New and confused

Hi Clare Sorry to hear your issues . I was turned away three times by my GP with my symptoms . It was only in the 4th occasion that he referee me to neurologist and I wad diagnosed . Don’t ever give up . Keep on at them until you get answers !! Hope it works out for you . Ant

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Thank you Ant.

Reading this forum I can see a lot of people are in the same boat.

There are a lot out there . My MS nurse told me that people are very often mis diagnosed when it comes to MS which is a worry in itself . Its the not knowing that worries you . Weirdly it was almost a relief when they diagnosed me just so I had a name for it and I could deal with it . Hope you get some answers .

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Hey,

this past few days or so have been a little hard, I’m getting angry finding it hard to control it, and walking is getting a little more difficult, I’m having to have someone walk with me when I go out because I’m quite unsteady and people look, I’m getting spasms which are getting quite uncomfortable. I know there is only so long I can keep it to myself. X x

Hi Emz, I’ve found myself in a similarly unsteady situation this past six weeks, wobbly unpredictable legs etc, except I’ve mostly been hiding at home and haven’t been brave enough to try walking outside on my own for a couple of weeks. I’m going to get a stick to use and try going out in the late afternoon first as that seems to be when l am strongest.

I’m sorry that you are having such a rough time and have so much to deal with atm. Is there an MS society/group near you? I rang the one near me the other day when I was very down. The lady was lovely, calmed me down and said for me to get back to her and she will come and see me. I think getting to know people locally who know what it is like will be very helpful, we can go out and be wobbly together :slight_smile:

Hey Teal,

thanks for msging back, it’s not a nice feeling as I’m sure your aware, I haven’t been going out either nobody knows so I don’t want the feeling that everyone is staring at me, I popped out yesterday and had to be held out I was gone for half hour and only walked for 10mins and I felt useless couldn’t walk properly at all I didn’t expect that to happen and when they tried to help me I freaked out coz it looked like I was being held up not just holding someone’s hand so I changed it, um I haven’t been in contact with anyone yet unfortunately as I can’t get anywhere and wouldn’t know where to start, I’ve been given leaflets about coffee mornings etc but haven’t been able to get anywhere yet so not met anyone. Yeah we can x x

Hi Emz and Teal Not sure how long you have been diagnosed but when I was firstly diagnosed I had exactly the same problem. I found this was down to worrying about it and trying to consciously trying to walk normally. Now I don’t think about it and I walk loads better . Not without the odd wobble but loads better ! You will get there :slight_smile:

The lady I spoke to was happy to come to me. I think I found her number using the ‘support’ tab on this site. I also rang the main ms society helpline at the top of this page when I first found out and another lovely person talked me through things.

It’s going to be hard when I do go out and meet people who I know. I’ve told a few people by text, but you can’t exactly broadcast it to the world to explain. I don’t mind if people do know what it is, but I’ll just cry if I have to explain it. Maybe I should write a card out that I can just hand over if I need someone to help. I did that when I used to travel on the Tube and I had bad migraines. Never actually used it but it made me feel more confident knowing I had it with me.

About the staring, I’m seriously considering dyeing my hair purple to distract them.

Hey Ant, I was diagnosed a couple months ago, I’ve been wobbly for quite a while but my legs feel so weird now so maybe your right but if I don’t think about walking I fall down atm, I don’t know how long this will go on for so I’ll try what you said and see how I get on. X x

Hi Emz It took me a while before I finally got my head around my diagnosis . Cant say I have still got my head around it . But it does get better once your mind accepts it a bit more . You will get there :slight_smile: . Ant x

Hi Emz, The first thing to go when MS comes knocking is our dignity. You’ll have to make a choice between keeping it and the stress that causes or giving it up in exchange for finding out who your real friends are.


Hi Clare,

You don’t have to apologise for venting you feelings here. It’s in our genes to read your story and try to understand; otherwise we wouldn’t have this forum.

You say you are “medically dismissed from the NHS”. Have you been told they have closed your file? Go back to your GP in July and tell him/her that you’d like a second opinion with the new neurologist. But you’ve probably already worked that out yourself.

As for neurologists, mine flatly refused to even contemplate I had MS. In his professional opinion I had a “functional disease” (in which symptoms are caused by psychological or psychiatric illness) and promptly sent me off to talk to a psychiatrist. (see comment #24)

After nearly an hour of relatively sane questions he started to ask me about “voices”. When he said “Do you hear voices on the radio talking about you”, I snapped, “Not often enough” The shrink told me that I wasn’t depressed and the interview was over.

The neurologist eventually had to eat his own words (much to his obvious discomfort) and promptly retired. I’ve got a much newer model now but will be keeping an eye on her for any signs of excessive hubris. And I’ve told her!

All the nurses are bowing and scraping out the bedpans while the Ivory Tower brigade are on the golf course concocting a different type of shit. It makes it difficult to get any sense out of them most of the time.

That’s me vented. It’s getting the anger & frustration off your chest that helps. Did you know that anger that is unexpressed wil lead to depression? Get angry, not mad.

Anthony (on my third neurologist; they get tired easily)

Thank you for making me laugh today!

… I know the topic isn’t funny, but it’s the way you tell it :wink:

Hey Ant,

thanks for your kind words, I will get to the point that the feeling of telling people won’t be so daunting before there is gossip anyway. X x

Hey albrecht durer,

yeah I know what you mean, I’ve always been stubborn to come to terms with things and accepting things and always keep my private life exactly that but I’ve also come to learn that your right I will find out who stays around and how well I handle people known and noticing the things in me. X x

That’s the spirit :slight_smile: . You will amaze yourself just how strong you can be !! Ant x

Hi everyone well the day has finally arrived. After more than 12 months of symptoms umpteen appointments 2 MRI scans and the Lumbar Puncture from hell i get my results back from the Lumbar Puncture and VEP tests i had done in May. I don’t really know what to expect, really not feeling any better than i did 12 months ago, had a period of about 2 months after Christmas where i felt ok, but recently been feeling a lot worse again. So fingers crossed and i will keep you all up to date.

Well finally got my results today, been diagnosed with MS, got the Relapsing Remitting kind. Not the news I was expecting though it was always in the back of my mind. Gotta stay positive though, just waiting on an appointment with the an MS specialist now to discuss medication.