Don’t know we’re to begin. I’ve been disabled for many years with no proper diagnosis. I was ill as a child in 70s/80s then it seemed to subside. Used to get chronic pain, digestive problems, vomiting and these what were called blinding migraines. When I was preteen it got worse again but I was having them all the time with eyesight lasting couple of days minimum were I would best I can describe bits missing or side of one eye first then gradually worse till could hardly see. My brain wouldn’t work properly, couldn’t understand people, would on occasions have hallucinations with it, severe light sensitivity and nightmare brain fog. I was on one occasion tested at home with gp and he said they were like mini strokesas my blood pressure got so low. It’s always affected my face and hand/s legs with numbness, tingling and weakness and tremours etc… I had a brain scan for a tumour at 15 and nothing found. Eventually my health got worse and I became disabled in early 20s Unfortunately this is we’re I’m scared as my memory for a large part is missing to near from early 20s to just before 30 as I was being abused by my mother and step father physically/emotionally and fraud for many years. Unfortunately due to the abuse I tried to commit suicide and lost some memory but still couldn’t escape so stupidly social services put me back there, gave them loads of money and got more neglect and abuse. Luckily I met my wife on the Internet 2yrs ago and she got me away last year after they abused her 
Now I know i lost 7stone in weight, my eyesight has deteriorated rapidly from 12/20 to 4/20. Im left with my legs what I can’t pick up properly (it’s like my brain can’t tell them), massive tremours in arms and legs what comes and goes, broken digestion, bowels don’t work properly and puke loads, can be asleep start coughing and that’s it. Get problems with swallowing and my legs will buckle all the time so use a wheelchair. I get really bad brain fog, I apparently mix my words up back to front and can slur. My health is poor anyway but last 7 weeks it’s got even worse. The eyesight is going nuts at moment, ive had 3 severe attacks in last weeks lasting over 24hrs each time. I can actually see its deteriorated again and now hazy and can’t focus when it feels like it. For 4 days my face has been numb, my left hand and my foot, difficuly gripping, talking and thinking without it feeling my head would explode. More bowel and vomiting and feel even more like on a rollercoaster with dizziness. My eyes hurt all the time especially in bright situations so curtains remain closed. I don’t know if it’s related but also had a heart attack last year and trip bypass then another 3 stent and left with unstable angina. I’ve promised my wife and support worker I would telephone GP this week as there worried. I’ve never been tested before as was kept away by parents so worried. I know I would finally have a label and I have people that care but I never looked about MS till this week and lots of symptoms match. My wife has already talked to GP this year but I wanted to be left as spent a lot of time in them in last 16months! I’m pretty much just get on with it so tempted to eel muddling and not go I know I have a LOT of stress currently, police investigating parents and social and earth on top but I just feel ready to face it head on now have a wife and life and find out. Any help would be appreciated (insomnia is another one I have no matter how many pain killers and morphene I take to knock me out!) D
I forgot to mention i cannot do noise and talking. I can only do one way so if someone speaks I have to remain quiet, I cannot concentrate with a tv on etc at same time have to pause it.
Sorry I can’t see how to edit, forgot to mention under parents care I only saw a doc for once a year for prescription reviews due to neglect hence all this happening way to late to look into!
So…what help do you need?
Is there anything specific I should be asking the GP? Are my symptoms indicative of MS as I ain’t got a clue other than bits I’ve read? Does MS cause aschemia? Is it genetic as my cousin has it, diagnosed last few years but don’t have contact haven’t since kids? Does it take long to see a neuro?
There is no test for MS, no defining set of symptoms. MS is about ruling out all other possibilities. Many of the symptoms you describe are experienced by many here, but the permutations are close to infinite. The same symptoms could easily lead to a different diagnosis.
MS is not genetic per se, but there is a small statistical correlation, and family clusters do happen.
Definitely see your GP. Bear in mind that many of them know a lot less about MS than the denizens of this board. What you need is for GP to refer you to a neurologist.
Depending on your location and financial circumstance, if NHS neuro can’t be accessed within a timeframe that you find reasonable, you may decide to go private. But all the tests required to whittle down the possibilities towards an MS outlook are horrendously expensive.
MRI is the main thing. It shows the tell-tale lesions in brain and/or spine, although this is not foolproof.
Paging rizzo.
So sorry I haven’t replied yet to my page(! LOL!). I’ve been out all day and won’t be home for a wee while yet. Will reply properly then! Karen x
Home in one piece 
So hello DMan, and welcome to the site
First of all, I must stress that I am not a neurologist, just a fairly well educated amateur with an interest in neurology and neuroscience. So please bear that in mind! (I could be wrong!)
I have to say that your early symptoms sound like what they were diagnosed with: really nasty migraine. However, I’m not aware of migraine leading to progressive disability so perhaps the migraine was a symptom of something else?
The “mini strokes” comment by your GP of the time is shocking. If you were having repeated TIAs (transient ischemic attacks, otherwise known as mini strokes) then your GP had a duty to get you to a hospital, even if your parents were against this. Multiple TIAs could certainly cause disability, which would accumulate over time if they weren’t controlled. If it does turn out that you have been having TIAs, I sincerely hope that you will take action against this GP. If it had been stopped all those years ago, who knows how different your life would have been?
Your missing years memory-wise is not surprising given what you apparently went through, but might make life a bit harder for the consultants you see from now on. Perhaps you could get a copy of your medical records from the time and give these to the consultant? We are legally entitled to a copy of our medical records - a charge can be made for them (I think max of £50), but they cannot refuse.
Now we come to the present symptoms. My gut feel is that these are not due to MS as things like “3 severe attacks in last weeks lasting over 24hrs each time” would be extremely unusual for MS (MS attacks do have to last at least 24 hours by definition, but the average duration is about 6 weeks). Unfortunately, I can’t tell you what else it might be though This is largely because neurology is a complete minefield because there are only so many possible symptoms, but there are literally hundreds of conditions that can cause them. Then you can add on all the genetic and metabolic conditions that can cause similar symptoms too. So, a very difficult puzzle to work out, especially when many of these conditions don’t have simple tests to identify them. What neuros do is take a medical history and family history, do a clinical exam (testing the patient’s reflexes, balance, strength, vision, etc), come up with a “working diagnosis” and then refer the patient for the tests that will reveal if this diagnosis is correct. The sort of tests that neuros normally order include MRI, blood tests and lumbar punctures. Each result provides a little piece of the puzzle which will hopefully lead to the diagnosis. Unfortunately, the whole process can take quite a long time, so keeping an open mind and being as patient as possible is very helpful (as can keeping on top of appointments and chasing them as necessary!).
Could this all be related to your heart attack? I honestly have no idea although I can imagine that it is possible with some conditions, but MS is not normally associated with heart failure.
As far as ischemia goes, no, MS does not cause it. They are separate conditions.
MS is not genetic, but there is a genetic component to it so that people with close relatives with MS are slightly more likely to get MS too. (Do tell the neuro about your cousin though.)
How long it takes to see a neuro depends largely on what part of the country you are in as well as how urgent your case is (which depends a lot on how pushy your GP is!). If you can afford it, you can see a neuro privately within a couple of weeks. This is normally about £150-200. If the neuro believes further tests are warranted, they will normally switch you to their NHS lists for these as they are very expensive, but this is not guaranteed.
What should you be asking the GP… I don’t think you should be asking the GP anything - I think you should simply be telling him/her that you want a referral to a neurologist. To be fair, the GP will want to know why you want to see a neuro, so take some time to prepare a list of your main symptoms - this will also be very helpful for the referral letter that the GP will have to write. Hopefully your GP will not be unaware of everything so it will be straightforward, but be prepared to have to be assertive. (A general rule - if a medic asks you what you think is wrong, don’t say MS. They generally hate self-diagnosing patients! It’s usually better to just say that you have all sorts of disabling symptoms and you want to know what it is, so you can get the right help and support.)
Finally, abuse, traumatic events and the like can cause psychologically induced neurological symptoms that can be extremely severe. When the neuro hears of your past, they may be tempted to assume that your symptoms are psychological so you may have to be a bit pushy to make sure you get a thorough clinical exam and follow up tests. Hopefully nothing like this will happen and you will get a neuro who is wholly supportive and thorough, but I thought you should be forewarned, just in case.
I hope this helps!
Good luck. (And please let us know what happens.)
Karen x
Thank you peeps for your help. Sorry, it’s very difficult to think at moment with the brain fog and eyesight. What I meant was I get severe eyesight loss but when it returns partially in 24hrs. It’s been like this for awhile now were everything else isn’t returning to my normal disability levels. Been so bad not been well enough to go out socially since March which was last time had a haircut,. For weeks now it’s got really bad, last few days can’t have lights on or can’t see properly, can hardly hold a conversation with the wife and drift off trying to watch something, it’s like being drunk with eyesight when it returns. My wife is pushing for me to see doc tomorrow but there a nightmare to get hold of. Really not like me to ask for help as have to be desperate with it, same with heart they reckon I had numerous heart attacks for 2yrs before they caught it as they dismissed it with being younger. Can’t see and think so good but just wanted to say thanks guys x