In April 2013 I started having problems with brain fog. This continued on for about 3 days. I felt very tired like I needed rest and no matter how much sleep I got it would not subside. Then finally on a Friday night I got off work and went straight to sleep as soon as I took my shoes off and sat down. I woke up and was very dizzy. I couldnt walk straight at all and was grabbing on to what I could when I walked around the house.
I stayed in bed as much as I could. I had been very stressed previously during the week with work and also working on the a/c unit at my churches Daycare. I normally dont work on the weekends but this Saturday I had too. I had a very important job going on and the last time it took place it failed.
I tried to let one of the guys under me step up and prove himself. Needless to say it was a disaster and I canceled the job and rescheduled it. That Saturday came around and I was dizzy all day long. The job was set to begin at 10pm that night.
I went to work and when I showed up I told the guys I was dizzy and would be there until the job was finished. My wife drove me to work for the first time ever. I couldnt see straight and really didnt feel like driving. I had some medication at home I was taking for the nausea.
When I got out of the car the guys that where there working was looking at me like yeah right. More or less like I was drinking. Need I say I dont like alchohol and still dont. Throughout the night I stayed in the shop on a cot and answered questions as needed.
There wasnt much I could do. When the job was over I called my wife to come and pick me up. The ride home was even worse. Later that morning my wife drove me to the E.R. and the physician diagnosed me with BPPV. Basically vertigo. He prscribed me some meds and sent me home.
As I took the medication it did not help at all. So the next day my wife called our family physician and got me in to see him. After he conducted a series of test he looked at me and said he would like for me to go and get an MRI. I agreed and went for my appt. later that night around 7pm. Before
I went for the MRI my wife told me when the doctor was conducting his evaluation my right eye had no movement. I was so dizzy at the time I couldnt tell it wasnt moving. About 9pm he called and said meet him back at the office first thing that next morning to be admitted into the hospital. He said the MRI showed some abnormalities.
I passed the phone to my wife for her to talk to the doctor because I didnt know what to think and at that moment I really wasnt thinking clearly. Later that night I awoke to go and use the restroom and collapsed. All my strength was gone and I was so dizzy walking was not an option. My wife called the ambulance and i was rushed to the E.R. I was in and out of it.
All I remember was doctor's asking me a few questions. I woke up in a room and my Pastor was there. He prayed for me and right after prayer the nurses came and got me for a 4 hour MRI. I was in and out at first until finally it got to painful to lay still. I was sent back to my room and the nurses came again to get me for a spinal tap. At that time
I didnt care as long as they figured out what was wrong. I just wanted the dizziness to stop. I remember every inch of the process. At some point when the doctor inserted the needle I felt him hit a nerve and the pain went all the way to my feet. I told him about it and he reinserted the needle and obtained the fluid. It was not as painful as some people say it is. Dont get me wrong it does hurt a little but to me no different than taking a shot.
Later on the doctors came to my room and told me that the diagnosis was MS. I had 9 lesions on my brain and 3 bands in my CSF. My wife being the person she is started researching on her phone immediately. The doctor said 3 bands were not good but four bands were definite for MS. So I asked the doctor if I dont have 4 bands then why the diagnosis. She ended up telling me that only a certain percentage only has 3 bands.
After all the bloodwork and test ran I was clean of viral and other infections. So I came home after 4 days in the hospital and steroid treatment. I was able to walk but still very dizzy and my eye was moving again/ normally. All light,computers, phones, and etc hurt my eyes pretty bad. Still not believing the diagnosis
I went to see an opthamologist and my eyes were healthy. Within a week and half I saw another Neuro and she was head of the MS society here where I live. I walked into this place and was kinda shocked. It brought memories back to me from when I was a child. My grandmother was blind and I instantly started remembering as a child we used to take her to rehabilitation centers to learn different things with disabilities. When I walked in this clinic I saw all these people with different disabilities.
I said to myself this isnt me. I went on to see the Doc and began to discuss MS. She pulled up the MRI and went over it with me. She also pointed out another lesion that was on my spine the Radiologist didnt catch. I asked the doc how long before the dizziness subsided and she told me 3 months to a year.
It crushed me. So to make a long story short the lady was not very caring at all. I asked for a work excuse and she told me to go see a disability doctor. I asked her about driving and she said go ahead. I couldnt look left or right without getting sick at my stomach. So I ended up going to a recommended neuro here.
The staff there was a sight for sore eyes. The whole atmosphere was different. He explained everything thoroughly and was very caring. He went over the drug options and the side affects. The other neuro hands me 2 bags of drug info and tells me to choose and call in her office when I pick one. I had just learned about all this and thought they were supposed to prescribe based on symptoms.
All the drug info is scary but not any different than some other drugs. Its a little hard to get over at first. But you get used to it. I ended up picking a drug that was convenient to me. The Neuro I saw felt pretty good about it as well. The Neuro also called in the top Radiologist to go over my results of the MRI because he knew I was still skeptical about all this.
He also found another leasion on my spine. This made 2 on the spine and 9 on the brain. So drugs were starting to sound even better at this point. The first time I took the drug, I took right before bed. I didnt really notice anything the next morning. The side affects were very slight and wore off quickly. I had to titrate with the medicine and once I reached the full dose I still barely noticed it the next morning. I have little hiccups here and there and still have alot of questions.I also have diabetes and learning what is what is difficult. Time will tell.
** Moderator's note - Post broken into paragraphs for easier reading. Many people with MS have visual difficulties that prevent them from reading large blocks of print. **
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