Hi radpetey,
I have two purposes for posting this: first to let you know that you are NOT alone, second, to urge you to take action!
I can relate to your post VERY well indeed, except that my first troubling symptom was the lower back pain-stiffness-heavy legs thing. The blurry vision came along later.....and yes, I used to have vision that a fighter pilot would have envied. Now I have not only blurry vision, but also vertical double vision plus vertigo pretty much all the time. As for trouble with speech....sometimes it feels as though my mouth and tongue are extremely "clumsy"; I've actually bitten my tongue before while trying to talk.
Regarding the "forgetting words" thing....check out
this post on the lupus forum that I just wrote about
my "brain fog"! LOL! Trust me...you are not alone!
I have Raynaud's syndrome too. Plus every other autoimmune disease and related disorder known to man!
I too am exaggerating, but just barely.....please see the list of diseases (blue) and medications (red) in my signature at the bottom of this post. I am VERY well acquainted with doctors and the medical community at large and, just as whatshername suggested, I think you should get yourself to a neurologist ASAP! Do you have a primary care physician?? Ask him or her to refer you if you don't have PPO insurance. You may also need to see a rheumatologist....hard to say at this point.
There are several illnesses that could be responsible for your conditions, some that come to mind are MS, Lyme disease, lupus/UCTD/MCTD, and/or fibromyalgia. Or a mixture of a bunch of different things, like I have. But you need to see a doctor and let him/her diagnose you. I can tell you about
my own experiences and give you my opinions but I'm not a doctor....you have to remember that!
You may possibly need to see more than one doctor, but take it one day at a time, one appointment at a time. As the previous poster said, keep yourself informed. Be your own advocate! If you have trouble with your memory, write down a list of questions to ask and make a list of your symptoms before you go. Be sure to get copies of all your medical records. Some people with memory issues even bring tape recorders with them to the appointments and tape them so that they won't forget what the doctor told them! If you see a doctor who won't listen to you, find another one! One of the most important characteristics of a good doctor is that they listen to you! And that they're willing to talk to you and explain things....
Good luck with everything!! Please keep us posted!!
JoAnn