Hi, not yet diagnosed but seem to have lots of valid symptoms that seem to fall under the MS umbrella.
ok here goes my symptoms are pins & needles, numbness & burning in both feet and hands. Numbness & tingling in face started off as just my chin but now it’s 70% of my face. I can feel it twitching away but when I look in the mirror it looks normal but it feels like my face is falling off my head - does that sound weird or familiar to you? Forgot to mention the painful right eye & awful pinprick pain behind right ear.
omg my memory is shocking, I can be asked to do something at work and by the time I have turned away it’s gone totally forgotten. My thought patterns & trying to find the right words is really getting me down I feel like a shadow of the old me. I tend not to join in with conversations in the office because I’m scared of making a fool of myself because I can’t find the words. Writing an email is turning into a nightmare.
Not sure if you would see a link but I went through menopause in my 30s, had ovaries removed 2 years ago, diagnosed with osteoporosis & a T9 fracture in January.
Doc noted earlier this year I was very low in B12 in 2016 & not treated, had loading doses, monthly jabs & then weekly. Neurologist said if it hadn’t cured me it wasn’t the answer & was advised to go cold turkey! It’s been a month now & I feel like death warmed up.
saw the neurologist last month & had second brain scan last week, waiting to see a neuropsychologist- not sure what’s going to happen.
Just been diagnosed Duloxetine, I am just desperate for help I’m in so much pain & not sleeping at all.
Any help or advice would be very much appreciated.
As Carole said, the Duloxetine should help with neuropathic pain and then with sleep if you’re feeling less pain. If they don’t help within a month, ask your GP or neurologist to prescribe something different for pain.
You do sound very scared and worried. Cognitive problems are very scary when they begin. Seeing a neuropsychologist is a good start to finding out if there is something really awry in your thinking. I don’t think neuropsychological testing necessarily always gives a complete picture of how muddled your brain is, so while you may get a report from the psychologist that says you have problems, it won’t label the cause.
Having had another MRI will help the neurologist to determine what’s going wrong with you. If there are demyelinating lesions (like scars from inflammatory attacks) in your brain, then the chances are you’ll be diagnosed with MS. But if not, then you won’t and it’s back to the drawing board.
A B12 deficiency can look a lot like MS symptoms. Or be part of MS, lots of people with MS do have regular injections of B12. So if you’re feeling the lack, then ask your GP to restart the jabs. Just because they didn’t cure you doesn’t mean you mightn’t benefit from them. All you can do is ask. Or even just get a prescription from your GP for oral B12.
I hope you get some answers very soon. Keep coming back on here as we will do our best to support you while you’re having this horrible time.
Thank you both so much for your response, I started on Duloxetine earlier this week and almost immediately the numbness in my face turned to pain and pressure on both sides on my head. This will sound really strange but it actually felt like my face was sliding off my head. Then on Friday the pain eased but I was left gagging every time I yawned and I yawn a lot. I can now add swallowing difficulties to my hilarious list of problems, I am fine swallowing food and drinks but seem to have to swallow 3 times to get rid of any saliva. I have also noticed a slight weakness on the right hand side of my face - smile is starting to look a little lob sided. Is this anything to worry about, will it all come back to normal in time?