I am 21 from the West Midlands. I came on this site because after 7 weeks of intense pain starting in my back, spreading through my legs/arms/hips/neck/shoulders etc my dad suggested I check out the symptoms of MS.
My pain only started with my back, then it got increasinly worse to a point where my mind was having difficulty telling my legs to move. The pain is numbing/pinching/aching/burning/pins and needles, Its worse down my right side, but I have started developing it on my left now. Everywhere feels weak and painful, and no pain killers are helping. I keep having blurred eye sight when I look ahead, dizziness when I’m standing up/walking, sitffness in my legs/joints (all my joints are painful - all I have to do is move and a joint will pop and its so painful!!)
The docs did think I was a pinched nerve/siatica to begin with, but with these new symptoms they aren’t sure so have sent me for blood tests. I am waiting for a referral for an MRI scan too.
The reason I am worrying so much is because my mom has suffered from all these pains for over 20 years now. She has been back and forth from the hospital/doctors telling her this and that but she’s never been diagnosed with anything apart from artheritus. She has had problems with her eyes, balance, joints, back, knees through out the years, and when I told her about MS she said she’d never discussed this with her doctor. I’m not sure how, when everything I read on this site links in some way to her.
Her doctor did play with the fact she may have a missing gene but has not helped her persue this… she is worrying me because she’s telling me everything I am going through she has been through, and I Just want to get down to what the cause of all this pain and fatigue is.
I have an appointment with my docs on Friday… but I am afraid to bring MS up in case he thinks I am over reacting. I am so worried, its causing a lot of stress because I have been unable to go to work and it is causing financial problems for me and my partner.
If anyone has any advice it would be much appreciated.
Sorry you’ve been going through such a rough time.
It’s excellent that you’ve been referred for an MRI scan as that is really the first step to seeing if it could be MS. There are actually loads of conditions that have similar symptoms to MS, Some of these can be detected in the blood so great that you are having blood work done as well.
I think you need to cross bridges as and when you come to them. IF you do end up with a dx of MS then it would seem sensible for your mum to see a neurologist as well.
MS is not a genetic condition however there are certain things that can be inherited that can mean you have a higher chance of getting MS. Some of these are environmental. So for instance it’s higher in countries like the UK that are further away from the equator and get less sun. So for very complex reasons (which I don’t fully understand myself) people who have one person in their family with MS have a slightly higher chance of developing MS… it’s still a very small precentage… but it does happen.
So really you need to wait and see what the blood work shows and then what the MRI shows. Even then it doesn’t necessarily mean a quick diagnosis (dx) and at this point it certainly doesn’t necessarily mean it is MS.
Sorry I can’t give you more positive news. It’s a case of wait and see.
As you have already been referred for an MRI there’s no need to discuss the possibility of MS with the GP now. He/she won’t be able to tell you much (GP’s don’t know a whole lot about MS) and they will tell you the same… wait and see what the blood and MRI show.
For now… one day at a time… and IF it does turn out to be MS you will see from this forum that it is not the end of the world… a big change in your life but not the end of your life.
Hope this helps… and good luck in your search for a dx.
I can’t add much to what Pat (Snow Leopard) has said, but I do agree there is absolutely no reason to bring up MS, at the moment. Most doctors have a horror of self-diagnosers, and if it comes out in conversation you’ve been looking on the internet, and decided your symptoms match MS, it may cause the shutters to come down as fast as if you’d walked in with a big label saying: “I am a time-waster” stuck to your forehead.
Please stick to the facts of what’s been happening to you, and let the doctor decide what it might be - not tell them what you’ve found on Google. There are at least 100 conditions that can look something like MS.
Well since I posted, I have had an MRI scan and nothing has shown up apart from a slight inflamation on one disc, which wouldn’t be the cause of the pain I am in.
The pain hasn’t gone away, still going through my lower back and down my legs, etc.
I am feeling very low too.
I am going to be seeing a neurologist soon so I am hoping he can help me get out of this limbo!
Well since I posted, I have had an MRI scan and nothing has shown up apart from a slight inflamation on one disc, which wouldn’t be the cause of the pain I am in.
The pain hasn’t gone away, still going through my lower back and down my legs, etc.
I am feeling very low too.
I am going to be seeing a neurologist soon so I am hoping he can help me get out of this limbo!