[Starznight]

Just curious to know if anyone had any warnings signs long before there were "symptoms". I was a highly active child growing up, thought nothing of walking five miles or more even at age four or five. Well correction, I thought nothing of hopping, skipping, running, jogging and dancing along for the distance of five miles or more, I rarely 'walked' anywhere.

But then most kids in my home town were like that, I grew up in a city, walking was often quicker than driving and trying to find a parking spot. But still at age six I had to start physical therapy for shin splints, and has been a life long practice ever since. The doctors didn't do much investigation into the cause. Kid plus running without stretching properly equal shin splints, take her off the track team (only I wasn't on a track team)

I might have complained about other issues I was having afterwards, but PT seemed like a punishment to me for being bad and crying over pain when I wasn't gushing blood or running a fever. I was/am extremely ticklish and the tickled sensation overrides the reaction to pain. Basically I laugh hysterically rather than sob so. So when I tried to tell the therapist it hurt, because I was laughing so hard he didn't really listen, eventually got annoyed and ordered me to stop playing around.

When he found out I was still running around at home he said it couldn't be that bad, I wouldn't run if it hurt and would stop when the pain set in. (Oh how little the man knew me) The biggest reason why I ran around non-stop was because I couldn't take the pain of laying down, like nap time and bed time if I wasn't exhausted. Earliest memories of painful nap times was just before turning three, I would literally scream, cry and beg not to be put to bed if I wasn't tired. Which naturally is a parents first sign that their child is over tired 99% of the time. But for me it was the fear of the torturous two hours ahead of me trapped in a bed with my muscles wigging out and no way to distract myself from the pain.

I was also highly clumsy as a child, I wasn't allowed drink out of glass until I was fourteen, because I always dropped them, knocked them over and sent them flying. Not just glasses either, but pens, pencils, books, toys, forks, knives.... Pretty much anything I held in either hand had the potential to become a projectile, and anything within an arms reach was in the danger zone. But it wasn't noticeable muscle jerks and was just chalked up to me being the kid like a bull in a china shop. I was a klutz, no help for it.

And maybe that's what it was, maybe not... Because for a klutz I was well-balanced, after PT I went on to play sports, the legs still hurt like a mother but wasn't going to say a thing less I get tortured again. So I played baseball, took dance classes, gymnastics, swimming, figure skating, horseback riding, skiing and so forth, just enough to fall exhausted into bed each night. But during those sports, where clumsiness is a major issue, I was fine. More likely to fall prey to injury off the ice rather than on it, more likely to sprain an ankle walking to the locker room after gymnastics then flipping around the pony.

And I did fall a lot as a child, and not tripping, passing out or getting pushed. But rather walking along and 'oh hello there ground, how are you today?' Walking was my most dangerous sport as a child. Even as an adult, I still remember walking home from my mother's one day and simply doing a superb superman fall. No reason, was upright, on even ground took a step and 'oh! Hello there ground, we meet again' I skinned up both my hands, banged up my knees, finding out after I made it home that I had ground tar and gravel in to them and was pouring blood into my shoes. But still couldn't tell you how or why it happened.

I mean I was spoiled as a child, and had my fair share of health issues, but altogether was considered a healthy, albeit clumsy and accident prone, child. It was a happy childhood, aside from the tortuous pain that I eventually got used to and found my own way to deal with. But I still can't help but wonder how things might have turned out if I had better articulation when I was three, before I was even four my folks gave up on naps with me, coming to realize I'd sleep when I was tired and not a minute before, so by the time the articulation of my issue with naps could develop more fully, I only had to make sure I was exhausted by bedtime, which even that they gave up the ghost on about a month after giving up on nap times.

And our doctor at the time was the old fashion sort, kids will get what kids need, if they ask for carrots, give them carrots, if they want to stay awake a bit longer, let them... Hands off sort of approach. The same school of parenting my folks were from, so long as we didn't do a prolonged "I want carrots! I only want carrots! Breakfast, lunch, dinner, nothing but carrots!" They went along with it also so long as it was never "chocolate chip cookies!"

I never thought much about it until I was in college with someone who was diagnosed with MS. She and I both had very similar childhoods in respect to terrified of nap times, though her parents never gave up the ghost and rather berated her for 'telling stories' there wasn't anything wrong with her, go to bed! And was fifteen going on sixteen before she was trusted with glassware.

At least I know now that my mother and father both did listen when I was doing the PT laughing though saying it hurt. They both did go and talk to the therapist and he was the one who assured them I was fine. My mother was skeptical but knew the muscles did need stretching as I was in negative degrees of upward flexion, so it was a necessary evil and nothing else appeared to be wrong.

But does any of this sound like anyone else's experience? Could this have more warning signs than what is currently accepted? Or does it just strike down like lightning one day? This is the hardest thing to suss out when doctors ask, when did the symptoms start? Which symptoms? When would they be considered a symptom? What is even a symptom? And how many of things I take for granted as 'normal' after a lifetime of experiencing them are you going to say is a symptom? Heck I went ten years with a constant, but low-grade headache before thinking to ask my doctor about it, it was 'normal' mildly annoying at times, but for the most part just always there. It didn't do anything or effect me in anything I wanted to do, just there thumping away.

Sorry for the long post, but I've been curious for a while about it. And while my first regular doctor after I became an adult was awesome for listening patiently to everything, very much the "tell me your life story" kind of doctor, and was the one who first suggested MS of course he also suggest a few other neurological disorders, when I was twenty-three, and did the superman fall.

But the doctors now, seem to just focus on one or two symptoms, they don't want the whole history, just yes, no, muscle weakness? Spasms? For how long? (Life) okay but when did they start? (Birth i guess) Well why are you here now? (Got worse) Okay but how long ago? (Since birth I guess) Any other symptoms? (Like what?)

Is generally how my appointments end after they cut me off when I try to explain. Eventually they'll throw something out like ... Headaches? (Yes, since turning thirteen, with monthly to bi-monthly exasperations and following a car accident it's been weekly to daily migraines) I don't see anything in your record until after the accident where did you get treated? (At home, in bed, suffered through them most of the time, it's a headache it's not going to kill me unless I knock myself off) And this started when you were thirteen? (Yes) hmmm, anything else more recent? (Inner voice: more recent when, give me an age at least! I can recount everything from age two to now and any year in between but do you want only the new or the same old as well? Outside voice is inevitably a disgusted sigh and just a list of what is currently going on with me in that moment.)

I have tried to make sx lists, they tell me it's too long and half of it isn't going to apply, then they'll generally ask if I had a symptom that they discounted last time, and now want to know why I didn't mention it. God grant me the patience not to commit homicide. So this is where the curiosity comes in, what, where, when and why, is something a symptom or 'normal'?