I don’t know if it’s the done thing to introduce yourself on here, but thought I would anyway .
I was diagnosed in March this year following about 9 months of problems with my feet (numbness, tingling, you know the kind of thing). GP ruled out B12 problems and referred me to Neurology, who promptly sent me off for an MRI and then diagnosed MS. Turns out, based on my medical history, that I have probably had it for 15+ years, but I’ve been lucky in that none of the symptoms have been properly bad enough to seek medical assistance - and to be honest, a lot of them I have been able to blame on my three small children!
I started on Tecfidera at the beginning of the month, and that seems to be going ok so far, although it does seem to be a bit odd to be taking drugs that make me feel slightly unwell when I wasn’t feeling massively ill in the first place. Or maybe it’s just that ALL this MS stuff is odd!
Hey Fuzzball. How are yer? I don’t know the protocol for introducing yourself. I did it on the other everyday bit, but like ms, everyone’s different ! I’ve been lucky too, 19 years since dx (still getting used to the abbreviations) with nothing major , loss of sight, well blurred, and dead limbs (left side) but normally shifted by steroids. Not on any meds yet. Welcome to the group. They all seem friendly/helpful on here. Take care of yourself, Andy
I know I’m new to this, and it some ways nothing has really changed, but blimey - the vagueness of MS is seriously challenging! Here’s a really long list of things you may or may not experience, we can’t tell you when it’ll happen, how long it’ll last or how it’ll feel. What? You’re feeling like that? Weeeell. it might be MS related, but then again it might not. Argh!
I’ve been so sorry to read some people’s experiences on here, the long drawn out diagnoses, the never-ending limbo, the unhelpful medical professionals.
Couple of years back, I went to my G.P, as I was getting concerned. (Ok, the wife said “Get yourself sorted or I’m leaving”) I was a right moody sod (though this was down to my wonderful employers also) He referred me to the hospital, where I met a consultant. We did some invisible wrestling to see if I still had m.s. (Push my hand away, pull me towards you, that kinda stuff…) Turns out he was happy I did. Then the questions, what were my symptoms ? yadda, yadda, yadda… I played it all down like I normally do, don’t like to cause a fuss…Then it turned to something like this ;
“And your bladder ?”
“Fine”
“Really ?”
“Yup, it’s fine”
“You sure ?”
(Think I’d notice, I thought) “Yup”
“And bowels”
“Yup, fine too”
“You sure ?”
“Yup”
Looked at me like I was fibbing… “And your bladder ?”
“Ermmm, still fine”
Then he looked a bit more serious… “I can’t help you if you don’t tell me what’s wrong !”
“OK, well, my hands hurt like hell most days and I can’t feel them 100%…”
“Oh, I can’t do anything about that,” he replied, “How’s your bladder ?”
I swear that’s true. Comedy gold.
I told this to the next M.S. doctor I saw a year later, (thankfully a different guy), and he agreed that maybe he was a little fixated on that question.
Gotta larf.
Almost as funny as the guy who almost electrocuted me during my first round of m.s. tests…
Hi, I’m a newbie too. So confused about the whole MS thing…today I’ve had hardly any symptoms and they have been improving massively the last week or so, my spasticity is minimal. Its left me questioning my diagnosis…and can it take nearly two years to recover from your first onset? My second episode (Feb 2015) was less severe and I am recovering from that…I think? Bizarre. Yes I believe MS is odd and I am so damn confused with it all. I tried to explain it to the neurologist but he just confused me further…arrrrrgh. Hopefully the MS nurse will shed light on it for us both
Andy, I had a sort of similar conversation about my bladder with the neuro too, he kept going on about it, but I just wanted to say FFS man, I’ve had three children, what do you think my bladder is like?! He didn’t believe me when I said my right leg is worse than my left, he said he really wouldn’t expect it to be. They’re my legs, I think I know!
ZS, my ms nurse told me that if symptoms haven’t disappeared within about a year then they’re probably not going to, no idea if that is correct. I’m glad you are feeling better than you were. I’m feeling wiped out today - symptoms no worse (my feet are still fizzy!) but I am shattered.
