Not sure what I have going on...Advice please?

This is the place to ask questions if you have symptoms that suggest MS, but aren't yet diagnosed.
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cryssiecakes
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Joined: Thu Oct 24, 2013 4:29 pm

Not sure what I have going on...Advice please?

Post by cryssiecakes »

OK so I'm not sure where to start, so I'll just start with a little about myself. My name is Crystal and I'm 32 years old. I know that I haven't felt "right" for some time now, but lately (as in since about May) I've just gone downhill fast. The very first thing I remember being off about me is that last year, around this time of the year, I had really bad urgency and came close to having accidents more than a few times. I've always been the person who could ride in the car for hours on end and not have to see the inside of a rest area once, then last year I had to go inside just about every one I saw, and just seeing the toilet was enough to get me going. This lasted for close to six months, then it just stopped, basically as suddenly as it appeared. It never hurt to go or anything like that, and I never took any type of antibiotic or anything, either, so I doubt it was a UTI. It was just so sudden and weird that it has stuck with me..unlike basically the rest of the last few years, because another thing I have noticed is short-term memory loss. I can go on vacations and not remember details of them soon after getting back. I took my mom up to Michigan last summer for her birthday and SHE has to tell me about what we did there, because I barely remember even going at all.

Other symptoms I've noticed since May:
*I have spasms (seizures? jerks?). I usually get them when I turn my head a certain way, though some can just hit out of nowhere. I can also usually feel them building in my spine, but again, some just come out of nowhere. They are sudden, throw my head back, my arms and legs will fly out as well, and sometimes they are strong enough that I make noises. They come on so randomly, I've been told that I should no longer drive because I have had them while driving.
*I can only walk good for about five minutes, then I start getting wobbly on my feet, start walking "crooked" like I'm drunk or something (I saw a doctor for a physical because I'm trying to get on disability and he called this Ataxia)
*Recently, my right arm started to shake when I would walk for longer than about five minutes as well, and my fingers from both hands twitch at this point also
*My hands and feet will randomly go numb, my right leg even likes to go numb up to the knee as I'm walking on it..that's always fun
*I trip myself up a lot, it's like my feet refuse to pick up properly and I just trip. I don't completely fall, I just trip myself up and have to catch myself.
*Recently, as in within the past few days, my neck has started hurting really bad, so I try to move it around...and then I spasm
*I used to be amazing at math, but now I need a calculator or something or I can't do it. Really sucks because I used to only need a calculator for "big" math problems, but now I've recently discovered (by the psych exam I was just sent to) that I can't subtract down by 7's...and I really only handled the smaller math questions of that exam well.
*My hips, shoulders, and knees are extremely sore to the touch. I can walk without my knees hurting, but if I try to kneel on them it hurts so bad I can't stand it. I can sit OK, but if someone or something pushes on my hips, I can't stand that, either, and same with my shoulders. And I'm not even talking about strong pressure, just touching them in general is unbareable.
*I'm fatigued...constantly. Just getting out of bed wears me out
*Any activity anymore makes my entire body shake. I wash my hair and my legs and arms shake to the point where I can't walk, brushing my hair makes my arms shake, if I try to get dressed at a "normal" pace, I lose my balance and have to catch myself.
*My eyes have always been bad, it's genetic for girls in my family to need glasses by the age of about ten, but I have noticed that I have to concentrate to focus my eyes, even with my glasses on, and it's almost common to see things in my peripheral vision that just aren't there. I usually think I have someone standing in my doorway that isn't there. I'm not hearing voices or anything, just random sightings.
*I get pain around my ribcage. I know it's my ribs, not my heart, I've had that checked and it came out fine. It's like a tightness, sometimes it's tighter than others, but it doesn't hurt more when I breathe, it just hurts. These come on at random as well, sometimes they're like my full ribcage, sometimes it's just in a certain spot around my left side, and sometimes it's in my back.

Ugh...sorry this is so long, but I think that's it. I tend to forget things easily...something I'm still getting used to, my mind used to be a steel trap but now it's like a mesh net...

If anyone has any ideas on if I'm in the right place, please let me know! I have not seen a neurologist, and all doctor visits are becoming useless.
CaliReader
Family Elder
Posts: 194
Joined: Fri Nov 02, 2012 3:30 pm

Re: Not sure what I have going on...Advice please?

Post by CaliReader »

Hi.

I would ask for a neurology referral. You could be in the right place, but you won't know for sure without a doctor. And even then, MS can be tough to diagnose. You'll need MRI's, blood tests, possibly a spinal tap. Your symptoms, and especially the combination of all of them together, could be MS. You should not have trouble getting a neurologist to pay attention and order the needed tests. If you do have trouble, be assertive.

Welcome. Good luck. You might try searching in the archives of this board to get a sense of what people have tried for symptoms. One search term you might try is MS hug or banding.
cryssiecakes
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Posts: 2
Joined: Thu Oct 24, 2013 4:29 pm

Re: Not sure what I have going on...Advice please?

Post by cryssiecakes »

Hey, thanks so much for the reply! I'm hoping the next doctor they want me to see is a Neurologist. If not, I'll probably see if I can figure out a way to get to my own doctor and see what he thinks about taking that route and if he can get me there faster.

I think I've read about the hug before, and it does sound like what happens to me, but I can't just come out and say that because I still have no idea if I even have MS :) I know it comes on randomly, and sometimes it can be worse than others. The first time I noticed it, back in July, it was on my left side and only lasted about ten minutes or so, then it was in my back the next day and lasted longer, then it was gone for a few days, then it came back and was like all around my ribs, just super tight, and nothing could get rid of it, it just ended up going away on its own, but it seemed to take forever to go away. Since then I haven't noticed it too much, it has just come on like once or twice a month and I've realized I can just keep calm and ride them out, if I can find something else to focus on, it's easier to just ignore it until it passes over.
CaliReader
Family Elder
Posts: 194
Joined: Fri Nov 02, 2012 3:30 pm

Re: Not sure what I have going on...Advice please?

Post by CaliReader »

No problem. I'd be interested to hear how it goes.
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