Posted 6/30/2016 9:25 PM (GMT 0)
Hi everyone!
This is my first post, so apologies if it gets a bit long!
I have been experiencing lots of symptoms over the last 4 months or so that all seem to fit the ms condition.
I have been referred to see a neurologist, but my appointment isn't until August 5th, and I have an MRI booked for tomorrow morning.
I would really appreciate it if anyone who is diagnosed with ms would take a look at my story and give their thoughts as to whether they think my symptoms sound like ms to them at all.
Equally, for those of you who thought you may have had ms and had symptoms similar to mine but ended up diagnosed with something else, it would be great to hear from you too!
I already have pernicious anemia and an underactive thyroid, both of which are medicated and have been tested several times over the last few months and have been all ok, so some of the symptoms that I've been having for longer, that I thought may have been down to my thyroid, may well be linked to possible ms (or something else of course).
Ok, so here goes -
One of the main problems I have is that I have really bad short term memory and get 'brain fog' quite a lot. This is something I've suffered with for years now, but has got worse over the last couple of years. I have trouble processing/remembering new information more recently.
I have been suffering with my arms and legs over the last 4 months or so. It's quite hard to describe the sensations I'm getting, but I'll try!
It varies from day to day, but my thighs feel weak, in a way that there's no pain, not numb, but they just don't seem to have the energy to want to walk? Then sometimes they ache, a bit like the muscle is a bit tight?
My knees often feel odd, almost like they're loose and moving around in my kneecaps, but again, no pain. They also get achy and at the worst I struggle to get up and down from crouching or sitting, and I use my arms to support me going up and down the stairs. It's uncomfortable, but not painful.
When I'm in bed or sat on the sofa with my legs up, my knees and my shins feel achy, almost a bit like when you have growing pains?
My fingers get stiff when i type or write more than just a few sentences, but not always too bad, but when it is bad, I get a tight uncomfortable ache down my arm too. This also happens when I carry something heavyish, like a pan of potatoes.
On and off I've not been able to lift/carry things that I usually can. At one point I literally couldn't pick my 5 year old daughter up!
My arms get achy/tight when holding the steering wheel at the ten past ten position, or sometimes when holding my phone in front of me.
Most nights I get pins and needles in my arms in bed, and when laying down or with feet up, recently my legs feel really achy from the thigh down.
When I stand still for only a few minutes I feel really heavy, like I'm weighted down. My legs and souls of my feet ache too.
I suffer with a bad back due to having sciatica when I was 20, and having a slim body with a large bust too, but I've experienced more pain more often than usual, and have had achy shoulders too.
I have had mild fatigue on and off. It seemed to last for about 2 and a half months, then randomly lifted one day and I was ok for a week or so, then it's been up and down day by day the last few weeks.
It's taken me so long to write this that I'm really tired now and can't focus anymore! I'm not sure if I've covered everything, but I need to sign off and go to sleep!
Thank you so much for reading, sorry, my brain has shut down now!