Nervy and scary symptoms, undiagnosed MS?

Nov 2014: woke up with belly numbness from belly button to just at the public hair line. By nightfall of the same day belly from just under breasts to mid thighs on front side only were numb, including genitalia, not anus.

Mid December 2014: suddenly woke up to very heavy feeling legs. Then a week later I lost most feeling and couldn't control my knees causing me to fall when I stepped off a curb. My left knee didn't even try to stop me. Then around the first of January I was getting up, walking, driving every day, going window shopping. Loving life.

Late January 2015: I was suddenly struck with severe vertigo and a hyper and distorted sense of smell which prevented me from eating anything. Vomited a lot. That left me bedridden for 3 full weeks. I then was still bedridden due to muscle wasting.

Today: still bedridden but now have a rented wheelchair. Was dealing with severe muscle cramping in legs and feet but those have resolved. Have significant peripheral neuropathy in fingers and toes. Can barely use my hands, only pinky fingers for things like typing on my tablet, as I am right now.

I get tremors a lot. Kinda like I'm sitting in the snow without cold weather clothes on. It seems strong emotions bring it on. Yesterday I was calling around to get an answer about why I hadn't received my referral for my brain MRI yet. I was ticked to find out that almost 2 weeks after my doctor referred me the referral had not yet been touched and it needs to be sent to my insurance. That made me very angry.

Anyway. I wake up from sleep feeling feverish, hot kinda with a very reddish face. But after a short time of being out of bed it goes away and I get coldish.

I currently take 600mg of gabapentin 4 times a day, 2 pills extra strength Tylenol up to 4 times a day and 4mg tizanidine at night.

Does this sound like MS?

You might discuss the drugs you are taking with your doctor. Drugs can interact with each other and give side effects. If you take too much Tylenol it can destroy your liver. Check out the side effects of the drugs you are taking.

http://www.drugs.com/sfx/tylenol-side-effects.html

Hey Cherie,

Thank you for posting. I appreciate hearing from an experienced MSer. Your MS forum looks very cool. I've been lurking a bit.

This board is very quiet. It used to be much more active but in the last couple of years it has lost a lot of regular members. I hope you visit and post when you can.

Funky-Monkey,

Don't give up hope! I was bedridden for 3 months due to severe vertigo. Vomited every day...lost 40 lbs. My vertigo was so bad that if I got up to go #2 I would puke from being upright too long. I was absolutely miserable. That was 3 years ago. I still have a lot of dizziness but eventually your brain ,learns to tune it out. I can walk unassisted (as long as I'm on level ground) and I can drive if I need to.

Lying flat--or at least at a 45 degree angle always makes me feel better. Turning my head used to be terrible--it caused me to become super dizzy and would cause nausea. I went to a lot of physical therapy where they basically made me do things while turning my head. When the nausea set in I stopped and as soon as the nausea went away I would start again. It is meant to train your brain to ignore the dizziness. I hated doing it, but it definitely helped.

I've been taking gobs of gabapentin for years and honestly not sure if it helps or not. Mine was prescribed for my trigeminal neuralgia; a stinging sensation on the side of my face.

My dexterity has improved a lot too, but I still have full body numbness that makes doing some tasks difficult (like buttoning a shirt). It's the same feeling as when your hands get frozen from the cold and they lose their dexterity. I've had it so long I barely even notice it anymore.

Anyway, my point is don't despair. Things will eventually get better! Have they tried putting you on steroids? It helps some people recover, but it has never worked for me. Music was my savior while I was bedridden.

BTW, does your screen name about Ben and Jerry's ice cream? I have a dog named Mojo. And or the first 2 years I owned him, he behaved very badly!

Good luck!