feeling strangely lucky....

[sbates]

I was diagnosed just a month ago so when I first joined this site I had no idea what limbo meant. I was so quickly diagnosed that I had to research it myself to see why it was such an easy diagnosis.

Although I hate that I have ms and am still coping with my world being turned upside down, I see all the stories on here about people having symptoms for months or even years without being diagnosed. I hate having ms but I would hate not knowing even more.

I saw a neuro/ms specialist yesterday and it was absolutely amazing to have all my questions answered and to be set up on a treatment plan. I thought the worst thing was having ms but it turns out that for me, the unknown is far more scary. 2 days ago I was completely lost and feeling sorry for myself. I have a whole new outlook today.

It's amazing how you regain power with knowledge. I had educated myself pretty well in the past month, but for a dr to explain how everything applies to me and to explain everything in such detail was exactly the reassurance I needed.

I was scared that I had progressive ms because I had back to back flare ups in a month and my symptoms never completely subsided. It turns out that I just have "aggressive ms" but it is still just rrms. Therefore, they are going to give me a more aggressive treatment.

I am so excited to know what's going on for the first time since this bomb was first dropped on me. I am actually more optimistic about my future!

** 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. **

[22cyclist]

Sbates: I am glad you had an easy diagnosis too! I am also happy you had all of your questions answered. What treatment did they decide on? I hope that you will do well on whatever it is!

Take care
Lisa
Moderation Team

[sbates]

chest pain?

They have put me on Gilenya. The cost is outrageous but the drug company approved me for assistance. They also put me on Baclofen for the other symptoms I'm having. The way this disease works never ceases to amaze me. Up until this past week I had no actual pain associated ms. Minor aches and discomforts ofcourse but no actual pain.

Can you tell me if it is normal to have severe chest pain? It started in my right arm last night. When I would breathe it felt like a tearing pain that started under my right breast and traveled to my side. Then I started having pain in my left arm as well. I felt like I could not get enough air. I know that it can't be heart related because it was mostly right sided. I thought maybe a panic attack but that would be weird since the pain woke me out of my sleep.

I'm sure it's something I should discuss with my dr but I just wanted to see if anyone else had experienced this before. I can live with pain and discomfort as long as I know the cause. The unknown is always the scariest part for me.


** 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. **

[Fed Up]

sbates?? How are you feeling now??

Regardless of a medication causing those kinds of pains, you are describing 'heart attack.' It doesn't matter which arm or which side of the chest sometimes.

Sometimes it is simply a "heaviness" of the chest, like an elephant sitting you your chest.

ANY Unusaul ARM/Shouler/ CHEST PAIN WITH DIFFICULTY BREATHING IS AN EMERGENCY REGARDLESS OF ANY MEDICATIONS.

Some people only feel a slight upper spine backache with MI. Hope you are OK??? fed

[aspen]

I'm having the same thing that started two weeks ago ... but not dxed with ms. So far they've ruled out lots of things (pulmonary embolism being one of them). No one has even mentioned heart despite my icky family history in that area.

Still left with air hunger and tight chest -- always there and waves of worse when I'm also very dizzy and weak.

As Fed said, efinitely you must get it looked into -- don't fall into the "everything is ms" trap.

[sbates]

Well, I emailed my neuro and she said that they might be side effects of the meds. I thought the chest pain would be a concern but apparently not...

Aspen- I am experiencing the tightness in my chest and difficulty getting air. I haven't had the actual pain since that night-thank goodness! I think I cause the shortness of breath. It actually does hurt when I try to take a normal breath so I find that I either hold my breath without realizing it, or just take shallow breaths. It seems worse when I'm laying down. By the way, how do they check for PE?

FedUp- Thank you for checking on me! I'm still pretty sure it's not my heart. I'm only 30 and have no heart related problems in my family history. My mom would tell me it's just gas. That's her answer for everything lol

[Fed Up]

Pulmonary Embolisms are generally fatal unless you are in the hospital when they happen. Sudden onset of severe chest pain, sweating and difficulty breathing.

sbates; Glad you are O.K.; but if you are ever in doubt, you should go to an ER or call the paramedics to put a portable EKG monitor on you, to check it out. It is always better to be SAFE with Chest Pain, instead of in doubt! fed

[sbates]

Well that is reassuring to know! When I looked up my symptoms, PE was the first thing listed. I did not think that was it but I guess a small part of me was worried. I guess this is why Drs warn you to stay off the internet! Lord knows I don't need to be making up extra health problems when I have enough real ones!

[aspen]

Test for PE are blood work (d dimer test) and chest scan, as far as I know. Doctor also had me checked out for DVT in legs (deep vein thrombosis). I'm fine. Well, not fine, 'cause i'm still having the chest/rib pain issues and currently on a monitor.