not sure what to do

New diagnosis and before diagnosis
1

HI everyone

well, I posted here last week.I had had a fantastic week and a half and then beginning of last week had return of weak/trembling arm and weakness in leg along with vertigo. The vertigo has gone(thank goodness) but my right leg seems to be progressively getting worse. It feels so weak and like jelly. I drove the children to school this morning but am already having to sit down as my leg feels so heavy and is hard to lift high enough to stop my foot dragging on the floor. Also for the first time ever I have this really weird "cold"pain in the front of my thigh. I still only have the tingling in my feet first thing in the morning, but do have a kind of vibrating feeling in my upper leg. Last night was agony I couldn’t keep still with the “cold” pain. I also have a change in my sense of touch in my right hand. Its not pins and needles or numbness, I just can’t feel things properly. I can cope with this as have got used to using my left hand more over the last few months, but the leg thing, I would desperately like some relief.

I was due to have MRI this week but this has been postponed until next week. Could these leg symptoms be MS? I thought that leg symptoms led to you lifting your leg higher? not dragging your foot?

Anyway, basically I am unsure what to do about these symptoms. My neurologist said he didn’t think there was anything to worry about and that there was probably nothing serious going on, but would arrange the head and c-spine MRI just to check. I can’t get an appointment with the GP until Jan. I don’t really want to see another GP as can’t guarantee which one it would be. One of the GPs is married to my best friend and I don’t want her to know whats happening as I know she would fuss over me, and I don’t want to put her husband in a difficult situation, as he is also my friend.

As the neurologist reassured me that there was probably nothing to worry about I am starting to think that maybe I am whinging over nothing, so am trying to ignore this but finding it increasingly difficult to cope with the leg.

Can anyone offer any advice about how to ease the leg symptoms?

Many thanks everyone x

2

Hi, your symptoms with your leg are just what I experienced at the beginning of my MS journey.

The first thing I felt was that my left leg was too heavy to keep up with my other leg. Then I had foot drop, which caused trips and falls. Drop foot is very typical MS.

I had to lift my hip and swing my leg outwards in an effort to make my foot clear the ground.it caused really bad hip and thigh pain. This action didn`t always work and I still fell.

I don`t believe leg problems would make you lift your leg higher.

I also experienced and still do sometimes, cold patches in my legs and feet. As I have no mobility and use a wheelie full time, my feet and legs are nearly always cold, due to poor circulation.

It seems odd to me, that your neuro has said there is nothing to worry about…clearly there is, as you are having these problems, eh?

There may be something to see on your MRI. But with my type of MS, there has been no definite dx, as it is a harder type to dx.

luv Pollx

3

MS can cause pretty much every neurological symptom, but it doesn’t mean that every symptom is caused by MS - there are always multiple possible causes. So, yes, MS can cause people to drag a foot, but a dragging foot does not mean that someone necessarily has MS.

The best non-pharmaceutical way I’ve found to deal with freezing legs is to wrap them up in warm blankets and use a heat pad if necessary (you can buy electic ones quite cheaply).

Karen x

4

Yep, the heat pad actually works, even though your leg isn’t really cold! The brain can only concentrate on so many things at once. If the brain is receiving fake signals saying “COLD”, but then starts receiving real signals saying “HOT”, it can’t do both - generally the real signals override the fake ones quite well, but not always. It’s worth a try though!

Kx