Hi I have resently had dx of MS…Been off work now for 11mths with symptoms going on since last yr.Two yrs ago I was getting married, and having a teenage family working full-time I was stressed. However 2mths before I married I did not feel well, but could not tell anyone really how I felt…Very strange symptoms happening all at once. Two weeks off work, and I was fine.
Got married in September 2010 and things became stressful again, teenagers, step families husband not working money problems the lot, and I became very down and depressed always crying and I would cry at anything. This continued for a yr, and Nov 2011 I took ill and was in bed for 8weeks!!! Was given tablets for Vertigo, and conuselling for the depression.
New yr I felt so so, and went back to work, however I only did 1 day and had what I can say was a breakdown!!! Put on anti-depressants.Things didnt really improve,and I felt guilty because I was off work. Still having the strange symptoms, telling my GP was hard because he just looked at the depression. Counselling was very hard talked alot about the past…I know this is a long story, but thinking back when I had my daughter who is 21, I felt depressed after having her, but never told anyone, also was very tired and could not be bothered with anything. Could that of been the 1st sign of MS?
I think many of us can relate to unexplained periods of ill health, sometimes years before diagnosis, and wondering: “Was that the start?”.
Unfortunately, there’s no way of finding out for sure. Current MRI technology can tell us there are lesions, and whether or not they’re active at the moment. But what it can’t tell us is how long the older (currently inactive) lesions have been there.
I agree that MS fatigue is very hard to distinguish from depression. Like you, I have been given - and accepted - a depression diagnosis in the past, but ADs (of which I tried the lot!) had absolutely no effect. Made me feel worse, in fact.
I now question whether it was ever depression, or whether the real problem was fatigue due to undiagnosed MS. Then again, living with unrecognised illness (unrecognised even by yourself) IS depressing in itself, so maybe a bit of both? I think, with hindsight, I was getting down because I was finding everything harder, but because it was so slow and subtle, I didn’t suspect physical illness. I did notice that things that used to be easy now seemed like an enormous hurdle, but people with depression feel like that too.
I am sorry to hear that you are feeling this way. From the way you spoke councelling hasn’t done much for you. You haven’t described any real substantial symptons of ms except the fatigue, which as you know can be caused by many reasons. You have been through a lot in the past couple of years so there is a big question mark over what you are feeling physically, so go back to doc’ and talk it through with him/her and explain all your symptoms to them. Sending ((((HUGS)))) and hope your questions are answered quickly for you.
For the past 11mths I have felt dizzy, balance all over the place memory loss so bad, I forget everything!!! Blurred vision and constant spinning. It has been a awful yr, and I am waiting to go in for a blood test and lumbar puncture…Not looking forward to that.
Fatigue is terrible to try and cope with, I am sleeping the clock round!! And never have the energy to do anything.GP told me my MRI showed Demyelation of the white matter which is connected to MS!!
Just still waiting really for answers,but in alot of pain and discomfort.
Jan, Sounds all like a diagnosis of ms symptoms to me. Mine started 30yrs ago - when pregnant with my daughter. Mine was slurred speech / dragging left leg/foot / vertigo / shingles. My daughter was 12 months old when l had a definite diagnosis.
l now take a high dose of vitd3 - as l now know that l was severely dificient at the time.
Feel miserable today and all I have done is sleep!!! Did some ironing and I wish I didnt start I was in agony, so I have left it for my hubby to finish!! He is good, bless him. I want to be like I use to be, busy running around and doing things with my family.
Now all I do is just sit and watch tv, because I get 2 tired, does anyone else feel like this?
Hi there, I did the same today - I tackled the ironing but then suddenly felt terrible and wished I hadn’t started. I lay down in bed totally wiped out & my lovely husband made tea as usual and all I’ve done is watch tv now i’ve got to walk upstairs to bed and put it all away!! oh well just another day with ms. Don’t beat yourself up and don’t worry about the lumbar puncture I found the fear of it worse than it actually was. X
I 've just hit a period of fatigue…waking up as tired as you went to sleep, i dont actually think the sleep helps its just what your body tells you to do when you feel that way, the last time i felt this way was 3 years before i was diagnosed…didnt even realise just how much i was sleeping at the time…was also giving myself a bit of a sugar therapy diet at the time as i felt i needed energy, needless to say it doesnt work. Add on a full time demanding job and a child to look after on my own and i think i’ve done a great job of running myself into the ground…gp wanted to sign me off for 2 weeks…i said one week…moral of the story is it doesnt help being stubborn or beating yourself up or feeling bad about the things you cant do, im trying hard not to be like that i know deep down that i should ‘rest’…just dont like it. For the first time ever last night i couldnt even summon the energy to make a cup of tea…had a wee chuckle at myself then…i love tea You’ll get through it…so hold in there xx
I really feel for you. Know exactly what you mean. The fatigue is one of the worst symptoms I find. I’ve been diagnosed for 8 years now (2004) and have recently been told I am now secondary progressive. I also had the depression diagnosis in the early days. The first time I saw my neuro in 2003 he said, ‘well I can’t find anything neurologically wrong with you, l think you’re suffering from depression, you certainly look depressed’!!! Luckily, because I had mentioned vision problems, he did refer me for a visual evoked potential test, which came back positive, so then for a brain MRI which also came back positive with multiple lesions in all areas of the brain consistent with MS.
I have recently had another MRI of the brain and spinal cord which showed progression of the MS and I am now secondary progressive.
Do you take anything for the fatigue? I was prescribed 100 mg Modafinil twice a day in 2004, I have just had the dose upped to 200 mg twice a day as I now cannot get through the afternoons. So will see how that goes.
I have been feeling so bad the last few months I haven’t even been able to be bothered to come on this website which I used to visit regularly lol, so I can empathise with you and the other posters who say they just can’t be bothered to do things.
Hi Everyone, Thank you all for getting intouch, the fatigue is awful and I am on Tramadol for pain in my arms and legs, but nothing for the fatigue…Feel so weak today, I want to cry but for some reason I cant. Been like this now for nearly a yr, and I never go anywhere, just stay in the house.
I’m assuming that as you have had MRI and a diagnosis you have a neurologist? Could you not ask him/her about prescribing something for your fatigue. I couldn’t cope without Modafanil, it is a godsend. There is also Amantadine, which many people use to help the fatigue. You shouldn’t have to just ‘put up’ with these symptoms when there are meds that may help.
I am seeing a neuro on Thursday for the first time, I will ask for something for my fatigue because it is making my life so miserable. I really would like to go back to work even for 2days a week…Currently at the mo I cant do anything.
Hi, Just thought I’d mention the tablet that I am on which definately helps with my fatigue and that is Amantidine. I take 1 capsule of 75mg in the morning and another with lunch. if I forget to take them I immediately notice the difference, I call them my miracle tablets. it might be worth mentioning them as it may help you as well as it does me.
You’ll get through it…so hold in there xx