Hello All
I wonder if anyone could give me their opinion please?
Both my mum and nan had primary progressive MS and now aged 45 I am starting to have a few little niggles myself. The past year has been a particularly stressful one for the family and during this time I have had a few bouts of dizziness and now I am sitting here with a numb arm and a heavy leg, although these symptoms have only been with me for 24hours.
Am I over reacting due to my family history or is it worth booking a GP appointment?
Your thoughts would be greatly appreciated.
Many thanks
I don’t think anyone could blame you for being sensitive to things that might be MS, but even if you weren’t, a numb arm and heavy leg would have most people heading off to the GP, which is where I think you should head too.
Your family history does increase the risk of MS, but these symptoms could be due to a whole host of things, including things that are relatively easy to fix, so try and keep an open mind.
Hopefully it’s a simple vitamin deficiency, but the only way to find out is to make an appointment…
Karen x
Hi,
I would see how this latest bout goes. By definition, an MS attack (AKA relapse) has to last more than 24 hours, so if it’s all better tomorrow, it’s sort of unlikely to be MS - although maybe still worth checking, in case of other things.
I’m sure you already know MS is not hereditary - however, having affected relatives does increase the chances somewhat. Do you know approximately what age your mum or nan first started experiencing symptoms? For some reason, affected members of the same family tend to have roughly the same age of onset, although their subsequent disease course is not necessarily similar (one severely affected relative won’t mean everybody is).
If your mum and nan started a lot younger - say in their 20s, it makes it less likely you’d be starting now, at 45.
I’d book an appointment anyway. 45 is too young to be accepting such things as “normal” (as I did for some years). Hopefully, it’s something quite different and easily treated. There are literally hundreds of MS mimics - some are quite straightforward to deal with.
Tina
Many thanks both for your replies.
I find that really interesting about the possible connection between family members having roughly the same onset age. My mum was mid 40’s and I believe my nan was mid to late 50’s, although not competey sure on that one.
I did have a Vitamin D test last month and the results have come back that I need medication so have an appointment booked for that next week so think I’ll mention this too.
Many thanks
Clare