Advice please!

I’ve had various health problems over the last 6 years, starting with dizziness, poor balance and vertigo which the dr thought was inner ear problems, labrynthitus and bpvd, this has come and gone with chronic fatigue being a significant factor. I have general aches and pains, poor co-rordination, foggy head, head aches, forgetting words, delayed reactions, heightened startle response, and generally not feeling 100%. I hardly ever feel refreshed after sleeping and the quality of sleep is poor. I had a mri brain scan 5 years ago which did not raise anything concerning but I’m not sure if dr would have picked up MS symptoms if they weren’t looking. I have been taking fluoxetine for low mood/anxiety for around 6 years. I was diagnosed with under active thyroid too. (IS THIS AN ISSUE WITH MS SUFFERERS? ) Over the last 4 months my symptoms have got worse and I also have pins and needles in my hands, tips of fingers and feet ( NUMBING AND TINGLING SENSATION). I am exhausted after doing very little and everything aches! I get dead leg in bed but this goes once I move around. I have been back and fourth to GP and recently had blood tests showing dip in thyroid functioning. I don’t think this accounts for my symptoms as I’ve increased thyroxine medication and do not feel a significant improvement. I am thoroughly bored with feeling like this, I just need to know what’s going on. It’s so boring feeling preoccupied with my health, it’s quite lonely as its misunderstood and I pretty much carry on with day to day life as usual but feel like I’m only just about getting away with it. I have totally gone off drinking alcohol which is probably unrelated but it’s an annoying side effect. I’m worried about going back to GP again as I feel like he’ll think I’m making it up…stupid i know, but I want to approach the question with regards to MS. …I’m thinking that I could well have MS. Can anyone give me their thoughts about this. It would be much appreciated.

It would probably be a good idea to make a timeline of symptoms, how long they lasted etc and visit your GP to ask for further investigation regarding a possible neurological cause.

I know others have said, and I agree, that it’s probably best to let the GP come up with their own thoughts rather than you saying you think it’s MS - as there are other things such as Vit D deficiency that can cause some symptoms.

Maybe you could ask, if your GP does agree to refer you to Neurology, that the MRI scan from 5 years ago be forwarded to them so that it could be looked at by a neurologist?? It may give a starting point for them at least and if they decide to have another MRI done then it is something to compare current results to.

I don’t think you need a diagnosis of anything to get help managing symptoms so in the meantime there might be something that your GP could prescribe to help with the tingling if it is painful, for example.

Hopefully others will be along with their thoughts too, as I’m no expert! I have been diagnosed recently with MS but before committing to a diagnosis my Neuro tested for many other things that can cause similar symptoms, such as Lyme Disease.

Minnie

Thank you minnie, for your helpful reply. I really appreciate it.