New person - undiagnosed YET looking for any insights

[rickcf]

Not sure where to start. I thought I had Parkinson's but that did not explain the nerve spasms or past history I have. I have no close immediate family, all except distant cousins are dead so I finally found a cousin on Facebook. She said she had MS so looked it up and 100% all my symptoms and hindsight explains my symptoms that all started 15 years ago when in my early 40s.

I am really getting bad in the past 2 -3 years, fatigue, clumsy, no coordination, sleep issues, stiffness. My wife and I are in the process of getting long term care insurance on both of us and want to wait for that to kick in before getting diagnosed. I did see a neurologist 10 years ago about the symptoms so expect to go back to him. Any insights, what to expect, what to watch for, what not to do or do. My current symptoms do not regress.

How do the meds help and I assume I should NOT wait to be diagnosed? Thanks, got know one else to talk to about this. My work as a programmer has started letting me work some at home some - and that is the only thing saving my job. I can't do 40-50 hour weeks if I have to drive 45 minutes to work every day (stress and sleep issues). Looks like early retirement for me. Thanks Rick

[SNOOPY]

Hello rickcf and welcome to MSWorld

You would need to go through the diagnostic process to know if you do or don't have MS. Many conditions have similar symptoms as those seen in MS and there is no symptom(s) exclusive to MS.

Information about diagnosing Multiple Sclerosis:
https://www.nationalmssociety.org/Sy.../Diagnosing-MS

Other conditions to rule in/out:
https://www.nationalmssociety.org/Sy...ns-to-Rule-Out

The treatments for Multiple Sclerosis are given after the person is diagnosed.

Best wishes...

[Poolwatcher]

How long of a wait until you lock in LT insurance?

[rickcf]

We just started the LTC process and was told anywhere from 30 days to 90 days. Having said that it has been less than a week and they already called for the LTC interview with my wife so things do seem to be progressing quickly.

[Poolwatcher]

It helps to read up as much as you can on the Internet about your symptoms and various causes of the symptoms in addition to multiple sclerosis. The diagnostic process goes better when the patient is informed and knows what to highlight and ask questions about. For example, pernicious anemia which is a type of vitamin B 12 deficiency, can look just like multiple sclerosis.

I assume they have ruled out brain tumors? An MRI can be very useful for so many reasons.

You did mention stiffness. This can be a type of spasticity that can be caused by various different illnesses. For example, I have multiple sclerosis. However, my stiffening and muscle spasms is caused by stiff person syndrome. You can see that in another thread.

In some ways, multiple sclerosis is a diagnosis of exclusion. Your doctor will exclude any other diseases that could account for the symptoms and test findings. If there are none, your doctor will diagnose multiple sclerosis.

I can certainly understand your wanting to wait until you secure your long-term care insurance. I would probably do the same thing. But, without a crystal ball, there is no way of knowing whether it is foolish to wait three months for your insurance to kick in or not.