It comes and goes...

[LibraAngel74]

Limbo Lander here. I've posted several times already, some for my own curiosity and also due to difficulty with my PCP.

As of late I'm getting the impression she feels like I either don't have a clue or I'm a hypochondriac.

For the last several weeks I've had chronic knee pain that has limited my mobility. Now I've hurt this knee several times over 20+ years or so, so that could be a contributing factor.

That being said this morning I woke up almost 100% pain free, just like that, without any assistance of pain meds (I hate taking pills and I hate constant medicating especially for pain, I typically don't medicate colds either unless it's affecting my ability to function and go to work).

I'm waiting to have an ultrasound and x-ray on March 11th, as it's a wait for everything here (I live in a smallish city) and it doesn't appear to be arthritis based on where the pain is located (lateral collateral ligament area, outer knee).

The thing is the pain turning on and off and the swing in level of pain when it's present, that is what my PCP just can't wrap her head around.

So far there has been no discussion of the correlation in ALL my symptoms or that they could indicate any kind of condition or disease like MS and I'm apprehensive to bring it up given her attitude toward the number of issues I've had this year alone.

I've also had pain in the bottom of my left foot that will come on for a long time and then just disappears suddenly and then comes back. In both cases the pain gets worse with use along with greater fatigue throughout the periods with the pain regardless of where the pain is.

I guess now that I have rambled on a bit here, my question is this:
Is there anyone out here that has pain anywhere that literally turns on and off like a light switch? And is it normal for it get worse with use or is it more common for pain to be consistent regardless of use or rest?

Thanks in advance. I know it's possible MS isn't the cause at all but it is the only thing multiple people I know have suggested based on my symptoms etc...including a friend whose wife has PPMS.

Side note: I'm still in the process of eliminating other possibilities. I've had an EEG that indicated abnormalities in the Left Temporal Lobe and possible Focal Seizures. I'm on Lamotrigine for that while I wait to have an MRI in early March and a follow up EEG at the end of March. This process is very long and frustrating.

[SNOOPY]

Hi LibraAngel74.

I understand you are having many issues and no real answers at this point, I am sorry.

MS can and does cause pain, no one here is going to deny that fact. However, even for a person with MS, not all pain we experience is due to MS.

Your knee pain would be likely due to something going on with the knee and not a symptom of MS. I have dealt with knee problems since my early 20's. I have Arthritis in both knees. This can cause pain that comes and goes, my knee(s) will be fine and then their not. When my knee pain would flare-up my Orthopedist said not to push it and just take it easy until the knee improved.

My MRIs of the right knee showed frayed meniscus and other problems which was due to the loss of ligaments from having arthritis. I am now completely bone on bone on that knee and need a knee replacement. Even so, my pain level can go from high to almost gone at times. Injuries cause arthritis to form. I have arthritis in my right shoulder were I had a partial rotator cuff tear.

it doesn't appear to be arthritis based on where the pain is located (lateral collateral ligament area, outer knee).

Did a Orthopedist tell you it's not arthritis? If not, I would not be to quick to jump off the Arthritis possibility.

I've also had pain in the bottom of my left foot that will come on for a long time and then just disappears suddenly and then comes back.

See a Podiatrist. I have problems with my feet, some of the issues are related to my MS and some are not. My left foot is now considered deformed and I am in pain standing or walking more than a few minutes. I have fibromas on the bottom of my feet that I have received steroid injections for with a small amount of help.

I would like to stress not everything is related to MS, even if you were to have MS.

[LibraAngel74]

Hi Snoopy,

Thanks for the reply.

I was really just wondering if the pain related to MS can be like this on and off light switch as a possible explanation as things progress.

In the event other things are eliminating I'd like to have as valid an argument as possible to present to my PCP since she doesn't seem terribly open to much of anything besides my having a slew of "unrelated symptoms that are unlikely related".

Most likely down the line I'll end up looking for a second opinion depending on how future appointments with specialists and my neurologist go and how she responds to results.

Thanks again for the reply and I hope you're right and it turns out to be something else and that it's something easy to manage.

[SNOOPY]

was really just wondering if the pain related to MS can be like this on and off light switch as a possible explanation as things progress.

Typically pain related to MS doesn't just turn off and on like a light switch. Many times pain can be an ongoing problem with patient and Neurologist trying to find a medication or combination of medications that might give some relief. MS pain is not easily treated and some with MS always live with some pain related to this disease. Exercise is a non-medication way to try and deal with pain as is acupuncture, meditation, just to name a few.

I have always dealt with some leg pain, some days worse than others, but never completely gone. And yes, this is due to MS.

Information about MS and pain:
https://www.nationalmssociety.org/Sy...-Symptoms/Pain

[502E79]

Is there anyone out here that has pain anywhere that literally turns on and off like a light switch? And is it normal for it get worse with use or is it more common for pain to be consistent regardless of use or rest?

Yes. In my opinion with qualifiers....

In the year pre dx and the few years after (2-3), I experienced sudden pain out of nowhere coming and leaving quickly.

Examples:

Lying in bed maybe 20 minutes and a sudden pain in the middle of my left arm tricep, like being hit with a bat or a club, simultaneously, the same kind of pain on rib cage directly under arm pain location.

Pain gone immediately! No numbness, nothing ever again.

Walking north from Port Authority felt like there was a pebble in my shoe. Remove shoe, nothing. Continue to walk and now thinking not a pebble but a piece of glass, in sock. Sit on stoop, off with shoe / sock (feel like I'm bleeding!) Nothing! Get dressed... people are now staring....

Walk another few blocks with pain, then pain free! for rest of walk, a decent 1/2 mile. A 15 minute affair start to finish, nothing ever again.

I could list other minor sx experienced. Three or more years into my MS and these or other similar experiences ended.

The pain and tribulations caused by spasticity are now my constant enemy. Slightly better during use and immediately after, which I go for by being as active as I can. Which I pay for the next day or two.

Ignoring exercise works too at easing the pain but you pay the price with decreased ROM. I take the pain while I still can.

Jer (see my bio for a more complete perspective)