Hello everybody, very new to this forum and relatively new to MS
I was diagnosed with RRMS last October and since then I feel like it’s been a bit of a roller coaster ride.
About two years ago my right eye went foggy. It lasted about a fortnight before it noticeably started to clear up. Obviously I sought treatment from my hospital where they had been treated for a different eye issue some years before. A different eye issue or so I thought, more about that soon. After this latest foggy problem I was referred for an MRI which I duly underwent and this then triggered a less than poor response from my GP. A report was sent to them with a recommendation they refer me to a Neurologist and so they filed the letter away and did nothing with it at all.
A few months later I had to undergo a top up medical for an un-related matter and they wrote to me GP, it was at this point they discovered the letter again, said oops, and referred me to a neurologist. It took almost 10 months to get my first appointment and it was then that at my first meeting with him he told me I had MS. It was like a massive punch in the chest and nothing like this had been discussed or suggested before. He based this diagnosis on the latest issue with my eye describing it as optic neuritis but he then told me that the issue I had with my eye many years before was likely the first instance of it. I had and MRI scan at that stage as well. There was about 7-8 years between these two episodes. He decided to refer me for a lumbar puncture.
My world was spinning at this point and whilst managing to stay away from Dr Google I did manage to find lots of information on here and the NHS website. Thank you all for that. Whilst waiting for the lumbar puncture I started to think back about all the other problems I’d had over the years and I wondered if they could also have been MS related. All while this thought process was ongoing I managed my painful shoulder with pins and needles in my hand. This latter issue was something I’d had for a long while but I put this down to a bad bed, bad sleep, not enough exercise, getting old etc.
Other things I’d had over the years included (and they still very occasionally occur) a numbness in the face with pins and needles in my tongue and for this I went to see my dentist thinking it might be dental related. My dentist assured me it wasn’t and said it was a problem with my trigeminal nerve. I’ve also had a weak leg on occasion again with a bit of numbness and pins and needles but self medicated with bed rest until it’s gone.
I’m getting to my point, promise, please bear with me.
So I had my lumbar puncture late last year and then got the results early January when the nuerologist confirmed RRMS. I told him about all the other things as well as the ongoing issue with my shoulder/arm/hand but he dismissed these. I have no treatment for the MS at this time and an appointment to go back in 6 months. I do feel like the Neurologist has fobbed me off and dismissed my other problems somewhat but I don’t know what to say to try to convince him. I don’t know if there is any treatment he can give or if it would help but I don’t understand why he is so dismissive of all the other ‘little’ things.
Looking back at the first instance the Neurologist is taking into account this has in total taken 8-9 years to get to this stage and my head is in a bit of turmoil.
If anyone has any advice I’d gratefully love to hear it. Many thanks for reading all my ramblings, it has already helped telling my story to others who would understand
Cheetah.