack of blood supply for a different reason. Usually people either don't remember the moment they fell or their head feels very wrong or they can sometimes appear confused, not just weak muscles. A faint from low blood pressure usually feels better once the person is down and resolves quickly. The effects from a TIA can go on for a time afterwards and often look more like a stroke than a simple collapse. Worth getting checked out.

[Trenny in reply to SnazzyD]

Many thanks for all your replies. I have learnt a lot. It was obviously a 'drop attack' and I have now read that it may be a side effect of the sinemet which I take for my Parkinson's. I take 75mg Aspirin daily and will discuss with the Parknson's nurse, when I see her next week, whether I should increase the dose.

[Patience47]

Hi Trenny,

Yes, this happened to me twice. I Thought it was due to my advanced degenerative disc disease. My primary Dr sent me to a neurologist. The MRI revealed previous strokes.

I've had two heart bypass surgeries, 2006 & 2009, so it's hard to tell what's causing what sometimes. Now PMR, and my precious wife of nearly 30 years was diagnosed with stage three bone marrow cancer.

Trenny, don't ignore this, and do what others have said, go to A&E.

[Amkoffee]

Well I haven't had this happen to me I have had one stroke and one Tia and I can assure you that it does not sound like a TIA at all. If you'll look up the signs of a stroke you'll see that is not one of the symptoms. I think it highly more likely that your blood pressure was low like they said. With a TIA you are more likely to lose the ability of one of your extremities or have vision trouble or have a crooked smile but to just collapse is not really one of the symptoms of a TIA. I'm sorry to hear you had such a scare. I hope it doesn't happen again.

[PMRpro Ambassador in reply to Amkoffee]

While it is rare, a drop attack CAN be the result of a TIA: "Drop attacks, in which the patient falls suddenly without warning, with or without losing consciousness, occur as a result of a TIA to the base of the brain."

emedicinehealth.com/transie...

One definition says "drop attack

: a form of transient ischemic attack in which a brief interruption of cerebral blood flow causes a person to fall to the floor without losing consciousness. The fall may be caused by a disrupted sense of balance or decreased leg muscle tone. Weakness of the leg muscles or a hip or knee joint dysfunction may be a contributing factor."

[Amkoffee in reply to PMRpro]

Thank you for the info. As you can imagine I have been force fed info on how to recognize a stroke and yet with all the info I've read I've never come across this particular symptom. And I even use this website regularly for other conditions. So I have learned something important today. And since I have had one stroke and one TIA and even one blood clot I obviously clot easily so I'm always vigilant about these things.

[PMRpro Ambassador in reply to Amkoffee]

It's like everything - they use the most common manifestations for the info. What is more worrying is that a lot of doctors don't know either - and then it DOES matter.

Are you on anticoagulants?

[Amkoffee in reply to PMRpro]

After my first stroke they just wanted me on aspirin but they wanted me on full dose since I'd also had a blood clot the year before. Then after the TIA I had in December they switched me over to Plavix. However I just got out of the hospital 2 weeks ago and it wasn't for a stroke event or anything but they discovered I had an enlarged heart and put me on baby aspirin in addition to my Plavix. But I'm only on that for 30 days. So I guess I'll just be on the Plavix permanently or at least until I have another stroke God forbid. Because so far I have been very fortunate to not have any lasting deficits. This last one, the TIA scared me because I lost all use of my right arm and could not speak very well. But I gained use of my arm and my speech after about five hours. With my stroke I woke up seeing cross-eyed. And that cleared up within a couple of hours. I had no idea that I'd had a stroke for a week.

[sailorman]

Hi I have PMR and last week I had a problem with my legs, I didnt fall but had warning. My knees would not lock so I managed to sit down, after 2 minutes I was fine I also had pain in my Buttocks which also went quickly this happened again the following week. I have put this down to PMR reaction to reducing Prednisolone too far too quickly. I have seen my GP and he agrees with me. My knees not getting the correct signal to lock. I have gone back to 8 mg for a week or two.

Mike