This Is MS Multiple Sclerosis Community: Knowledge & Support

Hello all,
I have written on here once before. I am on the verge of being DX'd. I am very intuitive and I know I have it. Anyways, I have noticed when I lie down I like to take the blankets and kick them off to where my feet and legs hang out. I have always done this with my feet (used to have amazing coordination with my feet, could actually pick objects up). Now every night I try again and again to see if I am crazy, but now when I try to use my legs and feet to kick off and organize the blanket, it doesnt matter what leg I use, but it just shakes and spasms everywhere. I cant control it. When I try to move my feet from the other knee and go down, it just goes all over the place and if I try to fight it then soon my whole lower half will be tremoring (probably not a word).
Today I was at school and my right arm, which I have not had very many problems with at all, has gotten very numb and the pins and needles deal going on like I was sleeping on it all night. It will not go away or even subside just a little bit! That in conjunction with the leg spasms, weakness and pins and needles occasionally in the left arm, cognitive problems like short time memory loss and cant find simple words when I am talking (as easy as school), balance issues, and my joints hurt, and my neck has hurt in the same spot now for over three months. The neck pain has never subsided and no matter what I do, it just gets worse.
Sorry for the long writing. I was just wondering about these problems I have on a daily basis. Oh yeah, and im always tired! Anybody else experience the leg spasms I mentioned? I hope I dont have the bad progressive kind because it would break my heart if I ever got to the point where I couldnt be intimate with my wife and be able to hold my son.
So go ahead and vent. I would like to read some replies and peoples daily problems if you would like to share. Thank you all for your time and God Bless!

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Disabled Daddy of the Year!

heya, i used to be a LOT more disabled than i am now, and my username speaks for itself. i was pretty sure my problem was due to poor nutrition so i made that my focus. i have gotten much better through changes in diet, a supplement regimen, and a lot of blood work.

in my view it's important to look at your own system of genetics environment and lifestyle and try to figure out what could be driving your personal system away from health. fyi most ms patients have known nutrient insufficiencies or imbalances. most 'normal ranges' for nutrients are too broad so uneducated bloodwork will come back 'normal' when in fact the patient sits precisely in the 'ms range' for a particular nutrient, whereas healthy controls sit in a different part of the 'normal' range.

knowledge is power with this one and i encourage you to read as much as you can.

in the short term the nutrients that stand out for me in your case is magnesium for pain and spasm, and zinc and b-complex for cognition. let me know if you want to hear more about forms, dosage and timing.

keep your chin up!

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my approach: no meds so far - just balanced whole foods (partial 'paleo', much less outright elimination), science, supplements, & bloodwork
my regimen - www.thisisms.com/ftopict-2489.html
www.whfoods.com, www.nutritiondata.com

I totally agree that nutrition plays a big part in healthy muscles and body. I actually have been cutting out any junk food for the past few months now. I am vegan and I probably eat better than at least 70% of people out there. I also take very good vitamins from nutrilite which has minerals and vegetable extracts as well as the normal vitamins. I am former military and up until an accident around three years ago, I was extremely healthy. I went vegan because I found out that dairy and meats were horrible on my stomach. My body was just not made for it. I have 5 herniated disks in my neck to my back and one discectomy under my belt already from the accident. Since I have been getting worse and worse they did an MRI and found a bunch of demylination of my nerves near the neck and brain stem area. Thanks for the info, I will definitely check out more info on nutrition. I would much rather be vitamin deficient than have MS . Thank you again!

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Disabled Daddy of the Year!

funny, my 'poor nutrition' problem was actually that i was vegan.

after blood work i confirmed multiple vitamin, mineral, etc deficiencies BUT i never really supplemented (until dx that is)

i'd be inclined to investigate *why* meat and dairy gave you a hard time and address any imbalances that might be causing that problem.

for example i used to have trouble with eating bread, but since finding and correcting zinc deficiency, now i can eat bread without discomfort.

b12 deficiency is a key differential dx for ms and also the flagship problem nutrient for vegans. how much b12 is in your daily supplement regimen? if you get a b12 test aim for minimum 500 pmol/L and don't let them tell you levels like 200-300 pmol/L are okay. the normal range is based on hematologic criteria not cognitive etc.

so iima, what kind of vegan are you? what's your average breakfast, lunch, dinner, snack?

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my approach: no meds so far - just balanced whole foods (partial 'paleo', much less outright elimination), science, supplements, & bloodwork
my regimen - www.thisisms.com/ftopict-2489.html
www.whfoods.com, www.nutritiondata.com