Hey y'all just got off the phone with my doctor, and it is MS! No more wondering if I'm just being a baby over pain, no more questioning why my body is at war with itself. I know it would probably be better if I was just being a baby over pain than having this terrible disorder, but still just too happy to know at long last what is wrong with me... Well aside from the psychological issues

But it's been a long time coming from, suspect, to nearly confirmed to finally CONFIRMED! So relieved, and so happy to have an answer.

It is a little bit weird to be happy about getting diagnosed with MS. I had the same feeling when my doctor finally diagnosed me.

Isn't it great that they at least believe you, and you don't have a bunch of doctors looking at you thinking you're a hypochondriac??? I hated that feeling. (they still do it sometimes tho, even with the diagnosis)

I'm happy I know what it is, but I'm still supremely peeved that I have it.

When I got my diagnosis I felt such relief. Finally someone believed that I was feeling what I was feeling. Someone didn't think I was just being a crybaby, or a hypochondriac. Go on a diet, they'd say. Get some exercise, they'd say. Learn to control your stress, they'd say. But finally I had proof. I felt vindicated.

I sort of know the feeling. Back in '95 I went to my PCP because I weakened when I was too warm and I was stumbling when walking. I also got that annoying electrical buzz down my back and leg when I looked down. (L'hermittes Syndrome).

About 10 years earlier I had experienced a gran mal seisure caused by a major blood clot in my brain that put me in a coma for several days and a month in the hospital. Turned out that stroke was caused by a blood disorder I'd inherited from my mother called Protein S Deficiency. It killed her at age
40.

I was worried I'd had another stroke.

Next came the MRI's, the LP and the EVP's. That made the final MS dx not as bad as the alternative.

We get it - we aren't really happy about having a sucky disease liek MS but are happy it is confirmed and "it" has a name. Almost like sweet justification for knowing for years that something was wrong. Limbo time was the worst; at times I felt like I had to fight to get cared for & properly diagnosed. Heck, I had one doc label me as hypochondriac housewife LOL

BTW- side benefit of official status: all those medical forms became so simple to fill out. Under the 'what's wrong' section all you have to put is 2 little letters. MS says it all

Welcome to the club nobody can leave - we will teach you the secret handshake and send along the Tshirt

*******
I was promised a really cool jacket! I already have a blue scarf to tell the world I belong to the "Crips" (gang- red is The Bloods)

I'm still in limbo and would really like an answer ... just so I could have a plan of some sort. I suspect I will be relieved -- actually, after the ups and downs and all the things that have been implied, then un-implied -- well, I suspect I won't believe him initially if it comes to an actual dx .

I'm going to say congratulations on your dx because I know intimately how crazy limbo is. Having said that ... it's a journey on both sides of the diagnosis.

Be well.

When I was diagnosed I felt sick... and scared... and powerless....and relieved....all at the same time.

I cant describe it properly, but knowing I wasn't just a hypochondriac, and knowing that the beast had a name was somehow liberating. Like the hypochondriac who writes 'see I told you I was sick' on their headstone, that validation was so very important to me.

It didn't stop me from feeling scared and lonely and devastated though. Remember this was thirteen years ago, and the treatments, information and outlook has improved a lot since then.

it's good that you are no longer in limbo - I was fortunate enough not to have much of that - but what there was, was awful. our dx is not a reason to celebrate but there are so many worse things out there that you (and I) could have.

I just remember being relieved that I didn't have a Brain tumor..
Especially since the Neuro who DXed me was a reknown Brain Surgeon.

I'm glad to hear you finally have a name to your symptoms. I totally understand the relief of now knowing what it is that you are dealing with. It's kind of bittersweet in a sense. So, welcome to the club.