Hi there!
I’ve been experiencing symptoms that have been driving me to the edge of insanity. I’m unable to live a normal life because of them. Most notably because of the first symptom listed. I’m 30 years old so a couple symptoms started around the age of 20. I am planning on asking my doctor if he’d be willing to do an MRI for me. I know my symptoms aren’t traditional MS symptoms but maybe some out there experienced similar things?
- Constipation / leakage / inability to wipe clean - 11 years nonstop. This just started one day and never stopped. I seem to be constipated no matter how much fiber I take!
- Flat stools - 2 years
- Post nasal - 10 years nonstop. This just started randomly one day and never stopped.
- Inability to keep eyes focused. If I keep them on one thing, they will go out of focus after only a few seconds. - 3 years
- Lisp that comes and goes. - 10 years
- Random extreme tailbone pain that lasts for a week. Happened twice.
- Entire head got a cold sensation for about 2 weeks. I’d have to wear a snow cap to keep it warm. Happened twice.
- Fatigue. Heavy arms, heavy legs. - 1 year
- Anxiety. Probably not related. Always been anxious.
- Bad forgetfulness that seems to vary. - 5 years ago is when it started to get bad. Constantly losing things. Constantly forgetting why I walked to the other room, etc.
hi pnde
please don’t tell your doctor that you have ms.
instead tell him/her your symptoms and let him/her make the diagnosis.
your constipation and other toilet troubles are likely to be IBS Irritable bowel syndrome (not irritating bast*rd syndrome).
the anxiety probably has a lot to do with it all.
are you receiving any treatment for this?
as my nan would have said “you’re at a funny age”.
something about getting near to a decade birthday makes us all go crackers.
i’m close to my 60th so expect mayhem and madness.
see your gp asap.
carole x
The problem is that you could list virtually any medical symptom and someone with MS will have it. Not that it’s even necessarily because of their MS, just because we are human and basically oddities in our bodies make up our individuality.
As Carole said, let your doctors diagnose you, don’t go to your GP saying ‘I think I have MS, can I have an MRI please?’ See your GP, give him/her a brief list of your symptoms and ask what s/he thinks. You could ask if s/he considers a referral to a neurologist would help.
With regard to your bowel problems, you could be referred to the bowel and bladder service, you can even self refer but it’s worth talking these things through with your GP first.
You would probably do well to see an optician (if you haven’t already). If they think there’s a problem, they will suggest you get a referral to an ophthalmologist via your GP.
Anxiety is often a big problem with many strange symptoms that could be caused by it. Perhaps your GP could refer you for CBT (cognitive behavioural therapy). It might help.
Best of luck.
Sue
Thanks for the advice. I’m just taking a proactive stance on this. I don’t want to wait around another 10 years with these symptoms. I have my 30s to enjoy! If it means putting doctors office etiquette aside and suggesting a possibility, then I will. I won’t go in there and demand an MRI because “I have ms”, instead I will say “do you think MS could be causing this?” much like I posed the question here. ALL of these things just started seemingly random on their own and out of nowhere. They have all been a real problem for me each and in their own. So I’m at a loss at this point. But I know one thing. I’m gonna figure it out.
try saying that you think there is something neurological causing your symptoms and would like to be referred to a neurologist.
That is something one of the GI doctors had suspected, that it could be nerves causing it, but we never did testing for it. I have a referral to see another GI doctor. I might take that route thanks Carol.