Hi Im new to this.

New diagnosis and before diagnosis
1

Im female, 55 yrs old and may/may not have MS.

I have had loads of trouble with my left leg in the past year.

X rays have shown wear and tear arthritis in my hip, knee and ankle.

However above this I started getting a strange feeling at the back of my knee, I thought at first it was a DVT, however this feeling changed. I then was having to lift my leg, I couldnt move it in bed unless I physically lifted and moved it.

It has progressed now to a tight feeling thigh, my shin feels weird, I have pins and needles/numb/tingling in my lower leg from just above the knee to half way down my foot. My leg is very weak and I am having to hold onto rails when using the stairs.

Fatigue, OMG, at times (afternoons mostly) I could just lie on the office floor and sleep in front of everyone. I spend the weekends just sleeping. But in saying that I dont sleep well at night, my leg really bothers me.

I have also woken with my hadns and arms gripped really tight, and when I first get up the soles of my feet are really sore.

I can no longer use my electric blanket, cant stand the heat from it, or too much heat in the house, however I have just been abroad and the heat there did not bother me.

Dizzy, inner ear infection feeling.

Palpitations.

My right cheek feels like a neuralgia type pain.

I have had blood tests with a negative result and my GP is now referring me to Neurology. But she did say I have too many symptoms at one time for it to be MS?

However on reading this forum it would seem this is not the case.

I have written all these symptoms in a very basic list but am a bit scared that they will not look into it if I tell the Neurologists everything on my list.

2

i was told i had ms last thursday so im really new to all this

but i made a real effort not to read up on ms or google my symptoms untill i was told i had it i still havent read too much about it :slight_smile:

i think if you spend your time reading stuff on the internet you will drive your self loooopy :wink: and worry that you have all sort of things wrong with you

i saw the neurologists with out even thinking ms i just knew my legs werent working and i was dizzy and tired all the time there are other things too but these were the main problems i have

he examand my eyes and i thought thats odd then it twiged what he was looking for (i have a good friend of the family with ms) i knew thats how she was found to have ms when she lost her sight for a few days

he ask me loads of questions gave me a phisical examination and then said im not going to lie to you i think you have ms

he sent me for a mri (i now know what its like to be shut in a cofin when listening to really bad techno music :wink: lol) a lumber punch and blood tests it wasnt one of the best days ive had lol

he then called me 5 weeks later and told me over the phone i had ms and he will be sending out a letter to come see him asap

i have since come on here and read a bit about ms and other peoples experances im still sticking to my idea of not reading to much about it as its hard enough for me to deal with with out reading horror storys about some ones legs arms and head falling off lol :wink:

if i was you id give the dr all your problems dont mention you think its ms and let the dr make up his mind thats what there there for :wink:

good luck

xan

3

Hello and welcome to the site :slight_smile: Lots of symptoms all at the same time within a short period isn’t very typical of MS, but lots of symptoms built up over a year or more could be. The difficulty is separating out ones that are related because it’s possible that there is more than one thing going on. But that’s the neuro’s job I guess! Do focus on the main symptoms when you see the neuro, but it’s also important to also explain how things have changed over the months since it all started. Hopefully the neuro will be able to work out what’s going on quite easily, but I’m afraid that neurology tends to be tricky because lots of things have very similar symptoms and diagnosis can take a long time so be prepared for a bit of a long time. In the meantime, you could ask your GP for something to help with your legs so you might be able to sleep better - it should also help with the daytime fatigue. I hope you get some answers soon. Karen x

4

Many thanks for your replys. I really have not been reading loads of stuff on tintrnet, I know the danger of this.

I have thought it may be MS for a few months, but did not even look at this site till the GP said that thats what it looks like, but I have a lot of different things going on, this has been a gradual onset, over at least a year.

Im not looking at it being the worst case scenario, Im hoping for another explaination.I can not see me getting my appointment much before Xmas and it would drive you nuts thinking about it all the time, so its a case of get on with it in the mean time.

Keep well, and thanks again.

5

Many thanks for your replys. I really have not been reading loads of stuff on tintrnet, I know the danger of this.

I have thought it may be MS for a few months, but did not even look at this site till the GP said that thats what it looks like, but I have a lot of different things going on, this has been a gradual onset, over at least a year.

Im not looking at it being the worst case scenario, Im hoping for another explaination.I can not see me getting my appointment much before Xmas and it would drive you nuts thinking about it all the time, so its a case of get on with it in the mean time.

Keep well, and thanks again.

6

Morning Rhony x Personally I I think the internet can on the one hand scare the hell out of you but on the other hand it’s an awesome place to gain insight and information about what is or could be happening to you!

My GP has no problem at all when I go in and discuss things I have read on here and she embraces the idea of a more ‘informed’ patient - she says in many cases it has helped her to quickly make a correct diagnosis!

Other doctors however can feel threatened by a patient coming in and telling them what they think it is! The other benefit of being well informed is that it’s harder for doctors to ‘fob’ you off as unfortunately some of them do!!

My advice is to stick to sites like this one where you will get ‘level headed’ advice from people who have been there & bought the proverbial T shirt! xxxjenxxxx