Help and advise

Hello; i wondered if you can help me?

I have been what I can only describe as ‘funny turns’ For just over a year. I seem to remember some years ago I had a spell of feeling ‘odd’ in my head and had dizziness. it was never really sesolved and it just seem to ‘go’

Since march last year; I have had odd feelings inside. I work a shift pattern and these symptoms only ever seem to be in the mornings; for example. I would get up at 6am; shower, eat breakfast and be at work by 7am listen to a handover then I would start by work 7.30am. By 08.30am I start to feel shaky inside, like ‘trembling’ I then feel very unsteady on my feet and feel ‘muddled’ like I can’t think straight. They took my blood sugar which did indicate that I was having low blood sugar levels and put this down to having ‘hypo glycaemia’. They also did a thyroid function which also indicated that I was hypothyroid.

They have increased my thyroid medication which helped. But my blood sugar levels remain low. Yesterday; I had another bad turn ; I was shaking, unable to walk and needed a wheelchair, my head ached and I could not think straight. I was trembling ‘inside’ and my hands and legs had a bad shake. This is the first time I have had to go home as it would not stop. Today after a good night sleep; I still can’t walk straight and I feel ‘uncoordinated’ and still feel tremble inside, if this was due to low blood sugar i should not still be feeling unwell

Once the symptoms stop; I’m exhausted and have to sleep ‘it off’ some days I have a sense that I ‘know its going to happen’ I have a feeling that ‘something isn’t right’, but what I don’t understand is why this seems to only happen in the morning and not later on in the day?

My doctor is at a loss as to what to do with me; he is sending me for endocrinology test. My friend has MS and he says that the symptoms I’m getting are very similar to how he was in the early stages of MS! However; he did not get the low blood sugar?

Do you think these symptoms are similar?

I have shaky feeling inside and my hands tremble

Chronic constipation

Unsteadiness on my legs

Impaired thinking

Tiredness

i’m feeling worried now; i cant work; i work in a hospital and they feel that my symptoms are so unsteady i cant work with patients. I’m now on sick leave until they find out what’s wrong, this is taking so long ; can anyone help me?

Hello, and welcome to the site

Tbh, it’s impossible to tell whether or not your symptoms could be due to MS - MS shares very similar symptoms to many other conditions and only by having a lot of tests and seeing the right specialist can what’s going on be identified. Unfortunately this can take a while, so I’m afraid you need to be prepared for a bit of a long haul

MS symptoms don’t tend to come and go as you describe, in my experience anyway. If you were having an MS attack, it would be more likely for you to be having a few symptoms all the time (although they may be worse at some times than others). People with progressive MS gradually get worse over time and, although their symptoms might be better some days than others, what you describe doesn’t sound very typical (but I don’t have progressive MS, so could be wrong!).

If I were you, I would try and accept that I might have to wait to find out what’s going on, I would try not to try and work out what it might be (especially as there are some real crackpots on the internet!), I’d see what the endocrinology test results are and, if they’re clear, ask for a referral to neurology. Sick leave is not fun when you would rather be at work, but it is definitely better to try and rest and let your body fight off whatever’s going on. (Doesn’t hurt so much when the weather is so glorious too!)

I hope you get some answers very soon.

Karen x

Thank you Karen for you time in replying to me and not just ‘piffing’ the way i feel.

I will do as you suggest; i’m having a bad day today; i’m not steady on my feet at all and feel very off in my head. I’m going to be off the rest of this week (all be it one day) and see how I am over the weekend.

Thanks for you answer

Hi Babs x Take time out! I know you don’t want to but it sounds like you NEED to! x

I was struggling with work for a very long time - I’d have good (ish) weeks and bad weeks. It seemed relentless!!!

Looking back - trying to cope with being ill - chronically ill - and having a stressful job is just daunting x

I kept thinking 'I’ll be better tomorrow…next week…next month…" but it never happened!! It just got worse.

I’ve been off work for 6 weeks already - it’s gone so fast - all I have done is sleep, sleep & sleep some more!!!

I can’t believe I spent the first 2 weeks exhausting myself more by totally stressing, crying & worrying because I was off for so long!

I eventually calmed down and accepted the situation and it is only this week that I’m starting to feel a bit of an improvement in my symptoms (even though some new ones seem to be appearing almost every day!)

I have 2 weeks sick leave left - so hopefully by then I’ll be well enough to return.

To be honest though if I’m not a lot betterI’m going to take some more - the last thing I want is to go back and find myself in the same position as I was before!!!

Be kind to yourself xxxxjenxxxxx