Hello, I'm new to the forums. I've been having a variety of symptoms which have been steadily growing worse over the past 3-6 months. I had been ignoring them but recently went to visit my doctor a few times to try to find out what is wrong. We have eliminated several things at this point such as nutritional imbalances and diabetes.
My doctor thinks that the next step might be to have an MRI to check for MS among other things (tumors, etc...). Part of me wants to get it done but my insurance sticks so that is going to be a huge bill for me. Plus, many people in my life have suggested that it might be nothing and I should just wait. Maybe it's stress or I'm just a hypochondriac. It's gotten to the point where I am missing out on activities, classes and work though. At this point I have put in 30 days notice at work as my job is very physical (I'm a special paraprofessional in a preschool) and I no longer feel confident in my ability to perform all the tasks safely. I've been missing a lot of time lately as well.
So I feel like I need to do something to figure out what is wrong. My primary symptom is extreme fatigue. It's to the point where I've started to nod off sitting up on public transit. I go to bed at around 10pm on weeknights but still feel exhausted at 6am when I wake up. I've started having to add in a 2 hour nap inbetween work and dinner. I have had basically one illness after another since December though so I don't know if my body could just be worn out from all that. The other big thing that I have noticed...which co-workers and friends have also pointed out...is that my coordination has been a little off. I'm a dancer so I normally have really good balance. But lately I am unable to keep my footing when I try to do spins and turns sometimes. Other times I'm fine.
I've also fallen once at work (missed a step) and slipped on the ice 3 times this winter (I normally never slip without at least catching myself). Then I'll just lose my balance/coordination at randoms times during the day, like getting up from the floor or turning a corner into a room I might accidently hit the door frame lightly. My memory has been really foggy lately too. I keep feeling like details are on the tip of my tongue but I can't quite remember them and I frequently forget to do errands.
Speech can be randomly a little more difficult too...sometimes it's hard for me to articulate certain words. I've also noticed that I'm misspelling things more. I'm not sure if it's normal for MS to have this much cognitive involvement early on. There have been someother things too...weakness in one hand, legs tensing at night, bladder issues, dizzy spells and headaches. But I feel like it could all be related to how I've had one illness after another lately...I just don't know...it's so hard when you're trying to look objectively at your own health and behaviors. Any advice?
** 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. **
My doctor thinks that the next step might be to have an MRI to check for MS among other things (tumors, etc...). Part of me wants to get it done but my insurance sticks so that is going to be a huge bill for me. Plus, many people in my life have suggested that it might be nothing and I should just wait. Maybe it's stress or I'm just a hypochondriac. It's gotten to the point where I am missing out on activities, classes and work though. At this point I have put in 30 days notice at work as my job is very physical (I'm a special paraprofessional in a preschool) and I no longer feel confident in my ability to perform all the tasks safely. I've been missing a lot of time lately as well.
So I feel like I need to do something to figure out what is wrong. My primary symptom is extreme fatigue. It's to the point where I've started to nod off sitting up on public transit. I go to bed at around 10pm on weeknights but still feel exhausted at 6am when I wake up. I've started having to add in a 2 hour nap inbetween work and dinner. I have had basically one illness after another since December though so I don't know if my body could just be worn out from all that. The other big thing that I have noticed...which co-workers and friends have also pointed out...is that my coordination has been a little off. I'm a dancer so I normally have really good balance. But lately I am unable to keep my footing when I try to do spins and turns sometimes. Other times I'm fine.
I've also fallen once at work (missed a step) and slipped on the ice 3 times this winter (I normally never slip without at least catching myself). Then I'll just lose my balance/coordination at randoms times during the day, like getting up from the floor or turning a corner into a room I might accidently hit the door frame lightly. My memory has been really foggy lately too. I keep feeling like details are on the tip of my tongue but I can't quite remember them and I frequently forget to do errands.
Speech can be randomly a little more difficult too...sometimes it's hard for me to articulate certain words. I've also noticed that I'm misspelling things more. I'm not sure if it's normal for MS to have this much cognitive involvement early on. There have been someother things too...weakness in one hand, legs tensing at night, bladder issues, dizzy spells and headaches. But I feel like it could all be related to how I've had one illness after another lately...I just don't know...it's so hard when you're trying to look objectively at your own health and behaviors. Any advice?
** 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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