This is going to be long, as the title says. I have been avoiding writing this down for awhile out of superstition, or fear, or denial, or something. I am a 34 year old female, and I am a full-time paleontologist (working on finishing my master's thesis) and this whole thing SUCKS.
In December, I was driving around on a rainy day and felt a weird sensation near my sacrum. I ignored it, because it was fleeting. The next day (SaturdaY), I woke up with numbness from my chest to my toes, bilaterally- EVERYTHING was numb, even my genitals. Over the next few days, it grew worse/weirder, and Tuesday I took myself to the ER because I was having trouble walking and was getting very freaked out. They xrayed and blood tested me and decided it was peripheral neuropathy and discharged me... gee, thanks guys. The next day I saw my regular doctor who had me do a billion blood tests and urinalysis etc. Nothing (except my cholesterol's a touch high).
Over Christmas my husband and I were at my parent's house, and trying to pretend nothing was wrong was really difficult. I kind of shuffled around the house in slippers and blamed my arthritis (HLA-B27 based, I got it when I was 17), though I had to break out a heat pad as my back was super tight and that sort of helped. Around this time, my fingertips and hands started to get numb... and I noticed amn electric shock/tingle/slight pulling sensation when i tipped my head down, as well as a tightness of my chest. I slept a LOT, though the rainy weather couldn't have helped.
On Jan 1 our health insurance changed from one company to another and I was having trouble getting an MRi scheduled because of that.
Finally, I got my MRI last week. I am waiting for the results, though we all pretty much suspect what they will say at this point.
At this point, my body is mostly back to normal, with some numbness left in the chest/back region, my arms, and hands.
The most annoying new development is what I call "The Phantom Itch".. around my collarbones and neck, I get these persistent, INTENSE itches that I can't actually scratch because the itch seems to be inside the skin. Also, last night with my eyes closed, as I was going to sleep, I tried to scratch my nose.. and poked myself in the eye, apparently i don't know where my nose is anymore :/
I have told almost nobody, and even those that know I've been super upbeat with (though if I hear "Oh, it's probably just a pinched nerve" ONE MORE TIME...). I'm tired of pretending everything's ok... after all, I don't LOOK sick.
My stepmother-in-law has MS and has been confined to a wheechair for ~12 years or so, almost the entire time she's been diagnosed. This scares me... as does everything else at this point. I don't really have anyone to talk to because I don't want o freak out my friends and family (or be a total mess, either). So.... here I am, at the semi-suggestion of another person from a message board we both frequent, who had similar symptom to mine and just got his diagnosis.
Blah.
In December, I was driving around on a rainy day and felt a weird sensation near my sacrum. I ignored it, because it was fleeting. The next day (SaturdaY), I woke up with numbness from my chest to my toes, bilaterally- EVERYTHING was numb, even my genitals. Over the next few days, it grew worse/weirder, and Tuesday I took myself to the ER because I was having trouble walking and was getting very freaked out. They xrayed and blood tested me and decided it was peripheral neuropathy and discharged me... gee, thanks guys. The next day I saw my regular doctor who had me do a billion blood tests and urinalysis etc. Nothing (except my cholesterol's a touch high).
Over Christmas my husband and I were at my parent's house, and trying to pretend nothing was wrong was really difficult. I kind of shuffled around the house in slippers and blamed my arthritis (HLA-B27 based, I got it when I was 17), though I had to break out a heat pad as my back was super tight and that sort of helped. Around this time, my fingertips and hands started to get numb... and I noticed amn electric shock/tingle/slight pulling sensation when i tipped my head down, as well as a tightness of my chest. I slept a LOT, though the rainy weather couldn't have helped.
On Jan 1 our health insurance changed from one company to another and I was having trouble getting an MRi scheduled because of that.
Finally, I got my MRI last week. I am waiting for the results, though we all pretty much suspect what they will say at this point.
At this point, my body is mostly back to normal, with some numbness left in the chest/back region, my arms, and hands.
The most annoying new development is what I call "The Phantom Itch".. around my collarbones and neck, I get these persistent, INTENSE itches that I can't actually scratch because the itch seems to be inside the skin. Also, last night with my eyes closed, as I was going to sleep, I tried to scratch my nose.. and poked myself in the eye, apparently i don't know where my nose is anymore :/
I have told almost nobody, and even those that know I've been super upbeat with (though if I hear "Oh, it's probably just a pinched nerve" ONE MORE TIME...). I'm tired of pretending everything's ok... after all, I don't LOOK sick.
My stepmother-in-law has MS and has been confined to a wheechair for ~12 years or so, almost the entire time she's been diagnosed. This scares me... as does everything else at this point. I don't really have anyone to talk to because I don't want o freak out my friends and family (or be a total mess, either). So.... here I am, at the semi-suggestion of another person from a message board we both frequent, who had similar symptom to mine and just got his diagnosis.
Blah.
You're right - they are so annoying. I could never figure out why I wasn't scratching in the right spot, and I end up scratching all over the place.
Comment