Hi every one thanks for the welcome and invites. I was diagnosed with ataxia feb.07 2012 im new and lost and looking for all the info i can find! My dr.(PRAVIN KHEMANI @ UT SOUTWESTERN MEDICAL CENTER DEPARTMENT OF NEUROLOGY DALLAS TEX.)by the way this place is very nice and helpful) gave me this webb site and said that i should ask yal (texan) if anyone here is having bad leg and knee pain and what they do to relieve some of pain without MEDS! I dont set still long afraid they will stop working but very painful.I am surpose to see a PT next week that works with ataxia patients. I ride a bike that go's no were now
Hi - dont have much to say about leg pain but just wanted to say hello.
I do have general muscle pain for which i take antiinflammories.
Exercise and healthy diet seem to keep me going and sounds like you are on the right track - you certainly have caring neuro to refer you to this site.
PT sounds fantastic - make the most of it and keep posting [..and reading] on here.
Best wishes, Patsy
CA/69/IPSWICH,UK
I've had SCA? for 12 years now. I read about Alpha-lipoic acid (a vitamin) and now can't be without it. It helps immensely. Also wear fit-flops shoes and sandals and other shock absobing shoes like Nikes. Prescription wise- Effexor XR helps my leg pain immeasurably as well. Good luck!
Tiffinay
Not heard if Alpha-lipoic - thanks for sharing that. I had shoe inserts made by NHS bio mechanics department [chiropody!] but athough I persevered for a year, I now prefer memory foam insoles. The trouble with the specially made inserts is that you need a bigger shoe size for the depth and then get corns on upper toes!!
I had foot straightening operation in 2002 and they pinned my big toe joint so cant keep flip flops on. ;(
Havent heard of Effexor XR either so thanks again Tiffinay.
Patsy
Thanks i will look in to that
Yes, I have really bad leg pain. Used to love walking my dog, but can only manage to go round the block now, and that’s an effort. Do exercises 2x a day. Tried Gabapentin, didn’t work. If I could get rid of the pain in my legs, I could put up with the rest of my symptoms!
Hi Jan, welcome 
You are definitely not alone with leg pain, quite a lot of us find it a real ‘pain’ 
It could be worth asking your Doctor, not necessarily your Neurologist, if you can try something other than Gabapentin, quite often there are other options
Yes, all my neurologist said was nothing can be done. So I speak to my dr. I’ve been searching on line for answers, and found one article that said Buspirone helps with Cerebellar Ataxia. So, spoke to my dr. And he gave me a prescription.I’ve
only been taking it for 3 days, so not expecting anything yet.
Don’t know if it will help with the pain in my legs, but maybe my unsteadiness.
We’ll see…
Most of the time, leg pains are due to compensatory muscle spasms. In those cases, drugs to relieve pain may not be very helpful.