HI Guys …Hope everyone is as well as can expected…i need help and advice…just been given a wheelchair but they told me that because i use the furniture to get around in the house i cant have a powered one, the one i have is not much good as where i live is so hilly its imposible to wheel mysel around…my question is there anywhere i can get help with purchase of an electric wheelchair…also getting new symptoms…First have pain behind my ears with amachinary type noise in my ears… Second my hand keep jumping whien im trying to do things…and Thirdly when im trying to read i get flashes and the lines keep jumping…any thoughts guys please …Mac
Hi Mac, Sorry you are having all these rotten problems. Pat…aka snow leopard …will be the best person to answer your question about the noise…sounds like tinnitus to me…unfortunately Pat suffers very badly with it. As to the chair situation…I’ve recently had to make the same choices and to be honest got it all a bit hashed up…all I can say to try to help is that from my own experience I find a manual one much better for the house and an electric one or scooter for outside. Having said that my house is tiny and really not very chair friendly…it may be because I’ve used a manual one outside for a while now…easy to get in the car etc…I can turn it on a sixpence…the same with my scooter…for me they are both so much easier than electric chairs. As to help with the finances …you can get a grant from the MS society or do as I did…look at the various options available then look on eBay to find the the same model at a fraction of the cost…admittedly second hand. The one I bought was in very good condition…bit of spit and polish ( from my husband) and it’s perfect! Hope you managed to get things sorted soon. Take care of yourself, Nina
Hi Mac
Sorry to hear about the w/chair probs. And I too get the machinery type noise in my ear from time to time which can be very annoying, and my left hand is also prone to jumping about. So many weird symptoms us MS folk have that we often tend to ignore.
It depresses me now to think how long the list would be of every strange and/or uncomfortable symptom I now have compared to 7 years ago.
Chin up.
CP
Hi Mac, Nina has given you some great advice re wheelchair and grants. As for the noise in your ears, yes it might be tinnitus, but might not be. I have got MS-related tinnitus and have a high pitched screeching in my ears 24/7. Sometimes it’s worse, esp if my other symptoms are bad, which is how they knew it was MS-related. But as with all things MS, it’s wise to get it checked out in case it’s not related. See your GP… could be a number of other things causing it so it’s worth checking. Hands jumping are pretty common with MS. I am always waking myself up as I tend to sleep with my hands near my face and suddenly I poke myself in the face! Last few months I keep dropping things… so neuro has referred me to neuro physio to help with hands. See your neuro or MS nurse if you have one for referral… although quite honestly Mac I don’t think there’s a whole lot they can do… but you never know! Flashes in eyes are common with MS too… oh do you get the mouse running in you peripheral vision? That one always makes me jump! But go and have your eyes tested and explain the problems to optician. There might be something they can do about the lines moving about. Kindle is a great help if MS has mucked about with your eyes, as you can change the size of the text and the spacing (there are other e-readers available lol…). Basically the symptoms you describe are fairly common with MS…it’s your central nervous system causing the problems. It all takes some getting used to… your body acting in a way that feels so strange and out of your control. It does get easier with time and I always think that by knowing it’s MS causing it, it somehow makes it a bit easier. What med’s are you on? Some of the med’s can calm down the nervous system. I take Amitriptynol … it does help a bit… but the problems are usually there to a greater or lesser degree. But do remember to get the ears checked out… for your sake I hope it’s not tinnitus… although even that… which is a very distressing symptom… can become almost normal over time (she says with a stiff upper lip!). Hope this helps, Pat xx
Pat, You’re a star! Nina xx
Hi Mac
Sorry things are difficult at the moment for you, hope you feel better soon.
Not sure in you get DLA mobility, but if you get higher rate you can always use that to get an electric chair on the mobility scheme, but in my opinion wheelchair services should be more understanding. I wonderif your ot could have a word with them?
With the jumping in your hands, I get that along with a visible tremor, and the ms nurse put me on propranalol, which, although has not stopped it, I think it has improved it. Might be worth having a word with the ms nurse.
Pat has explained thenoises, I appear to be lucky with that one, as it sounds awful.
Hope you have a good weekend, take care.
Pam x
Hi Guys thanks for the help and advise ive been in touch with the British Legion and they may be ablke to help me with the cost of a electric wheelchair or Scooter either with a grant or a loan
Fingers crossed Mac, hope they come up trumps for you.
Pam x
That’s great Mac… hope it works out. Pat xx