Hi everyone.
Having had a lot of symptoms over the past few years and being someone who buries their head in the sand and just pushes on through, I have decided after three weeks of annoying symptoms, that it is time I bite the bullet and get to the doctor. For years I have had, intermittently, the band of numbness around my trunk, poor balance, dizziness, leg pains and the weird sensation down my legs when I bend my head forward. I have tried so hard to find the reason myself. I was living in the UK up until 2 years ago and have seen two Neurologists. The first one (about 8 years ago) was an appallingly dismissive NHS doctor who did a battery of blood tests then decided I had Shingles (no rash, not feeling unwell) or Lupus. End of consultation. I assume it wasn't Lupus as I was never told it was. The second one was in 2009 (privately, not NHS) when I was tired of the numb band around my middle that had flared up again, dizzy, leg pain. He wasn't totally happy with my reflexes so I had a head and spine MRI and when I saw him again for the results he said I had a few spots of inflammation on my spinal cord and that it would come and go, nothing to be concerned about. He didn't actually say he was looking for MS but I realize now he probably was. The brain scan must have been clear. So, since then I have seen a chiropractor for the dizzy spells and leg pains when they flare, thinking, maybe mistakenly, that what he was doing was working as after a few visits I felt better.
So, over the last 3 weeks I have been slammed with just about everything. Overwhelming tiredness, the numb band around my middle, the leg pain, the weird sensation down my legs when I bend my head forward, major dizziness and poor balance, vision issues and eye pain (that one is new), mind going totally blank and some confusion, urgently and suddenly needing to pee (that one is new too), weak feeling in legs sometimes even though they aren't actually weak... the list goes on. The main symptoms do come in flare-ups and last for a few weeks then vanish. I didn't realize that until I sat and thought about it. Light bulb moment.
I've had anxiety and mild depression for years and that's been attributed to hormones (they are actually messed up) but now I wonder if there isn't more to that. The factor that made me really think about MS is because I was given Prozac by the Gynecologist as a stop gap for my hormonal mood swings until they are sorted out. They gave me unbelievable eye pain and then I read in the leaflet that they can cause eye pain in people with MS. Light bulb moment! Then followed 3 weeks of everything happening, which is starting to calm down now.
So, I am going to a new doctor next week, I have a list of symptoms that I have compared my issues with, everything that has happened, and I am actually going to say, please test me for MS. I avoid doctors like the plague, unless I can't avoid it anymore or I am marched there by my long suffering husband.
Does this sound like MS?
Sorry for the long post
Nikki
Having had a lot of symptoms over the past few years and being someone who buries their head in the sand and just pushes on through, I have decided after three weeks of annoying symptoms, that it is time I bite the bullet and get to the doctor. For years I have had, intermittently, the band of numbness around my trunk, poor balance, dizziness, leg pains and the weird sensation down my legs when I bend my head forward. I have tried so hard to find the reason myself. I was living in the UK up until 2 years ago and have seen two Neurologists. The first one (about 8 years ago) was an appallingly dismissive NHS doctor who did a battery of blood tests then decided I had Shingles (no rash, not feeling unwell) or Lupus. End of consultation. I assume it wasn't Lupus as I was never told it was. The second one was in 2009 (privately, not NHS) when I was tired of the numb band around my middle that had flared up again, dizzy, leg pain. He wasn't totally happy with my reflexes so I had a head and spine MRI and when I saw him again for the results he said I had a few spots of inflammation on my spinal cord and that it would come and go, nothing to be concerned about. He didn't actually say he was looking for MS but I realize now he probably was. The brain scan must have been clear. So, since then I have seen a chiropractor for the dizzy spells and leg pains when they flare, thinking, maybe mistakenly, that what he was doing was working as after a few visits I felt better.
So, over the last 3 weeks I have been slammed with just about everything. Overwhelming tiredness, the numb band around my middle, the leg pain, the weird sensation down my legs when I bend my head forward, major dizziness and poor balance, vision issues and eye pain (that one is new), mind going totally blank and some confusion, urgently and suddenly needing to pee (that one is new too), weak feeling in legs sometimes even though they aren't actually weak... the list goes on. The main symptoms do come in flare-ups and last for a few weeks then vanish. I didn't realize that until I sat and thought about it. Light bulb moment.
I've had anxiety and mild depression for years and that's been attributed to hormones (they are actually messed up) but now I wonder if there isn't more to that. The factor that made me really think about MS is because I was given Prozac by the Gynecologist as a stop gap for my hormonal mood swings until they are sorted out. They gave me unbelievable eye pain and then I read in the leaflet that they can cause eye pain in people with MS. Light bulb moment! Then followed 3 weeks of everything happening, which is starting to calm down now.
So, I am going to a new doctor next week, I have a list of symptoms that I have compared my issues with, everything that has happened, and I am actually going to say, please test me for MS. I avoid doctors like the plague, unless I can't avoid it anymore or I am marched there by my long suffering husband.
Does this sound like MS?
Sorry for the long post
Nikki
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