Hi all,
I've joined because, as much as they tell you not to research symptoms on the net, I have done that with my worsening symptoms and it has led me to MS...
I have a history of swallowing issues and have had stuff stuck in my throat (started when I was 14) enough to where I once had to get an emergency endoscopy to push it through. I've had a barium swallow and biopsies...finally they said it was eosinophilic esophagitis. It takes me forever to eat because I have to take a drink after every bite.
As a graduate teaching assistant in 2011 I suddenly felt extremely fatigued all the time, which I noticed while setting in a lecture, and was subsequently diagnosed with a "textbook case" of mono at my university clinic.
Since the mono I graduated and went to work at an environmental consulting firm. During that time, I was often fatigued and in a brain fog; I had a hard time understanding instructions no matter how easy they were. My muscles were often tight and I started to have issues with speaking normally...long pauses in the middle of a sentence, losing simple words, etc. Always chalked it up to anxiety and eventually saw my GP and a Psychologist and got a diagnosis of General Anxiety Disorder and ADD.
Was laid off last year due to a company-wide lack of work. Until just a couple of months ago I had no full-time work, but have been busy working on projects and getting experience doing things I never would have been able to do otherwise.
Since my GAD and ADD diagnoses, I've been taking Citalopram (for Anxiety) and Vyvanse (for ADD) and they have helped immensely! The Vyvanse makes the fatigue more manageable and gets me motivated to actually do things I want to do. Occasionally when I forget to take it though, I have a hard time functioning and just want to sleep all day...my whole body feels like lead.
Lately my fatigue seems to be overwhelming the meds and I sleep a lot and then have a hard time getting out of bed. My legs, butt, chest, and shoulders are always tight. I can no longer multi-task without spending a significant amount of time remembering where I was earlier. I often have to struggle to focus my eyes. I'm certain my SO is frustrated with my inability to tell a story or remember little details ("so did your mom say who she has to get a Christmas gift for this year?" "Yeah, but...I don't remember.")
I'm constantly running into things or stubbing my toe, like my depth perception and balance is declining. There are other symptoms too...constant yawning, total inability to regulate body temp in heat, etc...
I've been able to deal with all this up until now, but the fact that I feel like I'm getting dumber and can't communicate correctly with people is really getting to me. I have an appointment with my GP on Friday and will likely request a referral to a neurologist if one isn't offered...
Apologies for the wall of text and thanks for reading if you can get through all of it! I know I would say "tl;dr"! I know I might not have MS, but this seemed like a good community to speak about my frustrating symptoms either way.
I've joined because, as much as they tell you not to research symptoms on the net, I have done that with my worsening symptoms and it has led me to MS...
I have a history of swallowing issues and have had stuff stuck in my throat (started when I was 14) enough to where I once had to get an emergency endoscopy to push it through. I've had a barium swallow and biopsies...finally they said it was eosinophilic esophagitis. It takes me forever to eat because I have to take a drink after every bite.
As a graduate teaching assistant in 2011 I suddenly felt extremely fatigued all the time, which I noticed while setting in a lecture, and was subsequently diagnosed with a "textbook case" of mono at my university clinic.
Since the mono I graduated and went to work at an environmental consulting firm. During that time, I was often fatigued and in a brain fog; I had a hard time understanding instructions no matter how easy they were. My muscles were often tight and I started to have issues with speaking normally...long pauses in the middle of a sentence, losing simple words, etc. Always chalked it up to anxiety and eventually saw my GP and a Psychologist and got a diagnosis of General Anxiety Disorder and ADD.
Was laid off last year due to a company-wide lack of work. Until just a couple of months ago I had no full-time work, but have been busy working on projects and getting experience doing things I never would have been able to do otherwise.
Since my GAD and ADD diagnoses, I've been taking Citalopram (for Anxiety) and Vyvanse (for ADD) and they have helped immensely! The Vyvanse makes the fatigue more manageable and gets me motivated to actually do things I want to do. Occasionally when I forget to take it though, I have a hard time functioning and just want to sleep all day...my whole body feels like lead.
Lately my fatigue seems to be overwhelming the meds and I sleep a lot and then have a hard time getting out of bed. My legs, butt, chest, and shoulders are always tight. I can no longer multi-task without spending a significant amount of time remembering where I was earlier. I often have to struggle to focus my eyes. I'm certain my SO is frustrated with my inability to tell a story or remember little details ("so did your mom say who she has to get a Christmas gift for this year?" "Yeah, but...I don't remember.")
I'm constantly running into things or stubbing my toe, like my depth perception and balance is declining. There are other symptoms too...constant yawning, total inability to regulate body temp in heat, etc...
I've been able to deal with all this up until now, but the fact that I feel like I'm getting dumber and can't communicate correctly with people is really getting to me. I have an appointment with my GP on Friday and will likely request a referral to a neurologist if one isn't offered...
Apologies for the wall of text and thanks for reading if you can get through all of it! I know I would say "tl;dr"! I know I might not have MS, but this seemed like a good community to speak about my frustrating symptoms either way.
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