Looking for some advice

Hi everyone.

I’m not diagnosed currently with MS, but have been struggling with various problems for several years now, I’m confused and just want to know what’s wrong with me.

Apologies for the long post!

A little background about me, I’m a 30yr old male. Active and fit, although an occasional smoker.

My problems first occurred around 4 years ago, I went through a stressful time at work and ended up being diagnosed with depression and anxiety related panic attacks. I didn’t really get on to well with the prescribed medication, but found relief through exercising (particularly cycling). My depression returned about 18months later, although I find the symptoms somewhat manageable.

My next set of problems start happening 1yr ago, I caught a heavy cold twice in succession, and started having breathing problems. Eventually, I was diagnosed with asthma, and prescriber steroid inhalers. The inhalers did the trick, and within 4 months I was able to wean myself off of the inhalers. I did however, start getting some problems with my skin and rashes, my doctor sent me off for blood test which come back fine. The skin rash never went away, so I was given corticosteroid creme.

Fast forward to now. I caught another really bad chest cold 10 weeks ago, which gave me asthma problems again. I was prescribed prednisone, and started re-taking my inhalers. I don’t get wheezy any longer, but still feel short of breath at random times, even with the steroid inhalers.

I then started getting this really strange (but intense), feeling in my lower left abdomen, just below my rib cage. I started getting it at night, but now it’s with me for most of the day. It feels like someone is squeezing the left side of my stomach really hard. I do get some relief if I apply pressure to side where the pain is. I re-visited my doctor who told me he sounds too random to be a genuine problem, and that it was anxiety related.

I do have some other problems; mainly back pains, insomnia and frequent urination (around 16-20 times a day). Along with the asthma symptoms which seem to disappear and then randomly return, I wondered if I might have MS.

I’ve tried my hardest to forget the odd feeling, but it only goes away if I’m doing something active. As I mentioned, I’ve suffered from anxiety in the past and this feels nothing like anxiety. I feel like I’m a waste of time to the doctors, and that nobody takes me seriously. I just wondered if this rings home with anyone suffering from MS? Does anyone have any suggesting as to how I should handle this with my doctor.

I really appreciate any advice anyone can give. Thank you.

hi jan

ms has very random symptoms but yours sound pretty much unlike any ms i have heard of.

the pains in your lower left abdomen - could it be extreme heartburn?

the urinating so much, have you been to the bowel and bladder clinic?

you can refer yourself there.

your anxiety seems to me to be the main problem.

are you getting help for this?

hope you get some support soon.

carole x

I’m not a diagnosed MS sufferer, it’s just a possibility for me at the moment, but I do have the very frequent urination lately, the bizarre squeezing (like fingers in my flesh at times). I think I’ve read about exacerbation of asthma in connection with MS, and I understand the symptoms can be quite different from one person to another.
At the same time, anxiety an cause all kinds of weird feelings in the chest, shortness of breath and so on. I don’t think you can afford to be ‘fobbed off’ so to speak so I would go back and request an MS investigation, if nothing else, to ‘‘rule it out’’. It seems to be quite a long process so it’s better to get things moving sooner rather than later.

If you explicitly request a referral, your doctor probably can’t refuse. Never feel like you’re wasting their time. This is their job, and they should be willing to be thorough when a patient’s health is at stake.