Hello everybody. Sorry this ended up being a lot longer than I wanted.
Here’s my story so far:
I am 22 years old, and I have been dealing with a lot of different symptoms lately. But I would say it all started back when I was in high school. I dealt with migraines and random bursts of vertigo. I got an MRI and they found lesions in my brain. I had to come back in 6 months and have another MRI to see if the lesions have changed. There was no change and so they told me I shouldn’t worry about it and that the lesions are caused by my migraines.
Fast forward a year, and I moved to Israel where I ended up joining the army. I drafted in the winter and I had a great time in basic training, no real issues. And after basic training my job in the army wasn’t too bad either. But during my service was the first time I started to get these symptoms. It was during the summer when I was walking across base (I was an instructor for volunteers and had to check on all of them throughout the day) when I felt like I could barely move. My legs felt weird, like I was moving rocks. Also I had a general sense of weakness. When I would talk, I would slur my words and found it very difficult to concentrate. This is my first memory of feeling like this. At the time we all figured I must be dehydrated (even though I made sure to drink enough water and eat enough salty foods), or just not used to the Middle Eastern heat yet.
But these feelings lasted for days, sometimes not so bad, sometimes really bad. And then they would go away. And then they would come back. I went to see a doctor and had my blood tested - everything was fine.
These feeling got worse and worse, and at one point I found that I wasn’t able to walk 10 minutes at a time without having to sit down, but that only lasted for a day. I had gone to more doctors, but it was difficult going whenever I wanted because I wasn't showing any outside symptoms. And they all either hinted or suggested it was anxiety. Usually the feelings were easy enough to ignore. And I did until my service ended.
After the army, I got a job as a bartender/waitress in a hotel. And this is when my symptoms started to get really bad. There were a couple times my boss sent me home because she said I looked dead. The symptoms were happening daily. Every. Single. Day. For at least a month straight. I had a long talk with my boss and told her I don’t think I can continue working until I figure out what’s wrong with me. She agreed and told me to update her once I figure things out. And that’s where I am now.
Here is a list of all of my symptoms:
-Headaches/migraines/vertigo
-Weakness/fatigue
-Muscle stiffness in legs/numbness and tingling in legs and arms
Also a weird feeling in my calves I don’t know how to explain, like a tightness or band squeezing my calf.
-Issues concentrating/confusion/slurring words/mixing up words
-Vision issues (when I am walking my vision jumps up randomly. At first I thought this was me almost passing out, but I would feel fine. Just my eyes would roll up out of my control.)
-Bowel issues daily
-Bladder issues (this is honestly what wreaks to the most havoc on my life. I am constantly needing to go to the bathroom. If I go, I will have to go again in anywhere between 10-30 minutes later. The urgency to go comes on very suddenly and there has been times where I have been worried about peeing my pants. I also wake up multiple times in the night to go to the bathroom.)
I have seen a doctor and told her all of my symptoms. I have had multiple blood tests (and still more coming) all fine. I have to do a lot more tests for my colon and kidneys, and of course I have a neurologist appointment in 5 days.
Because I do have lesions in my brain (as far as I know caused by my migraines) is it possible they would be giving me these symptoms? Similar to MS? What makes lesions caused by migraines different than lesions caused by MS?
Or was anyone here diagnosed with lesions by migraines first and then it changed to an MS diagnoses?
And lastly should I even mention MS to the neurologist or risk like sounding like a hypochondriac?
Thank you for reading everything, I know it was a lot.
Here’s my story so far:
I am 22 years old, and I have been dealing with a lot of different symptoms lately. But I would say it all started back when I was in high school. I dealt with migraines and random bursts of vertigo. I got an MRI and they found lesions in my brain. I had to come back in 6 months and have another MRI to see if the lesions have changed. There was no change and so they told me I shouldn’t worry about it and that the lesions are caused by my migraines.
Fast forward a year, and I moved to Israel where I ended up joining the army. I drafted in the winter and I had a great time in basic training, no real issues. And after basic training my job in the army wasn’t too bad either. But during my service was the first time I started to get these symptoms. It was during the summer when I was walking across base (I was an instructor for volunteers and had to check on all of them throughout the day) when I felt like I could barely move. My legs felt weird, like I was moving rocks. Also I had a general sense of weakness. When I would talk, I would slur my words and found it very difficult to concentrate. This is my first memory of feeling like this. At the time we all figured I must be dehydrated (even though I made sure to drink enough water and eat enough salty foods), or just not used to the Middle Eastern heat yet.
But these feelings lasted for days, sometimes not so bad, sometimes really bad. And then they would go away. And then they would come back. I went to see a doctor and had my blood tested - everything was fine.
These feeling got worse and worse, and at one point I found that I wasn’t able to walk 10 minutes at a time without having to sit down, but that only lasted for a day. I had gone to more doctors, but it was difficult going whenever I wanted because I wasn't showing any outside symptoms. And they all either hinted or suggested it was anxiety. Usually the feelings were easy enough to ignore. And I did until my service ended.
After the army, I got a job as a bartender/waitress in a hotel. And this is when my symptoms started to get really bad. There were a couple times my boss sent me home because she said I looked dead. The symptoms were happening daily. Every. Single. Day. For at least a month straight. I had a long talk with my boss and told her I don’t think I can continue working until I figure out what’s wrong with me. She agreed and told me to update her once I figure things out. And that’s where I am now.
Here is a list of all of my symptoms:
-Headaches/migraines/vertigo
-Weakness/fatigue
-Muscle stiffness in legs/numbness and tingling in legs and arms
Also a weird feeling in my calves I don’t know how to explain, like a tightness or band squeezing my calf.
-Issues concentrating/confusion/slurring words/mixing up words
-Vision issues (when I am walking my vision jumps up randomly. At first I thought this was me almost passing out, but I would feel fine. Just my eyes would roll up out of my control.)
-Bowel issues daily
-Bladder issues (this is honestly what wreaks to the most havoc on my life. I am constantly needing to go to the bathroom. If I go, I will have to go again in anywhere between 10-30 minutes later. The urgency to go comes on very suddenly and there has been times where I have been worried about peeing my pants. I also wake up multiple times in the night to go to the bathroom.)
I have seen a doctor and told her all of my symptoms. I have had multiple blood tests (and still more coming) all fine. I have to do a lot more tests for my colon and kidneys, and of course I have a neurologist appointment in 5 days.
Because I do have lesions in my brain (as far as I know caused by my migraines) is it possible they would be giving me these symptoms? Similar to MS? What makes lesions caused by migraines different than lesions caused by MS?
Or was anyone here diagnosed with lesions by migraines first and then it changed to an MS diagnoses?
And lastly should I even mention MS to the neurologist or risk like sounding like a hypochondriac?
Thank you for reading everything, I know it was a lot.
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