Diagnoses Journey - Just Beginning - Is it MS?
 

Hi everyone! I introduced myself in the introduction thread, but it was suggested I post a thread of my own letting all y'all know what I am experiencing that leads to the thought of MS by my doctors. So, here goes!

The first major thing I notice is FATIGUE. But, conversely, I cannot sleep! I take Seroquel at night for sleep now because I can literally go four to five days without sleeping if I do not. It is like the fatigue makes my BODY exhausted, and even to some degree mental exhaustion, but my mind most often spins and spins. I have a history of mental health stuff, and in fact I'll get to that farther on. Also, it doesnt matter how long I sleep, i'm still exhausted!

The other type of fatigue is when I walk, exercise, etc. For example. when I walk upstairs to go to the washroom, by the first step I can feel deep muscle fatigue in my legs. It becomes harder and harder to haul my self up and often i use my hands to sort of crawl up them. This doesn't just happen on stairs though- the same thing happens on level ground. Now, I AM overweight, I am five ten about 220 pounds, however I have been that way for six years and never had felt this bone crunching fatigue in the muscles until about a year agoo.(Oh, you know what it feels like? Like you have over-worked out at the gym with no prep, and are now experiencing legs like jell-o!).

I have a goodly amount of pain, and was diagnosed with fibromyalgia a couple of years ago. I feel aching, deep deep aching in the muscles and what feels like joints. I experience burning and stinging/tingling pain as well on various areas of the body, most severely on the Temporomandibular area of the right side of my face. I do experience as well what from my research tells me, the "MS HUG". For a long time I thought something was wrong with my stomach howoever stomach meds have not fixed it, and I cannot see how a stomach would cause it. IT feels ore like having a hip-to-neck girdle which is tight, achy and...hard to explain in a way. What I mean by that is those words, tight and achy, dont explain it perfectly. they are close but not perfect.

Other issues I have health wise include mild kyphoscoliosis, Facet Joint Degeneration, arthritis in my hip area, and degenerated discs in L4-L5. I currently have a suspected kidney stone in left kidney, but it was a shadow on an XRAY and hasnt seem to bother me so we are doing bloodwork and testing. I also contracted Hepatitis C last year from a now-ex, who incidentally knew he had it and lied to me about it. KNOWING i was not well in the first place.:mad: However,I try not to dwell on stuff like that :) I suffer some sciatic pain as well periodically. And i get migraines every week at least once, they have been well managed most of the time with Maxalt, but every few weeks I get a four day or five day which responds to nothing, sometimes not even opiate painkillers.

Okay, other symptos(ps - being "all over the place" in conversations seems to be one of the symptoms I am having :P)

I have experienced veering off to the inside when walking with people, for over ten years now. I always thought it was just me, and I was clutzy but my doc said it *COULD* be a slight chance it is MS related *IF* that is what is going on. I also seem to, as of the last, oh six months? Had more and more issues with going to grab things and missing slightly and knocking them over. Happens with hands AND feet. For example, I break one to two glasses a day! I will go to pick it up and miss just enough. ITs like I cannot judge depth perception or something. And/or distance maybe. Some of these neurological symptoms confuse me to explain, Not sure I am using the right words.

Memory seems to be affected by whats going on, i have never had the best attention span or memory, however it is definetly worse and even my roomate has remarked on it. I will get the milk out, set it down, and then ask where the milk went to. I do not seem to have trouble remembering most words, but there are a few names I can just NOT remember no matter how i steel myself to memorize them.

I also seem to fall alot lately. I will wake in the night and go to set my leg down, put pressure on it, and it is numb and unable to hold weight. IT comes and goes though, so it may be pinched nerves in the spine. I also get tingling in my feet, and arms.

That is all the time I have right now, but there is more, I will come back and update later. For now I am interested in any thoughts you may have. Validation that I am not just a drama queen looking for sympathy(which is what my last doc I ended my relationship with made me feel like.). I finally foun a GP who used to specialize in Neuro and Pain Management(how lucky am I that he chose to come to our small town and work as a GP for a while!) who is helping me to manage my pain and find out what is going on!

Thanks All for the great welcome :):grouphug:

hello and welcome to NT.

i'm glad you found us. it's common for the process of diagnosing MS to take a while, especially when you have a lot of sx's (symptoms). the process entails ruling out other illnesses that can mimic MS.

have you had an MRI? that's a common test to dx (diagnose) MS, but expensive. do you have insurance?

some of what you describe falls under safety issues in the home.
i'd go thru your house and see what problems you have and find a way to make your environment safer. like plastic glasses. you might need a cane for balance. and you might consider using nite lites at nite to decrease a risk to fall. if you have rugs in your house, bathroom, bedroom change them if you trip on them. there are also mats you can place under the rug so it doesn't move.

well, that's been a long welcome.
hope to hear more about you.

It sure as heck, sounds like MS to me, Rainbow. I don't think your weight has much to do with your exhaustion, especially if you are used to being heavy. You are a big girl, like me. 5'7" - 180 lbs. It is harder to carry the extra weight around, though.:(

Diagnosis comes slow sometimes, so, just make sure you get tested for all the nastier stuff, like Brain tumour, ALS, etc... There are worse things than MS.

Take a deep breath and while you wait, get the helpful Meds from your Doc/Neuro and live your life to the fullest of your capabilities. There is no cure but you can maintain it a little better, with proper care.

:hug::hug:

Hi Rainbow and welcome to NeuroTalk! You're having alot of the same symptoms I had - and still have. I was diagnosed with MS in 2005 but feel I've had it for many years prior to that....just undiagnosed.

Many here have found that changing their diet helps with symptom mgmt. I cleaned up my diet and really try to maintain a balanced intake. I found that overly processed foods and "junk" really make me feel lethargic. It's just trial and error but I think anyone can benefit from better eating.

I hope you'll hang around and join in the various discussions we have going on here. Be sure to visit The Stumble Inn for some fun, too! :)