Hi everyone,
I’m sure this could have already been asked a million times but I wanted to see if anyone has been in a similar position to me? I always worry that I come across as a hypochondriac but I am concerned that I could have MS instead of my 'loosely diagnosed. CFS/ME.
5 years ago I was hospitalised with Sepsis after having Glandular Fever and Tonsilitis. I was really unwell and when I got rushed to A&E I was at the point of death and another 30-60 minutes and I wouldn’t be here. I took months to ‘recover’ but eventually got back to work. I never felt quite right though. After ongoing GP appointments & blood tests etc about a year after they told me that I had CFS/ME. It made sense at the time as my main symptom was the extreme fatigue.
About 3 years ago my symptoms seemed to get noticably worse. I found that I was having quite a bad urinary incontinence and was fine one second and then the next I was on the brink of peeing myself. This happened a lot and it affected me going to work and out and about. I had tests for UTIs but they came back negative. I also noticed my fatigue getting worse around this point as well as mobility and pain.
I saw a GP and briefly mentioned MS because I had done the dreaded google of symptoms. She did a test by knocking my knee to see my reflex and said it was not worth referring me on the basis of ‘what if’ which I felt was a little unfair.
Fast forward to the last year and a half and it seems to come in waves where I’ll be ‘okay’ for a period of time, which can be a few months and then all of a sudden it seems to hit me. For example now, I am literally exhausted. I nap for a good few hours a day plus then having 8 hours of sleep a night. I went to the zoo for 3 hours on Sunday and had to come back and sleep for 2 hours because I was just beat, this morning I went into town quickly and at 11am I needed to sleep for an hour before work. My back gives me a lot of pain (have been to a chiropractor who said I do have a very small scoliosis) and my legs hurt a lot too. Plus I get random sharp stabbing pains in various parts of my body when I am lying or sitting down. I have notoriously cold feet most of the time and my feet and legs often tingle. Sometimes my hands go really weak too.
My Grandma had MS and I read that it’s possible to inherit a risk of developing the condition.
I know you can get vision problems with MS and whilst I don’t get blind spots or anything like that, in the last 3 years my vision has decreased quite rapidly. They recommend to revisit the optician every two years whereas I have gone every 6-8 months and each time my prescription is worse. Not sure if that is a potential MS thing or just an unfortunate eyesight thing but it linked up with the worsening of my fatigue and bladder issues timing wise.
Thank you in advance
xx