I'm gonna try to make this as short as possible while explaining enough to hopefully get some good advice from you all, and I thank you in advance for it.
My current diagnosed conditions include the following-
Hashimotos Autoimmune Disease
Hypothyroidism
Anxiety
Chronic Migraines
Hyperlipidemia
Buldging Disc in my C-Spine
Polycystic ovarian syndrome
-All are being managed with medications.
I am now a 26 year old female, but my symptoms for which I'm writing this thread started back in 2012, nearly 3 years ago, and have only gotten more frequent. The symptoms started with facial numbness, then headaches, then photo sensitivity, now I have all of that combined with occasional blurry vision, numbness and tingling in hands, feet, legs, and arms as well (at varying times), memory problems, extreme fatigue, depression and anxiety (as a result of sitting in limbo land for so long), weakness in my legs (though I have never been unable to walk), brain fog, urinary urgency and leakage (bad enough that I have to consider it before I go in public and not go anywhere without a bathroom), muscle pain in my arms and back and legs, and have a few times even experienced tremors in my arms, though I've wondered if that could be a side effect of medications.
I have had an MRI with and without contrast as recent as April of this year and only the buldging disc on my spine was shown, clear otherwise. I also had a visual evoked potentials test which came up clear. So my neurologist has put me on a compound vitamin with several ingredients aimed at "rebuilding the myelin sheath around my nerves" for the numbness and a daily muscle relaxer (zanaflex) for the pain related to the buldging disc.
So why am I here? Because over the years since this started I have had several doctors, and people tell me I have symptoms of MS, and I know that was my neuro's initial thought as well, but when the MRI came back clear she decided not to pursue that route anymore. The other day I spoke to someone with diagnosed MS who told me that it not only took 5 years for her MS to show up on an MRI but also that she was diagnosed through a spinal tap and CSF analysis.
I have been researching my symptoms the 3 years since they started and I'm stunned at not yet having an answer for them. I have had so many things ruled out from stress to anxiety to lymes disease to lupus, and now I am just at a loss. I believe from my own research that it's possible that I do have some form of MS, but I don't know and I want your opinions please. coming straight from those of you with MS or even just with similar symptoms please share with me your thoughts and what you went through.
I would really appreciate it, and it helps to know that I'm not alone dealing with these scary symptoms that are not only affecting my ability to mother my two small children and be a wife, but also my ability to do well in nursing school, which is difficult enough on it's own. Thanks in advance.
** 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 current diagnosed conditions include the following-
Hashimotos Autoimmune Disease
Hypothyroidism
Anxiety
Chronic Migraines
Hyperlipidemia
Buldging Disc in my C-Spine
Polycystic ovarian syndrome
-All are being managed with medications.
I am now a 26 year old female, but my symptoms for which I'm writing this thread started back in 2012, nearly 3 years ago, and have only gotten more frequent. The symptoms started with facial numbness, then headaches, then photo sensitivity, now I have all of that combined with occasional blurry vision, numbness and tingling in hands, feet, legs, and arms as well (at varying times), memory problems, extreme fatigue, depression and anxiety (as a result of sitting in limbo land for so long), weakness in my legs (though I have never been unable to walk), brain fog, urinary urgency and leakage (bad enough that I have to consider it before I go in public and not go anywhere without a bathroom), muscle pain in my arms and back and legs, and have a few times even experienced tremors in my arms, though I've wondered if that could be a side effect of medications.
I have had an MRI with and without contrast as recent as April of this year and only the buldging disc on my spine was shown, clear otherwise. I also had a visual evoked potentials test which came up clear. So my neurologist has put me on a compound vitamin with several ingredients aimed at "rebuilding the myelin sheath around my nerves" for the numbness and a daily muscle relaxer (zanaflex) for the pain related to the buldging disc.
So why am I here? Because over the years since this started I have had several doctors, and people tell me I have symptoms of MS, and I know that was my neuro's initial thought as well, but when the MRI came back clear she decided not to pursue that route anymore. The other day I spoke to someone with diagnosed MS who told me that it not only took 5 years for her MS to show up on an MRI but also that she was diagnosed through a spinal tap and CSF analysis.
I have been researching my symptoms the 3 years since they started and I'm stunned at not yet having an answer for them. I have had so many things ruled out from stress to anxiety to lymes disease to lupus, and now I am just at a loss. I believe from my own research that it's possible that I do have some form of MS, but I don't know and I want your opinions please. coming straight from those of you with MS or even just with similar symptoms please share with me your thoughts and what you went through.
I would really appreciate it, and it helps to know that I'm not alone dealing with these scary symptoms that are not only affecting my ability to mother my two small children and be a wife, but also my ability to do well in nursing school, which is difficult enough on it's own. Thanks in advance.
** 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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