Hello,
I’m 27 and I have been suffering extreme fatigue for a number of years with few answers, bar a doctor being close to labelling me with ME. Then I was diagnosed last year with the gynaecological condition endometriosis and was given treatment (hormone-based) for that and my fatigue is much improved. I was sleeping around 14 hours a day and now I sleep around 7-9 hours, although I do tire easily. When I am tired, my arms feel heavy but floaty, and I feel like that just before I get ill too.
Then in September, a recent back pain/sciatica problem seemed to reach a climax, and my left leg went numb and I had a patch of extreme burning sensation on my back so I was admitted to hospital on an orthopaedic ward as they thought I had Cauda Equina Syndrome, but a lumbar MRI ruled that out. I was told I had a couple of slightly prolapsed discs in my spine, but not enough to cause my numbness or the shooting pains that I also get.
I had hydrotherapy and my left leg improved slightly, but was still numb in patches (my outer thigh) which has subsided to weird sensation. If my boyfriend strokes my leg or if I brush past something and am not expecting it I get a really odd, undescribable sensation in my leg. Also, I often get muscle twitches and tingling in the same area, and half of my big toe often goes numb, or has shooting pains or feels like there is fluff tickling it when there’s nothing there. I also get similar numb, tingly or heavy feelings in my left arm but not as bad and not as often, with the same feelings as my big toe happening in my thumb. Sometimes when I am walking, my left leg gives up mid-stride, and I drag my toes on the floor, but that always goes straight back to normal in the next stride. A recent symptom over the past few days is that the same area of my left thigh keeps feeling as if I have sat on something wet, but if I touch it with my hand it’s bone dry.
I was initially very worried, but my GP has told me numerous times (without my prompting) that it doesn’t sound like MS, but other than that he is stumped. I have had to stop worrying (quite successfully), and I’m getting on with my life as well as I can, which is generally very well. I have been taking Trazodone since around January, and that does help a lot with the pain, but hasn’t stopped my left leg troubles. I am probably going to start taking Gabapentin next week to see if that helps and he has referred me to Pain Clinic. He doesn’t seem to think a Neurology referral is appropriate, which I don’t quite understand since I am sure that there is something weird to do with my nerves happening. I don’t really understand how a GP can say with a lot of certainty that he’s sure it’s not MS, when looking at possible symptoms, I do have quite a few (some I haven’t mentioned here) and with it being so difficult to diagnose.
Any feedback would be appreciated, particularly reinforcing or contradicting my GP’s certainty that it couldn’t be MS.
Thanks
R