marie89 said...
I'm kind of hoping someone can give me a little insight to what's going on with me. I didn't want to jump to conclusions thinking I might have MS, but anytime I type my symptoms in it leads me to an MS page. I have a constant freezing cold feeling in my feet and sometime in my hands (like they are in a bucket of ice water) even if i have on 3 pairs of socks I have this feeling, they get so cold that they go numb. I've also been getting a numb heavy feeling in my limbs (arms and legs) sometimes it lasts for a few minutes and sometime it lasts for hours. It's the kind of feeling when you sleep on your arm and you wake up and it tingles a sort of pins and needles sensation. Im also icredibly tired right now I sleep about 14 hours a day, I wake up and still need a nap a few hours later. I have constant headache's and pain in my shoulders neck and back. There are days when my symptoms are non-existant and days when they're horrible.
Like I said I don't want to jump to conclusions, which is why I'm trying to gather some facts before walking into a Dr.'s office and declaring that I have MS. So please let me know if you know of any conditions that are causing my symptoms! Thank you!
It's always a bad idea to walk into a doctor's office and declare that you have MS...or any other potential illness, unless you are
certain that's what you've got -- it's visible, obvious, easily testable.
What you should do is go to a doctor -- and you can start with your family physician -- and tell him or her exactly what you've told us here: "I have these symptoms.....can you figure out what's going on?" And let him/her do his job. Try to carefully document when these symptoms appear, to see if there is any sort of pattern, like "when I'm overtired", or "when I'm overheated or cold", or "when I over exercise", or whatever.
There are a ton of disorders and diseases that mimic each other -- that look alike, that have similar symptoms, to MS. You'll be subjected to all sorts of testing, some invasive (like taking blood), some observational (the doctor will ask you to walk, test your balance, test strength in your limbs, and other), some that are sort of "high tech" -- MRI's, evoked potential tests, and others.
You're a long way from a diagnosis, and "diagnosis by internet" is often wrong. Go to a doctor with an open mind and open questions: "here are my symptoms, what's wrong with me?" and see where it goes.
Good luck, and come back and tell us what your doctor suggests.