Okay I went to the doctor today because my neck has been killing me these last few days. Initially I figured, bah! I'm stressed of course my neck is tense, at least until those little electric shocks I was getting every time I moved my head became a sudden thunderbolt with a full body persistent loss of sensation. I was still mobile... just felt like I was wrapped up in bubble wrap, could feel a little bit but highly dulled and seemed to be more psychosomatic sense of touch over an actual sense of touch. But hey somewhat used to that in my legs since breaking my lower back, floaty torso syndrome as I like to call it .

ThBut went to the doctor and basically failed all of the strength and reflex tests on the left side of my body half of them on the right side. To the point that the doctor was surprised I could still walk and move my arms. So I got sent over to the hospital for some x-rays, with three possible reasons, spinal stenosis the severity of symptoms means I might need surgery in the near future, compression fracture, where if the severity of symptoms persist after a month or so of wearing a collar I might need surgery, or an MS flare and welcome to my new normal where the some of the symptoms may improve a little bit.

Is it terrible that I am sitting or rather laying here right now praying for an MS flare??? The thought of wearing a collar for a month or two I think to most would seem like the lesser of three evils, but I have a hardwood floor that needs polished and several tiled floors that need a nice deep scrubbing which is hard enough to do with the MS alone but impossible to do wearing a collar around my neck and by the time I can remove it. It'll be too hot to scrub and polish my floors And of course the very idea of someone filetting my neck and messing around that close to the spinal cord

So please, please, please ya'll keep your fingers crossed for me that this is an MS thing and nothing more

Well careful what you wish for, was hoping it was an ms flare and not a broken neck. Seems I got my wish when the left half of my face went numb but it didn't save me from a hospital stay. Unfortunately I don't know why they are keeping me, they wanted to give me 3 days course of steroids, I can't take steroids, so it seems they are just going to keep me for 3 days like a fish in a science experiment. Look class she's numb and has almost nil for reflexive actions, but she can move, even stand and walk, curiouser and curiouser.

Yippee they didn't keep me for the whole 3 days. But the DH did something of a rush job for putting inngrab bars that we were going to install anyways, and I'm stuck wearing an eye patch for now over my left eye so it doesn't make me sick. Hoping I won't have to bring the wheelchair into the house, but it's not looking especially good right now.i feel like a newborn deer every time I try to stand and walk to the bathroom. I need to call the neuro first thing in the morning to see if I can get in to see him sooner than march and regardless I need to follow up with my pcp on the 23rd for an appt I already had.

But the good news is, after doing the imaging of my brain and spine in every conceivable way, the steroids that I can't take probably wouldn't have done any good anyways. The flare is a decidedly new patch of plaque in the brain, but the "actitivy" of it had already passed so steroids wouldn't have helped much to prevent further damage. It was the MS version of a hit and run . All told the neuros at the hospital seemed to think I was doing quite well, considering length of the time from my diagnosis and my current lesion load which has remained largely unchanged until this latest episode.

Unfortunately for me though is that this means my dx might go to secondary progressive when I meet with my new neuro, and though the hospital docs didn't change my copaxone out for something else, the new neuro might want to as the hospital docs warned. I guess neuros really hate hit and run lesions in the brain. And I also need to make an appointment for an eye doctor which unfortunately insurance won't cover to see what can be done about blocking the seriously messed up vision in my left eye so it will stop making me so sickenedly dizzy.

Hi Starznight,

It appears you are having an exacerbation (relapse, attack, flare-up).

Don't expect the new Neurologist to put you in the SPMS category as you currently do not fit it. You are experiencing an exacerbation which is normal for RRMS.

This article from the National MS Society should help you to understand SPMS better:
Diagnosing secondary progressive MS (SPMS) : National Multiple Sclerosis Society

This is a description of the different types of MS:
Types of MS : National Multiple Sclerosis Society

Hope your exacerbation resolves soon.

Thanks for the info, good to know I shouldn't be getting a change in dx just yet 😊, which also means hopefully they won't take me off the copaxone, not that I particularly like the bee stinging welts that it leaves, but given the potential side-effects of the alternatives, I think I'd prefer to stick with the known evil. Cuz if the hospital neuros were wrong about possible change in my dx, I'll keep the hope that they were equally wrong in the possibility of changing meds.

Starz, how are you doing??????

Ummm.... I wanna say no comment . But honestly the best way I can put it is I'm fine in spirit but when I comes to the body not so much. I'm using some resistant bands to try and keep my left leg in some kind of shape until I can get in to see the neuro, but he's fully booked up until the 23rd of February . As we all know yeah it's a progressive disease and things will only get worse as time goes by and I've had plenty of time to come to terms with that, so it more annoying than ummm... mentally challenging, that I'm now using my wheelchair in the house about half the day.

But my cousin did come over the day after I left the hospital and helped me get my kitchen arranged so I can get something to eat while the DH is at work or something to drink, and can even get things for the GB in case I'm babysitting her. The new wheelchair I got last year? Or two years ago? Either way, it glides comfortably throughout the house so I still feel comfortable if I have to watch the GB for my SD. Now if only the SD would quit stressing me out, her new leaf lasted 48 hours. She still refuses to actually watch her child, or find a job, or tell the truth, or pretty much do anything that is asked of her short of the immediate request to like grab me a bottle of water so long as she is grabbing one for herself... but that's another story, one which I'm pretty much to the point of ignoring her completely and I just take care of the GB when she needs something. Which is rather sad that the one in a wheelchair with a debilitating disease and well over a decade older is the one who has to take care of the kid while the able bodied younger "adult" is too "overwhelmed" to do it.

But there hasn't been much improvement in regaining any feeling or strength in the left side, though my vision has improved once more, I was sooooo stoked that I got to play video games for the first time in a long while, so yippee!! For improved eye sight. Granted it's a high contrast game, but still, it doesn't make me sick playing it so I'm happy And I'm also finally off the anti-anxiety meds for riding in cars I think I can than the DSD for that since likely my anxiety disappeared because seriously, please let an idiot take me out then if nothing else I might be able to get a break from her while lying unconscious in a hospital bed, so at least some good has come out of this whole thing

And with my cousins moved down here I have plenty of help, including my mother basically camping out at my house every day until the DH gets home. And my dad, and my aunt and uncle, basically I have company over everyday from 9:00 am- 5/6:00 pm and none of them will let me lift a finger, I have to pass the troll's quiz just to go to the restroom, and again on the way back, and if I'm not quick enough I have at least 3 voices outside the door asking if I'm okay now the GB is in on the 'game'.

Hi Starznight,

It sounds like you are doing better What I don't understand is why you are using a wheelchair Even with a relapse walking is very important. Of course, safety first. Using a walker, or cane, trekking poles if needed is always a smart thing to do.

At this point you are RR and it's very important to retain your mobility for as long as possible. There is no reason, that I am aware based on your posts, that you can't walk around in your home. The phrase "use it or lose it" is especially true when having this disease.

Walking, exercise, and working with a Physical Therapist will help maintain core strength and mobility.

From The National Multiple Sclerosis Society regarding exercise and MS: http://www.nationalmssociety.org/Nat...ryday-Life.pdf

Yes I do understand walking and exercising is important, the problem is convincing my left side that it's important . And by the start of the evening, it decides no more. I would use a cane, walker or my forearm crutches, except my left arm is as useless as my left leg right now so there's really no way to safely manuever with those as only one arm can catch me and even it's not that strong since it's a non-dominant hand. That's why the resistance bands are out, so I can try to keep and hopefully gain back some of the lacking strength.

I mean the left side is pretty much dead and gone, no reflexes, the strength of a newborn baby, no feeling, just gone though I can still force it to move, and it can hold me up with some very conscious effort earlier in the day for short distances, but around 4/5 o'clock it's done. It's not a matter of it hurts too much to walk, or I'm frustrated with moving at a snails pace, it is quite literally the leg muscles will not work, any attempt to apply weight to the leg that just kinda starts dangling there as the day wears on ends in epic failure, it immediately collapses at the slightest attempt to even adjust my center of balance to transfer to my chair, so I'm left wiggling around my right foot and likely destroying what's left of the tendons trying to transfer to the chair or from the chair to the toilet.

Left arm and hand arm the same, which bites being a lefty let me tell you, though I suppose I could say thankfully I've recieved a lot of injuries to my left arm over the years so I can tie my shoes one handed, brush and wash my rather long hair and if I'm really feeling mentally acute I can even braid it and use a ponytail holder with one hand, along with pouring milk or juice from a full gallon, doing up buttons and zippers. I just can't write, draw or paint with my right hand. But yes doing everything I possibly can to not be in the wheelchair, it is a last and final resort when the left side just wanders off, but my bladder doesn't, or the GB "needs" me as she likes to say. Otherwise I walk as much as I can and use the resistance bands to exercise the limbs if I haven't gotten up for a bit.

But I'm also not just dealing with MS as such, but rather the severe spasticity that it caused to my muscles has degenerated the majority of tendons and ligaments in my body as well, and also broke my back and to date has caused 3 herniated and bulging disks in my spine, one in the neck, one in the thoracic spine and one in the lumbar spine which is also where it broke a disk. My ACLs and MCLs are shredded, 3 major ligaments in both of my ankles are shredded, torn rotator cuff in the left shoulder with multiple tears to it, 2 frayed ligaments in my left wrist.... seriously even before losing feeling and reflexes it's a small wonder my body has had any functions since about 2002. And it was after a lot of that that I was in 2 car accidents both accidents caused further tears to my rotator cuff.

I only recently realized how bad things were when my DH started having neck problems and our doctor put him through the reflex and strength tests and he got to do far more tests than I think I've ever done. But then he was passing his tests, whereas my epic failures on the majority of the ones they even bothered to do, basically stopped further tests in their tracks.... if you can't squeeze a hand or offer resistance up and down there's not a whole lot of reason to keep checking all the different strengths that might exist in the arms or legs for that matter when you can pulled up your toes or keep your leg straight. My DH got to do all sorts of things with his arms, hands, legs and feet, they even checked his eyes more than they do with me... seemed rather unfair, though to who I'm not sure... me because the doctors were just saying... good, good... but skipping over a lot of other tests so clearly it was .'bad, bad' or the DH because a lot of the tests were causing him physical pain and they just kept giving him more tests.

And yes I did tease the doctor about who did give a bit of a chuckle since she knows me quite well and did tell me straight up that if I passed the tests better I could have more... we laughed about me needing to go home and study... and the next time I saw her she did add in another test, though afterwards she did say that it wasn't because my 'studying' paid off, but rather to prove just how bad I was doing on the physical exam, because even I could tell it was baddddddd. Like the most epic fails of epic failures, she had me splay my fingers and told me not to let her squeeze them together. I could barely splay them on the left hand and she oh so easily squeezed them together, and yet still said 'good, good' until I started laughing. Occupational hazard, always say 'good, good,' to the patient no matter how terribly they are doing. You can pretty much vomit blood on a doctors' shoes and they'll still say 'good, good', until all the tests are done and back and then they'll let you know that no, vomiting blood on their shoes wasn't an okay sign.

I've come to the conclusion that if they ever achieve one of those sci-fi things of loading your brain into a computer, I'm totally up for it.

Have you seen a Neurosurgeon about your bulging/herniated discs? If not you really should consider it. These types of back problems can cause neurological symptoms so it's possible that what you think is MS can actually be due to your bulging/herniated discs. It is also possible to be paralyzed from bulging/herniated discs.