What causes these symptoms
Muscle pain,weakness and numbness in the arms,legs and back
migraine headaches
seizures
visual blackouts
pinched nerve sensations
slurred speech
feet dragging at times
delayed swallowing

Welcome again, Starr. Since you have no insurance, I would suggest going to your communittee hospital and tell your scarry symptoms in emergency. They will probably have a Neuro look at you.

Take care.

I have been getting medical help from a sliding scale clinic called satellite med and i spend alot of time in the hospital but still no definet diagnosis just alot of medication and you know the way they look at you at the hospitals,like your a drug addict wanting a fix,it sucks!

The summers are worse than the winters for me but i still suffer from the extreme fatigue all year around.I have started having the loss of vision,double vision and blurry vision with eye pain just this year.

The DX process can be long and stressful. I hope you get a DX soon so you can get the newest and proper Meds.

What meds are you getting now? Are they treating your symptoms and are they working?

Summer is always the draggiest for me too. I like winter better as long as it's not bitter cold.

I don't know where you live but many cities have residency programs through the hospitals that charge very little to see their doctors. These residents are graduates of medical schools and are under the very watchful eye of different specialists while they see and take care of their patients. At least this is how it was when I was an RN before MS. I know we still have residents in both our hospitals here and they have an office to see the patients also. I remember a time that we had this patient that really needed a cardiac catheterization but had no insurance. The hospital arranged for it to be a learning experience for the residents and it was free for the patient!

I am sorry you are going thru this. Many of us were treated like drug addicts or lazy bums who just want to go home and collect disability payments so we dont have to go to work. I dont know about the rest of you but MS is NOT my idea of a dream come true. I would much rather be part of the everyday world, but many MDs see so many folks that simply are looking for drugs or a way out, that they assume everyone is trying to do it.

I tell most folks who come here there are more than 100 diseases that can mimic MS, including the brain lesions. lyme, lupus, vit b12 or vit d def. sjoghrens, devics, and so forth. Normally they start off with the stuff that can be ruled out thru blood work, such as vit stuff or lyme. (many lyme tests come back false negative and need a special lab to test it) it takes most folks a while to be diagnosed. its not as simple as stepping into an office or ER and being told "oh! you have ms!" most of us undergo months or years of testing. Hang in there while they rule stuff out, but be sure to keep copies! since you are not the patient of one MD who is keeping track of where you go, and who you see, its YOUR job to keep the records, and drag them along for each visit. Sometimes that can work against you, as some may think you are searching too aggressively for a diagnosis. MDs can be so stupid.

Since you have no insurance, stick to the hospital approved programs. If a hospital accepts one penny in federal aid, they MUST provide free or sliding scale care to those who qualify. you MUST say so up front that you need free or sliding scale programs.

You will quickly learn which MDs are listening and paying attention and which ones are dismissing you before you speak your first word. You will learn to become a good advocate for yourself and dont let them talk you into believing their nonsense. Trust your instincts. if you know something is wrong, keep knocking on doors.

i've heard of many people that had vision problems. when they saw an opthamologist he ordered an MRI. some were dx'd (diagnosed) with MS because of that.

i would try to find a way to be seen by an opthamologist because you don't want to fool around with your vision.

good luck.

There are neurological ophthalmologists. My neurologist was big into ON as well as MS.

Hi,
I would have your eyes checked ASAP. Pain is one thing and all the rest in not fun either, but your vision is the most important part of the body that you need to take care of.

In time you will get a dx. First things first, the eyes. I hope they do more testing on you to rule out other diseases/disorders too. We have all been there, sorry to say. Good luck to you.