I have been reading your posts for a few days now, after a friend recommended the site. I’m hoping someone out there may be able to relate to what im going through or have any advice.
It been nearly a year since i started to notice things were not right. It started with bowel problems (a lovely place to start) and having never had problems before it completely came out of the blue. For six months the doctor perscribed many different laxatives, put me on different diets, told me to avoid certain foods but it just wouldn’t go away. I was battling pain on and off in my left side and leg and the frequent need to urinate, this was put down to my stomach problems and told it would go away but take painkillers .During this time there were many trips back and fourth to the doctors untill finally the doctor said i’m sending you for a scan of your stomach. The scan showed overloading but they couldn’t understand why as there was nothing physically blocking it. I battled on for another month before the doctor referred me to a specialist. The specialist perscribed prucalopride and sent me on my merry way.
Then the nausea started, it was so bad that at times it was making me physically sick and also felt as though someone was squeezing me (like a balloon about to pop). Once again many trips back to the doctors begging them to make it stop to which a doctor said am i sure i’m not pregnant. ( i wasn’t). I was sent back to the specialist who said it wasnt the tablets but he could take me off them to see if there was any improvements. After two weeks he put me back on the tablets as constipation became a problem again. The nausea just stopped as quickly as it started but when i recently had two bouts a few weeks apart i was told i might possibly have a stomach bug without the upset stomach. I tried to explain that it comes and goes and is not constant throughout the day, doctor looked at me like i was mad and said it a stomach bug and they cant give me anything for it but make sure i stay hydrated.
The past few months i noticed i was having trouble with my speech, forgetting words and mixing up sentences. I struggle with my short term memory but was afraid to do anything apart from laugh it off as i was convinced people would think i was going mad. I thought i was hiding it quite well with my strange coping mechanisms but apparently not.
First my boyfriend told me how worried he was, then my colleagues pulled me aside and said they had noticed i was having trouble with my memory and slurring my speech alot.The final straw was being pulled in by management and told how much i had changed and they find me difficult to approach. I feel as though i’m being asked to do something about something that i have no control over. I went back to the doctors who said he couldnt give me anything but would refer me to neuro and did i think i was depressed. I mean how difficult is it to explain to someone that you don’t feel depressed but frustrated with the life you now have.
I feel for your worries but now your doctor has referred you to a neuro, hopefully with the right tests done they will come to find out exactly what is wrong with you. A lot of what you have said could be down to MS or many other reasons, so don’t assume what you may or may not have. Just explain to the neuro what has been happening to you and the time scale. Make a list of your symptoms, the worst one for you first, but don’t hand the list over to the neuro otherwise other things maybe overlooked. Do keep us up to date with how you get on and hope your appt’ comes through quickly. Take care.
my lovely gp prescribed citalopram when he referred me to neurology. i didnt want to take anti depressants so i never cashed in my prescription. it was 6 months later when i started to feel like i was unravelling that i went to the chemist.
so keep an open mind.
the neuro might suggest something for your bowels or he/she might refer you to a continence advisor.
i was mortified at having to see a continence advisor but she was lovely and not at all embarassing.
there are lots of adverts on tv for the bowel and bladder clinic so you might be able to self refer? or your gp could.
i have had loads of problems with bowels and bladder since ms came into my life but they can be helped.
the title of your post brought it all back to me. i felt like that too but i’ve mellowed out a lot
Blimey Anon - I hope you get answers from a specialist. Constipation is my biggest problem at the moment. I was referred to a consultant - wrong one I have since learned - as I have now been referred to a consultant with a special interest in neuro constipation. Anyway I had a colonic transfer study done I.e swallow a tablet that comprises of lots of little rings - go for an X-ray a week later. From this they can tell how efficient your colon is In the beginning I was prescribed antidepressants - didn’t take them as I wasn’t depressed just blo…y angry. Counselling didn’t help Supportive hugs Min xx
Hi anon, I don’t think counselling helps either but I do think cognitive behaviour therapy does. I’ve seen excellent results at work and having researched its effects upon ms sufferers, see it has positive results in a large percentage of people. So I have asked my gp to refer me to a CBT therapist.
Thank you all for your replies and advice. My neuro appointment is Tuesday and I’m scared they are going to make me take anti depressants or continue taking pain killers and send me away. Before referring me to neuro the only advice my doctor had was to continue to take pain killers in the meantime. It was his answer to bowel problems, headaches, pain etc. By pain killers I mean he told me to take ibuprofen and paracetamol as some pain killers worsen constipation. You can imagine how useful they are. I’m suprised he hasn’t suggested them for my speech. When I saw the gastroenterologist he arranged a colonoscopy and that’s when he said there was nothing physically there blocking it. He said I have a long and tortuous Colon but he said I have had this my life so couldn’t understand why it was a problem now.