Hi everyone
Am still in limbo, awaiting a Neuro appointment in September. Went to GP this morning as over the past couple of weeks have been having some really disturbing symptoms - tingling, weakness, shooting pains, numbness, ‘vibrating’ feeling in muscles etc etc. This is all over my body on and off, but most prominent and frequent in my limbs, especially on the right. I am finding it a struggle to walk because my right leg feels tingly, heavy, weak and as if I am not quite in control of it. I am not sleeping very well as the tingling gets really bad at night and becomes painful, and is accompanied with random pains all over my body. I have also had blurred/double vision in my right eye, and the optician said this week that this is definitely not caused by my eyes, so has to be neurological. I also have major ongoing balance problems, that are slowly getting worse.
Anyway, my GP is obviously way out of his depth and wasn’t really very nice to me this morning. He made me feel as if he thought I was putting some of it on, and actually said that he couldn’t understand how I had walked into the surgery without assistance, but couldn’t stand up for more than a few seconds without falling backwards. Well, I did, so obviously I can, although walking is a hell of a struggle and I only ever leave the house if I have my lovely hubby or friend to hold on to. Unfortunately, neither were available this morning, so my elderly father drove me to the surgery and I struggled in on my own. I now feel I am being ‘penalised’ for this!
Anyway, the only thing the GP could come up with this morning is that tingling in the arms can be caused by a trapped nerve in the neck (what, both arms at the same time???), and that tingling in the legs can be caused by sciatica (what, both legs at the same time???). When I queried the coincidence of both of these things happening simultaneously, and bilaterally, he said “Well, none of your symptoms make any sense and I have to try something!”. (Consequently, I have come away with an armful of sheets of exercises to do for neck, thoracic spine and lower spine. I have tried them once and most of them hurt like hell, make the tingling worse and/or make me feel really dizzy, ill and completely exhausted.)
He then went on to say that the Neurologist will probably only tell me what I haven’t got, and that, looking at my brain MRI result, he would think that only 5% of my symptoms at the most, are being caused by the MRI findings (multiple small white matter lesions, plus one slightly different one).
When I first went in he asked me what I thought was going on. I said I had no idea, but it was beginning to “freak me out”. He then asked me what my worst fear to do with all this is…it was like he was trying to put words in my mouth! I just said it was horrible having all these weird things happening to your body that you have no control over. He then said “Oh, so it’s not having control that’s freaking you out then?”. I said not entirely, and he said “So it’s not having control together with the unpleasantness of the symptoms that’s freaking you out?”. I just agreed in the end!
I came out of there feeling so frustrated, angry and humiliated. I just need some answers and he is unable to give them to me. I am now not holding out much hope that I will have any more luck with the Neuro, and just don’t know where to turn. Perhaps I will be lucky, and the Neuro will actually take me seriously and try and help me. I can but hope!
Sorry for the essay, but I just had to get it all off my chest.
Thanks for listening xx