[NurseNancy]

hi susan, welcome to NT,

tell us a bit about yourself. do you have MS?

[SallyC]

I'm glad you found us too Susan.

Come back soon and tell us how we can support you.

[trimjimmy]

Hello everyone, especially you wise and compassionate elders.
I wish to be clear: I do not have MS, I am a first-year nursing student.
My purpose is to increase my knowledge and understanding of what it means to be living with a severely debilitating chronic disorder, and my focus is MS. It is my hope that this knowledge will benefit everyone that I am in contact with as I pursue a career in Health and Service. I am interested in everything from symptoms to treatment, successes and failures.
I have been reading some of the posts available to me and am quite touched and impressed with the stories and the compassion and wisdom of many of the respondees.
If it would not offend you, I would "hang out" for a while, from time to time here, ask you questions and laugh and cry along with you. Again: my intent is only to be of benefit to anyone with a debilitating (or not) chronic disorder.
May I participate in your discussions?
Jim

[NurseNancy]

it's ok with me...
i was dx'd with MS in '03. i had an increasingly bad gait disorder, was very fatigued and heat intolerant. i was lucky. i was dx'd in 2 mos. i had to give up a 35yr nursing career. i worked intensive care and spent most of that time in NICU. i was devastated when i finally realized i couldn't cut it anymore. plus i had some cognitive slipping. i really grieved for my job when i emptied out my locker.

i still am able to walk with a cane but my tolerance for sitting, standing and walking is limited. so is my stamina. i'm still very heat intolerant and will get short of breath and almost paralyzed if i get too hot. i just can't put 1 leg in front of the other. there are times i have to go to bed to recover.

i've learned over the yrs to be gentle with myself. i've learned patience. i walk at a snail's pace but i walk. i've learned to pace myself; to conserve energy so i can do something else i want to do.

hope this helps a bit. welcome.

[Bojangles2013]

Hello, My name is Amy. I am so confused right now. I have had signs of MS for going on 2 years now. Last summer my symptoms for worse, especially on hot days. I had always went to the tanning bed for years and had no problems. Last summer I went twice and could not go back. As soon as the tanning bed and room heated up I would get blurred vision, dizziness, numbess, tingling, heavy legs. Also, my hearing seemed like it would go in and out. To be honest I felt like I was drunk. After about 12 minutes in the bed I would have to get out. As soon as I started cooling off I would be back to my normal self.
I tried going to my families swimming pool and felt like that also. The symptoms were so bad I had to go home and get in the air conditioner. Then, the achy pains came along with numbness that comes and goes just about every day. It is like my symptoms are like clock work. Last summer I also had 2 episodes where my vision in my left eye went blurred and 1 hour later a headache came. October 2012 I decided to go to my family doctor and he referred me over to a MS Specialist whom I just had my first visit with on Jan. 10, 2013. The MS specialist continued to suggest I have "Small Fiber Neuropathy".
He did send me for a MRI of the cervical and thoracic spine, which he says he seen no lesions and he is diagnosing me with Small Fiber Neuropathy. If I am reading correctly about Small Fiber Neuropathy it is only common in diabetics and alcoholics? I am neither. I need some suggestions as to what I should do. Should I find another MS Specialist or Neurologist? Should I go to an eye doctor and have them look for damage to my optic nerve since I have had 2 episodes of blurred vision?

[keepingfaith]

Originally Posted by Bojangles2013

Hello, My name is Amy. I am so confused right now. I have had signs of MS for going on 2 years now. Last summer my symptoms for worse, especially on hot days. I had always went to the tanning bed for years and had no problems. Last summer I went twice and could not go back. As soon as the tanning bed and room heated up I would get blurred vision, dizziness, numbess, tingling, heavy legs. Also, my hearing seemed like it would go in and out. To be honest I felt like I was drunk. After about 12 minutes in the bed I would have to get out. As soon as I started cooling off I would be back to my normal self.
I tried going to my families swimming pool and felt like that also. The symptoms were so bad I had to go home and get in the air conditioner. Then, the achy pains came along with numbness that comes and goes just about every day. It is like my symptoms are like clock work. Last summer I also had 2 episodes where my vision in my left eye went blurred and 1 hour later a headache came. October 2012 I decided to go to my family doctor and he referred me over to a MS Specialist whom I just had my first visit with on Jan. 10, 2013. The MS specialist continued to suggest I have "Small Fiber Neuropathy".
He did send me for a MRI of the cervical and thoracic spine, which he says he seen no lesions and he is diagnosing me with Small Fiber Neuropathy. If I am reading correctly about Small Fiber Neuropathy it is only common in diabetics and alcoholics? I am neither. I need some suggestions as to what I should do. Should I find another MS Specialist or Neurologist? Should I go to an eye doctor and have them look for damage to my optic nerve since I have had 2 episodes of blurred vision?

Hi...I can completely relate to your post! I have been having VERY similar stuff going on with me now for a year and half. I have not yet been diagnosed either. I also have been told that I have peripheral neuropathy. In my opinion the term neuropathy is very general and seems to refer to anyone with nerve pain. Just my opinion. Did you also have an MRI of the brain? I had no spinal lesions either. My advice to you would be to see another neurologist and hopefully get some testing done. Also it's important to check your vitamin levels particularly B12 and D. If B12 is low it causes all kinds of nasty neurological symptoms and the D can be causing some of your weakness. If you choose to see an eye doctor I think a neuro opthamologist would be best. I have read this a lot of places. The only thing I see different between you and me is that my symptoms never come and go.. they are always here, however I have recently quite drinking and consuming "diet" products as well as artificial sweeteners and my nerve pain has gone down A LOT. I only periodically suffer from burning pain and tingling mostly when I am resting. I really hope you get some help and figure this out!!

[SallyC]

Welcome Amy, nice to meet you. Yep sure sounds like a MS symptom. I would get another opinion if I were you. What tests did the Doc perform?

Come back and let us know what you find out.

[Dominique26]

Hello everyone. I was diagnosed just under two weeks ago although my neurologist is saying I have had MS for 6 years. When I first experienced this weird tingling feeling, my doctor told me that I was crazy. So for 6 years, I've been dealing with a variety of symptoms. About 3 yrs. ago, I diagnosed myself, based on a ton of information online.
In November my left arm, hand, neck, and head started tingling. I finally told my doctor that he needed to do whatever necessary to rule MS out and wouldn't you know...3 lesions on my brain and 3 on my spine. I feel relieved because now I can begin to treatment but I am NOT excited about the daily Copaxone shots. I'm currently waiting my all of the approvals to start the medicine. It's hard talking to my family about this so it's nice to have a place to share with people who are experiencing the same.

[SallyC]

Welcome home to Neurotalk, Dominique, Nice to meet you. So sorry for your DX, but I know what you mean when you say it's a relief to know. It could have been worse.

Come right in and join us. we're happy to have you.

[NurseNancy]

hi amy and welcome to NT,
with the sx's you describe i would seek a 2nd opinion. get copies of the mri on a disc and ask for a copy of your dr's dictation. start a medical file on yourself. you can always call your local MS society and get references to other neuros.

it seems to me that a brain mri would have been helpful. IF you have MS the dr will look for certain lesions in parts of the brain. i too am very heat intolerant. i get the same sx's and am almost paralyzed if i let myself get too hot. you will learn how to manage this. listen more to your body and get cool as needed. walmart has $5.00 cooling collars that help keep you cool.

i think your idea of seeing an opthamologist is a good one. anytime you have changes in your vision it's a good idea. let us know how you're doing.