Hi all, am new here but just wondered if anyone had advice. I was diagnosed with Trigeminal Neuralgia about 6 weeks ago and since researching this as I’d never heard of it before I kind of started connecting some dots of symptoms that I’ve experienced over the last 3 or so years. Now I don’t want to make 5 from 2 + 2 but I never was great at maths so inevitably I have! Symptoms include dizziness, bladder problems, weird sensations such as warm water running down legs, legs being sprayed with cold air, twitchy eye, balance problems, fatigue and more recently numb right leg although not foot oddly enough, just down outside of leg, tingling in odd fingers and toes, plodding rather than walking and a few other small things. No ON though and no severe numbness which is causing me doubt. I had basically ignored all of the above previously until the TN hit and that was something I couldn’t ignore. I did also visit GP about bladder problems not long before the TN but didn’t mention anything else as hadn’t thought any of it could be connected, just thought it was part of hitting my 40’s! Anyhoo, having read lots of different posts it seems that people do struggle to get a diagnosis swiftly without a major, major episode. So, my question (eventually) is do you think it’s worth seeing my GP now or as MS is what it is would it eventually show its hand in an undoubtable way? I haven’t convinced myself it’s MS, I am confused about it but I have an open mind and understand it could be a lot of other things. I am still functioning, albeit in slow motion so should I go see GP now or hang around to see what develops? Can MS be caught early and does it make a difference to the prognosis if it is? Blimey, so many questions :0) Thanks xx
Hello there!
TN can be a condition on its own without having ms which i am sure you know from your investigations.
… but when you are experiencing other symptoms then alarm bells are bound to ring.
Perhaps you could have a chat to your gp about all the symptoms you have experienced and ask his opinion. It is not a good idea to mention MS at all because he/she will automatically jump to the conclusion that you have been googling ms and have indeed added 2 and 2 and come up with 5!!!
Let the gp come to his own conclusion and see if he/she thinks they need to send you for tests.
If you go for tests - then great - you will get these symptoms checked out even though this does not mean you will get a diagnosis if nothing shows up on the tests. You are right that it might not be ms and could be something easily treated so don’t get ahead of yourself and stay calm.
If you are not refered to a neuro for tests then the best idea is to go back to the gp when you experience more of the old symptoms or new ones so he/she can witness them.
There are different types of ms and people who have relapsing remitting ms can take medication for it. There is evidence to suggest that if having this type of ms then taking the medication can slow down the relapses in frequency and severity. Taking the medication early is thought to slow down the damage done to nerves by the ms.
hope that helps a little?
best wishes
Teresa.x
I agree with Teresa. The fact is that you are now worried that there might be something serious amiss. If that worry is going to be an un-ignorable cloud on your mental horizon, then that alone is a good enough reason to make sure that your GP has the full picture and to see what he/she thinks. It is clear from your post that you are not the sort of person to go trotting along to the GP every time you have a cold - on the contrary: you have form for just putting up with things. Your GP is certainly not going to think that you are suddenly turning into a hypochondriac. But you have to meet the GP half-way - if you don’t tell him/her what has been happening, he/she isn’t going to be able to tell you what’s the matter.
Alison
Hi and welcome to the forum!
I would defo go see GP now. If he/she thinks there is something to investigate, I reckon they`ll refer you to a neuro.
Yes, your problems do sound MS like, but as you say, it could be other things.
I was mis-diagnosed with PPMS for several years, so I hope you have a better time of it hun.
luv Pollx
Thanks everyone, I have an appt booked with GP on 21/05/14 but was unsure whether to go, now I definitely will just to make sure. Thanks again xx