Pain In My Upper Arm

This disease is a real pain in the ass. It's also a pain in the arm, in the shoulder, in the hands, in the legs, and pretty much in every muscle as it loses its ability to hold, clench, grip or flex. This morning, while having Home Care in to do my exercises, I made the rather foolish decision to try to hold up my leg. In the course of this unwise activity, I pulled a muscle in my upper arm, most likely the upper part of my tricep, just down from where it attaches to the shoulder joint.

This muscle on my left arm hurts a lot these days, constantly feeling as if I have pulled it too hard or done some sort of damage to the tendon. The pain can go from mild, treated easily with Tylenol, to fairly severe, where no amount of analgesic seems to work. I try to stay away from opiod pain killers, but on occasion I need them, especially for this muscle pain.

Today it's not bad, a simple pull from trying to hold my leg in position while the Home Care Aide moved my other leg down to the bed from an exercise lift. I have no ability to use these muscles in my legs, so the HCA has to do it all. Sometimes there are two many limbs in play, forcing me to get involved more actively. I use my arms as best I can to hold a bent knee steady. Unfortunately that work is becoming increasingly difficult, putting more and more load on the ever failing muscles in my upper arms.

It was like this with my legs at times. They would hurt something fierce from the effort of doing that which I could once do easily. I know I was, and still am, overworking what remaining muscle is in place. There is no way around it. If you want to move, you have to do what you can to move. Once you stop, you'll never move again. If it hurts, too bad. I take a pain killer. That's the way it works.

Today I am not going to bother with the Tylenol. I know my arm will hurt all day. It hurts as I type. It will hurt as I wheel about my apartment. It will hurt as I drive to the grocery store. I will hurt as I make dinner tonight. It won't be bad enough to stop me, just annoying as hell all day. That too, is the way it works. Don't tell me ALS is painless. I'll show you better.