telling the difference between MS and just getting old or whatever
 

This may seem like a silly question, particularly for those who have been with the MSonster for awhile. Maybe there is no real answer. But how the heck do you tell the difference between a possible MS symptom and something that could be related to getting old or some random isolated event or some new crappy disease or nothing really at all? It has been exactly 1.5 years now since the diagnosis. Somehow I seem to be having a mental relapse-- I'm reverting back to the first few months where I became obsessed and noticed EVERY little thing in my body. I think what I am really asking is: does the worry about every little twinge or twitch or bout of dizziness ever go away? How do you manage the fear? When is tripping over something on the floor just tripping over something on the floor? :confused: :)

LOL...You reminded me of Freud.."Sometimes a cigar is just a cigar"..
Honestly, I wish even my doctors had the answer to this, but I don't think they really do. I figure if I trip over something, it's just a trip..If I do it more than once, I'm concerned. If I do it many times and look to see that nothing's there, I'm on the phone to my neuro..Other than that, I got nothin'..Please, if you come up with any solutions to that question, let me know. I'm 48 goin' on 148 some days..If age is all in the mind, well, let's not even go there..:winky:

Natalie8,

I think that you asked a very good question.

I am 57, almost 58, and was diagnosed with RRMS in 1992, 4 months after a failed back surgery and became SPMS in 1993.

It took me a long time to realize that everything that happened was not MS related. I got the usual stress answer from a lot of the doctors. I developed several other problems and thought they were MS related. I finally realized that even if they were, they had to be treated.

I've had dizziness, vertigo, balance problems and extreme fatigue since the very beginning. They never go away so I walk very slow and use a cane when I go out of the house. I just go with each day and see how I feel. The last few days, for instance, were not too good. Fatigue has taken over and I have spent most of the time sleeping.

I don't seem to have any fear of MS now. It came on so fast and has stayed with me for all these years. I feel normal bad for me all the time and really bad on some days.

I trip and bump into things but just go on without thinking about it necessarily being MS. I'm not trying to make light of this illness but it has gotten to a point with me that I do not think of it everyday.

I am like Becky, a little older than some folks here, and I have a MS dx since 1981.

Also what PE said about Freud is so true. Sometimes it is just something else and you can't always blame everything on MS. If you do, you will never get treatment for any other ailment or disorder you might get, even a flu bug.

I used to wake up every morning and check myself out to see what I had to deal with that day. Anything numb, painful, balance changes, etc. It could make a person nutty doing that.:eek: I finally gave up the morning check up and just got on with my day. It's easier and more calming.

If something worsens with your vision, mobility, pain or is new to your normal baseline symptoms, then go get it checked out by your doctor. It will give you peace of mind. Vision and mobility changes are a must to see your Neuro about.

If you feel different, first check out your medicines. They give side effects too. Even OTC drugs. If you still feel something is wrong with your memory, call your Neuro. Also like some, 57 or younger is too young to have memory/age problems. :)

You could get cognitive testing if you are really worried about it. Being bored, not active, or fatigued, causes memory issues too. I hope you can relax those feelings of obsession and give them up. :)

When in doubt, check it out. JMO

I am still new to figuring it all out too Natalie:hug: it does take time to categorize it all and then as you do that u also have to try and decipher if its age or what? meds? flue asthma oh did i get allergies somewhere too. keeping a journal helps too to reflect back on, its time consuming and a bit perplexing Nat:hug: but we are here for ya, a shoulder or an ear, what ever we can do. I know I was gonna take a sabbatical here, but as yall see that plan didnt work. its hard to stay away, i too would love to cure the world each and every day. Dont hesitate, if you need an ear of another one wondering some of the same, as your are:hug:, u sure got a few hugs out of this one didnt ya:) :hug:

Some of my problems that I thought were MS related were actually side effects to some of the medications that I take for MS stuff.

Back in december, I started taking Baclofen regularly because I had a couple of bad charley horse leg spasms a few nights in a row. About two weeks after that, I started to notice that my left thumb, index finger and middle finger were tingly numb. (tops of my feet also have felt weird, but that's not as irritating for some reason)

I was blaming the MS for it for the past month or so, and then remembered that I have problems with numbness getting worse when I take antibiotics, so I checked the side effects for the baclofen. Numbness in the extremities is a apparently a common side effect. I mentioned it to my neuro, he asked me a few questions about the leg spasms I had, and he suggested that I go off the baclofen (slowly, even tho I dont use it full strength) and see if the numb, tinglies get better in my left hand. Said that I could always start back up on the baclofen if I needed to.

It has helped some, my index finger was almost totally numb at the tip of the finger last week. It's been since about last thursday since I started to back off on the baclofen, and I havent had any since friday or saturday. The numbness is now pretty much just in the pad of my thumb, and the tinglies are no where near as bad in the rest of the affected fingers as it had been. (tingly fingers are really annoying, especially when I'm trying to knit or crochet)

The tops of my feet dont feel as weird now too.

So, I guess my neuro was right that it might have been the baclofen that was causing me numbness in the fingers.

What annoys me about that, is if some of the medications that I take for some of the MS symptoms can seem to cause other MS-like symptoms....then how do I know if it's an actual MS symptom, or some bizzaro side effect from one of the symptom management medications?


I also tend to panic when I get brand new symptoms or when something that gave me a lot of problems before decide to fire up again and cause me more problems. (I kind of panic more for vision problems, but I really really whine when something goes completely numb. I hate the really bad numbness. Vertigo sucks too...I'll beg for steroids if I get vertigo that doesnt go away)

I was diagnosed in 1977.... 32 years ago, and I still don't know for sure what symptoms are MS and what aren't.

It's become more of an intuition thing for me over the years, and if I'm unsure, I get my GP to check me over. If she can't find an answer for my symptoms, then I look to MS for a reason and go see my neuro.

I know that doesn't help you Natalie, but as others have said before me, it's just so hard to define MS symptoms. So hard to clump them together under an easy heading.

Being in a family with a lot of interesting things in it's med history
(like cancer), I always get stuff checked out. My PCP understands and will rule stuff out for me to make sure it's the 800lb gorilla called MS.

My general rule of thumb has been: would I complain to doc about this before I had MS? If yes, he's my first call.

I will admit that it is something you have a tendency to learn over time and I'm still learning :rolleyes:. When I had electric shock-like pains, I knew that had to be the MS and directly called the neuro.

It is hard to tell. At 53 I know the wrinkles are probobly not MS but the STM memory loss sometimes differs. I'm slowing down and sight and hearing are changing but why? I blame things on MS but maybe shouldn't. Who knows sometimes. My doctors are just a phone call away, but sometimes they don't know.

I started haveing some urinary problems, talked to my PCP, at my age and a twin birth in my past, seemed normal to her. I kept insisting it was neurological. Just to shut me up, she referred me out to a neurologist, securing my promise I'd stop looking after that. He said MS. My PCP is so great she could accept being wrong and called me knowing females cry.