Are you too sick to realize you're "sick"?

[Tawanda]

M.S. leaves me so beat-down, it's like having the blahs that a cold or flu gives you, only on a daily basis! This past week, I felt even worse, and simply attributed it was my new M.S. Normal. Than an odd thing happened. My daughter came down with a cold, and it dawned on me that I was the one who gave it to her, and that what I thought was my M.S./allergy stuff was really a cold.

I am feeling a lot better so whatever it was is leaving my body. My mother had M.S. and I can remember on at least 2 when she went to her doctor appointment and was sporting pneumonia without even realizing it (she was extremely "phlegmy" at all times). I remember thinking how bad her disease must be if she can't even tell if she's "sick" in the traditional sense. Now it's happening to me. I don't know if I am being slammed by M.S. or a flu virus until after it's gone. Even then I don't know for sure. When I was "well", there was never any doubt when I had a cold. I took a day or two off of work and starting coming around again. M.S. is not so generous.

[rdmc]

Wow, Tawanda, I hear you on that one.

I've been admitted to the hospital with various things (pneumonia, infection, etc), and in those cases, I put off going to the ER because I just chalked the symptoms up to MS.

Face it, the way we feel on some days (well a lot of days) if we were a "normal, healthy" person, we'd be in the ER figuring we'd had a stroke or having a heart attack (when the hug hits.)

But I get so used to feeling blah, I can't even recognize what's MS and what's true sickness. That's why it never hurts to go ahead and make the visit to the doc, when in doubt.

[Jules A]

I'm fairly sure I might meet my fate by ignoring a heart attack or stroke and thinking it is just more MS stuff.

Then again it is doubtful I'll be so lucky as to go so quickly.

[Tawanda]

"General Malaise"

I don't know about anyone else, but I guess the symptom I am trying to express is "general malaise". What I wouldn't give to feel normal the way I used to remember the term! I hate my "new normal"!

[jumpinjiminy]

I know this is not a funny topic, and difficult to deal with daily. But I had to chuckle a little remembering the time my husband was walking around with pneumonia and didn't know it. I said to him, "How can you have pneumonia and not know it?" He got the last laugh when I discovered I'd been running fevers up to 102F off and on for several years, and didn't know it.

[1936siol]

Symptoms

You are so right. Many of the symptoms for MS are the same as for hearty problems. I asked the my cardiologist how I could tell the difference. He told me I couldn't.

I figured out that was probably the answer I would get. We are so lucky we are as smart as our doctors sometimes.

Lois

[golfwidow]

I don't know about anyone else, but I guess the symptom I am trying to express is "general malaise". What I wouldn't give to feel normal the way I used to remember the term! I hate my "new normal"!

Amen !!!! You just put into words the way I feel today.....and most days......"new normal" has me forgetting what it feels like to feel normal ?

[jumpinjiminy]

I had to think back on this, but you know, you're right. The last flu bug I had, the only way I knew was my lungs filled up with crap causing that pain in the back, chest and throat areas. If that hadn't happened, I may not have known. Is this why I can't tell a cold from a possible allergy? For several years now, I'd get the sniffles without feeling much different than my usual. I'd just assume it was an allergy of some type - but I don't get them every year - and I've never been an allergy-prone person.