Posted 10/3/2013 4:36 PM (GMT 0)
Incident One:
Looking back I believe it started in early to mid 2006. I would have been 40 at that time. It was a peaceful Sunday morning and I was up and around, dealing with the morning rituals, had eaten breakfast, and had just checked my email. Sitting at my desk in my room, I feel a moment of slight dizziness, so got up from my desk and sat down on the edge of my bed, thinking I had no plans that day, might as well relax. The moment I hit the bed I was struck with a literally overpowering vertigo. The room swung around, I curled up in a fetal position, and proceeded to puke my guts out. It didn’t get better. I was this way, trying to rest, relax, anything other than moving around because that made it worse, to get it to end. I was like this alone for 2-3 days (I don’t remember which now) I would still wretch if I tried to move or roll over. I couldn’t talk in more than a whisper and even that was hard to do. It was after the 2-3 days that my roommate finally came to check if I was all right because they hadn’t seen me for days. He help clean up the mess (the sick) and got me a little water, and I asked him for some dry toast, which I nibbled and tried to keep down. This kept up for another day or two, before I was able to try and sit up, and yet another day before I could try and get up. Everything was still wobbly and if I moved too fast it would cause another episode. Thus after five days, I got a friend to drive me to a local clinic where they informed me I probably just had an inner ear infection and it would pass. The dizziness lingered but got progressively less over the next two to three weeks.
Incident Two:
This may not be totally related but it is significant and impacts everything afterwards. In June of the next year (2007), I had gotten some sort of infection in my legs. I had let it go (yes very stupid) but eventually got to the hospital and was in there for over three weeks while the doctors helped me fight off the infections. (This would lead later to lymphedema in both legs due to scar tissue, etc) After I got out of the hospital, I was getting some slight dizziness and rapid pulse so I saw a doctor about it and we found out I had high blood pressure. Once I got on the medication everything calmed down. My legs were healing up fine and life went on, though I had to deal a little with the beginnings of lymphedema. Life continued well enough for another year and a half, or almost two years. Then one day at work, I started feeling a little achy, and when I got home I had the beginnings of a fever. With this fever, I had wracking pains in both legs, almost like cramps that went up and down them. By the morning, the fever and the leg pains were gone. Within two days of this I got up and found I could barely walk. I struggled through, to get to work, and more. It also affected my arms and hands apparently because they became very weak, I had no grip to speak of, and they ached and hurt like some sort of carpal tunnel syndrome. Within two to three weeks the walking got slightly better but I found I couldn’t stand or walk for more than 5-8 minutes at a time. As time passed, I used self massage (I had training from some years ago) on my arms and working on them and I was able to restore most of the strength to my arms and my hands. They really haven’t troubled me since. Over the next two years the walking has become easier (less pain) but of no longer duration. Throughout that time I have had good days and bad days with it but I am still limited to 5-8 minutes before my legs feel like I've run a marathon, and they want to drop off. I usually seek something to sit on before I would fall. This continues to the present day and has cut me off from really going anywhere and doing things. I haven’t decided to give in and get a wheelchair or scooter as to me, that seems like giving in.
Incident Three:
During the time of my leg issues, another problem has come up. Its happened maybe 4-5 times and is random as to when it happens. I will be sitting somewhere and my left eye will sorta flash, like I had looked into a bright light, then vision out of that eye will be blurry but not around the edges, and the middle is grayish or whitish. This effect lasts only a minute or two, the longest was about three minutes, then the eyesight returns to normal and life goes on. This effect is sporadic, and as of today, hasn’t happened for about a year and a half.
Incident Four:
about a year ago, during one of those times that weren’t going so well with walking, what I thought was my sciatic nerve on my right side starting to hurt. I have never had a problem with it before. The pain was intense, it was keeping me up at nights it was horrible all day long and no matter how I moved there was incredible pain. I went to the emergency room on a particularly bad time, and they game me a shot which only dulled it some. I starting taking pain pills for it but they didn’t really help. I was taking a lot of pills that I was beginning to worry about them making me sick in other ways, so I stopped taking them one night-cold turkey so to speak. The sciatic pain disappeared within a day or two after that. The whole period which it had happened was like 2-3 weeks total.
Current Events:
Over the past two years I have been noticing an increasing need to urinate a lot (pee). I was going to attribute that to the Blood pressure medication but now I am not so sure. I now have to go 2-3 times during the day and 3-4 at night.
I have been getting overheated at night, though I have a strong fan blowing on me, and thus have night sweating. I hope this changes some with the cooler weather…
Every once in a while might whole right hand from the wrist down does a single, but strong spasm as if it was jerking something. This is very rare so wasn’t going to mention it. While working or at a desk at home or work, my left hand pointer finger will sometimes tremble for just a bit. This is also a rare occasion, but not as rare as the spasm.
Conclusions:
I have had blood work done recently, and like each time I have it done, my cholesterol is great, my blood sugar is awesome, I have no signs of diabetes although I am overweight. My Thyroid test came back find as well as kidney tests, I am the picture of health if you just looked at my blood work. The reason I am writing this, is because a co-worker suggested I look into calcium supplements to help with my leg issues, and that led me to symptoms, etc. I’m not saying I have MS, but I have had a lot of the symptoms over time that would indicate it. Now, I am considering maybe getting an MRI to see if that will reveal anything.
My Response:
If I have MS, which apparently can happen when you are 40, then I’ll deal with it. I would be happier knowing that there was a reason behind the things happening to me, instead of it being something I have done or not done somehow. I have come to terms with the fact that it might be MS and it doesn’t scare me, not anymore than the symptoms Ive had. MS isn’t terminal usually, it’s just going to change my life somewhat, and I would need to prepare for the changing lifestyle