when i was 40 my shoulder froze and was not responsive to physical therapy as it should have been. a few years later the other shoulder froze. i now have fairly good range of motion, though there is constant pain, if i pay attention to it, and my mechanics are poor.

several months ago i noticed an odd sinewy band on my finger - somewhat distressing because i love to create music. my fingers are fairly stiff - but i put that down to being 46...... though that isn't ancient.

and for the last 12 years i have had a mysterious bump on the arch of my foot, and then also on the other arch. sometimes it is red and sometimes not. sometimes it is painful, sometimes not. and the size varies.

i have been taking mysoline for the last 25 year and i am convinced that is the cause of all these minor ( well, the shoulders weren't minor!) ailments over the last decade or so. it just makes sense to see if that is the cause.....

my neuro dismissed my concern that my shoulders were frozen because of mysoline.

last night i was reading the rare side effects of mysoline in preparation to an upcoming visit to the neuro. i looked up dupuytren's for the first time and i think i have it. i'm fairly sure about the origin of these mystery bumps on my feet also.

aside from calling these mysoline ( or phenobarb) side effects, is there a name for these syndromes occuring together? i'm really happy i found this site, because it has helped me integrate these symptoms and to trace them to a single cause. i am going to enlist the help of my GP to present my case to the neuro - he's a very curious intellectually, (and he was wondering about those bumps on my feet, but i brushed him off as i saw someone about them a decade ago and he said we could excise them if they were problematic....) so i know i will be able to discuss things with my GP and try to sort out what is happening.

the thread on mysoline is a few years old - and i have read that. but nayone who has imput on the issue - i would really welcome your comments.

Diana,
First, my doctor didn't know I had Dupuytren's in my feet (Ledderhose disease)until I told him. Don't stress your arches by doing things like walking (or running) in the sand barefooted or going up and down stairs barefooted.
Second, in my experience, the less you stress DC, the better off you are. And that includes physical therapy. I would say don't do it. This isn't a muscle or ligament problem, it is diseased tissue that reacts when it is insulted.

This is my experience, hopefully someone else will have suggestions.
Gary

Please visit the following Ledderhose site where most of your questions should be answered.

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ledderhose_disease/

Good Luck