I had my initial diagnosis back in Dec’20, confirmed in April/May’21 with consultant and high-contrast MRI.
For the last 9 years, I have been mis-diagnosed with spinal stenosis (first they thought lumbar, then cervical) before an osteopath said “have the neurologists thought to do a head scan?” They hadn’t, but when they did, guess what they found…
I get intense lower back pain, followed by numbness and loss of motor control in my left leg.
Tracing back, I had my first “episode” whilst skiing in 2003, then one in 2008 playing 5-a-side footy, then 2013 running along a beach. My Consultant is still deliberating if I am PPMS and the earlier episodes were unrelated, or if I went through RRMS oblivious and am now SPMS. Whatever! My condition has been deteriorating progressively since 2016. I’m 58 (2021) and after a lifetime of all sorts of sports, things ground to a halt in 2016 and never restarted. From HIIT, Bootcamps, Weights etc. - 4 times a week, I now walk with difficulty, have a stick and a blue badge. 5 years.
So I’m here, amongst you all now, seeing what I can pick up and what I can contribute to others. Like all of us, my life isn’t over but I’ve had to accept big changes in lifestyle and career. I’m philosophical - I love a challenge and this is just the latest one. I just wish it didn’t bloody hurt so much at times!
Welcome, Graeme! Sounds like you’re actually dealing with it all very well. I’ve never been athletic, but I did love hiking when I was younger and originally hoped to be a forest ranger and live in one of our national parks. That went out the window by the time I was 17, and 40 years later, I still miss those hikes!
Keep posting here. We all learn a little more every day just by sharing our experiences.
It sounds like you have finally found the source of your declining health, whether it’s PPMS or SPMS, you are very welcome here.
Sometimes it’s a positive thing to finally be diagnosed, to be able to put a name to what is wrong. That doesn’t mean you shouldn’t be furiously angry that you could have been diagnosed sooner. Or indeed that you’ve got MS at all. I’m certainly not one to always encourage people to see the positives. By all means, you are entitled to complain about the diagnosis. It might even be seen as quite a healthy reaction!
The members of this forum are always happy to meet newbies. There are always things we can learn from each other, we collectively have a lot of experience and knowledge of MS. So when you have questions please ask for our help.
Equally, there will be others who you may be able to help. You may have only recently been diagnosed, but you’ve had years of living with MS.
We will be gentle with you Graeme. It took about 17 years to get my diagnosis lol. seen a lot of people come and go on this forum and changes over time, its said actually having to greet people. one place i dont want to do that.
but stay with your attitude your life isnt over its just shifted a bit with new challenges. anyone who can ski down a mountain has my respect lol. I am assuming you mean down mountains not on the water.