Posted 3/7/2011 5:32 AM (GMT 0)
Hello! This is my first time here, so please bear with me! And please forgive me if I'm being whiny or silly.
I just recently turned 41, and I've always been VERY athletic and active ~ for several years, I was a Thai kick-boxer, biked, hiked, etc. Even though I've not kick-boxed for the past 16 years (stopped while pregnant with my daughter, then resumed and finally quit when I realized my daughter didn't like my putting myself in harm's way), I've always been VERY active. Sort of an overgrown 5 year old who loves to play.
I also was, at one time, tested with an IQ of 162.
Despite my athletic ability, every once in a while, I'd get dizzy, fatigued, and off balance. It would pass, and life would go on. I'd get headaches OFTEN. To the point where I typically take in excess of 4-8 Excedrin Migraine headache tablets a day (the max dosage is supposed to be 2/day). During those headaches, I see auras, and have lost vision in one eye.
Here lately, the headaches have not only been worse (to the degree that a headache = time spent later, vomiting), but the off-balance issues are worse, as is the fatigue and vertigo. I often "forget" where body parts are and have to visually confirm where they are (if that makes sense).
I have tremors ~ especially in my right hand. Sometimes, I have full body jerks ~ sometimes, I *know* they're coming and can control them (to a degree ~ or I could be fooling myself). I've had a few instances of what I've found is called "vertical nystagmus" ~ it will last for about a minute or so, and then stop. I also will lose the ability to use my hands often. Sometimes, with no visible reason, other times because I exerted myself (dusting for 10 minutes one day equated to not being able to use my hands for the rest of the day, with subsequent days in extreme pain).
The worst is the confusion. Like I said, I went from having an IQ of 162, to often not being able to remember the previous day. Or people. Or songs. It's both short-term AND long-term memory. I will sometimes use the wrong word in a sentence. If the sentence should be "The chair is there" I'll err and say "The there is chair" ~ sometimes, substituting a completely different word like "couch" for "chair." I've ALWAYS done this. But now it's worse (or more noticeable, perhaps?).
I have lost YEARS of knowledge from college. Even the most basic stuff.
And possibly unrelated, while I'm sensitive to cold, heat just .... ramps me up. I also keep getting "hot flashes." Rather, I begin to feel over-heated, flush, and dizzy. I don't know if that's "classic" hot flashes.
I've had the MRI done, which showed "plaques/bright spots" ~ I can't remember what I was told other than that the "placement of the spots" and my "non-specific symptoms" point to "probable MS." I'm being given an LP tomorrow morning (and am terrified).
However, I was given a "nerve conductivity test" which showed as "normal." And my symptoms flux from day to day. Today, I might just have headaches so bad I vomit. Tomorrow, I might not be able to use my hands at all. Today, I might not be able to feed myself without tremors so severe that I can't "find" my mouth. Tomorrow, I might be perfectly fine aside from occasions of "off-balance," losing body parts in the ether, and fatigue.
I guess my question is how likely is it that I have MS?! Really? How can I have MS one day and not the next (and show "normal" on the nerve test)?
If the LP shows (or doesn't show) the signs of MS tomorrow, will that be conclusive? Or are the results as dynamic as the symptoms?!
I guess I'm just impatient and want this resolved. Even though it's only gotten THIS bad lately, I've had a multitude of tests done in the past 2 years, all to no avail. I've been tested for Lyme Disease, Menopause (since I'm in my 40s), Thyroid disorders, protein/vitamin deficiencies, etc. It seems as though I've been tested for everything and this is the last thing. But it doesn't feel that way. :(
Thank you so much for bearing with me thus far. And thank you for letting me rant.
God Bless you all!