I'm frustrated and not crazy like all of the Dr's are saying
Posted: Sun Jan 24, 2010 9:43 am
So I haven't been diagnosed with MS, but they have started ruling other things out... vitamin deficiency, brain tumor, etc.
Basically, I have been told by my GP, neuro, and most of my friends and family that I am stressed and that it's all in my head. My husband is really supportive, but I can tell that even he is frustrated sometimes because I can be totally fine one day and then thrown for a loop the next.
My symptoms first started July 2009. I was extremely fatigued, and began having severe muscle spasms in my mid-upper back (I didn't sleep for about a full 48 hours because the pain was so intense and I was so uncomfortable in any and all positions). I am an RN, so I figured that I had just tweaked my back at work sliding someone up in bed or something. The pain/spasms finally eased off, I fell asleep and then woke up the next day totally normal. Then towards the end of July, I started having numbness/pain and tingling in my left foot. I was on a night shift and I figured that I just had tied my shoe to tight or something like that. The next day I was walking around the mall and both of my hands and feet went completely numb and stayed that way for about 3-4 hours and then just went back to normal. That kept happening through most of August. Also, throughout this whole thing, I was having terrible headaches with no relief from OTC remedies, sleep, nothing.
I went to my GP for the first time with this whole thing in mid August (she's really busy and there's about a two week waiting time to get in.. that, and she is always on vacation it seems like...). Anyways, she told me it was just stress and that I shouldn't be concerned. Of course I was still concerned, so she sent me for a CT scan and for bloodwork to see if there was anything to rule out. Nothing came up on the CT scan or any of the bloodwork, so she was happy with the diagnosis of stress, but since I was still worried, she said she would set up an appointment with a neuro in Regina (the nearest big city where I live). And then I was fine for about a month, with no symptoms, no anything, so I was like... did that all really happen? Am I just going crazy?
And then again towards the end of Sept, the exact same things started happening again. At the end of this set of symptoms (which lasted about two weeks this time, only) I went to bed one night with mild spasming in my back and woke up with CRUSHING back/chest pain. It was like someone put a belt around my diaphragm and cinched it TIGHT. And that lasted about two days. Also, at this time I had trouble walking... I was stumbling and tripping over my feet, but I couldn't tell if that was because of my back/chest pain or not. Anyways, I made another appointment with my Dr again, but I couldn't get in for a week and by the time I was in there, I was completely back to normal again with no symptoms. So she made be give a urine sample (to rule out a UTI, or kidney infection I imagine, because of the band of pain all the way around, she was thinking flank pain...) Anyways, obviously nothing came from that and everything came back fine, and so once again, she was like, you're stressed. You probablly had an anxiety attack.
Then I had my neuro appointment in Dec. (for which the neuro was in the room for about 10 minutes, most of the assessment was done by a student). The very first thing he asked was how my stress levels were. No questions about symptoms, nothing. Anyways, I asked him about an MRI at the end of the appointment, because he hadn't even brought it up yet, and he said he didn't think I needed one, because I didn't have anything neurologically wrong with me. I said that I would like to have one just for piece of mind, and he said fine, but that I was going to be the lowest priority on the list. And that was pretty much the end of the appointment. So not a good one for me.
It's been almost two months since my neuro appointment and I haven't heard anything, and I just started having symptoms again after not having anything for almost 4 months.
I'm just frustrated because it seems like no one is taking me seriously. I'm pretty young (21), and I think part of my problem is that I have had a history of anxiety and depression. But I have been on meds since my last anxiety attack (in Jan '09) and have felt great since then (except for this whole thing now). At the time of my last anxiety attack (in Jan 09) I was finishing off my degree, had been married for less than six months, was buying a house, looking for a job, and was not talking to my best friend. All of those things were totally situational and are totally looked after! I'm settled into my house, my husband is great, I'm totally done school, I have a great job and that friend and I worked out our issues! I am the least stressed that I have been in the past four years, so it drives me crazy that everyone has been telling me that "I'm just stressed". Them telling me that makes me stressed. Anyways. So I have no diagnosis, no answers, no idea when I'll get my MRI and still having symptoms. Right now, at this very second, I'm also just really frustrated because I am having the back/chest pain again and I don't even feel like going to the Dr's because she'll just write me off again. Anyways. This is like a novel, but oh man, it feels good to just send my story out there into the universe.
Basically, I have been told by my GP, neuro, and most of my friends and family that I am stressed and that it's all in my head. My husband is really supportive, but I can tell that even he is frustrated sometimes because I can be totally fine one day and then thrown for a loop the next.
My symptoms first started July 2009. I was extremely fatigued, and began having severe muscle spasms in my mid-upper back (I didn't sleep for about a full 48 hours because the pain was so intense and I was so uncomfortable in any and all positions). I am an RN, so I figured that I had just tweaked my back at work sliding someone up in bed or something. The pain/spasms finally eased off, I fell asleep and then woke up the next day totally normal. Then towards the end of July, I started having numbness/pain and tingling in my left foot. I was on a night shift and I figured that I just had tied my shoe to tight or something like that. The next day I was walking around the mall and both of my hands and feet went completely numb and stayed that way for about 3-4 hours and then just went back to normal. That kept happening through most of August. Also, throughout this whole thing, I was having terrible headaches with no relief from OTC remedies, sleep, nothing.
I went to my GP for the first time with this whole thing in mid August (she's really busy and there's about a two week waiting time to get in.. that, and she is always on vacation it seems like...). Anyways, she told me it was just stress and that I shouldn't be concerned. Of course I was still concerned, so she sent me for a CT scan and for bloodwork to see if there was anything to rule out. Nothing came up on the CT scan or any of the bloodwork, so she was happy with the diagnosis of stress, but since I was still worried, she said she would set up an appointment with a neuro in Regina (the nearest big city where I live). And then I was fine for about a month, with no symptoms, no anything, so I was like... did that all really happen? Am I just going crazy?
And then again towards the end of Sept, the exact same things started happening again. At the end of this set of symptoms (which lasted about two weeks this time, only) I went to bed one night with mild spasming in my back and woke up with CRUSHING back/chest pain. It was like someone put a belt around my diaphragm and cinched it TIGHT. And that lasted about two days. Also, at this time I had trouble walking... I was stumbling and tripping over my feet, but I couldn't tell if that was because of my back/chest pain or not. Anyways, I made another appointment with my Dr again, but I couldn't get in for a week and by the time I was in there, I was completely back to normal again with no symptoms. So she made be give a urine sample (to rule out a UTI, or kidney infection I imagine, because of the band of pain all the way around, she was thinking flank pain...) Anyways, obviously nothing came from that and everything came back fine, and so once again, she was like, you're stressed. You probablly had an anxiety attack.
Then I had my neuro appointment in Dec. (for which the neuro was in the room for about 10 minutes, most of the assessment was done by a student). The very first thing he asked was how my stress levels were. No questions about symptoms, nothing. Anyways, I asked him about an MRI at the end of the appointment, because he hadn't even brought it up yet, and he said he didn't think I needed one, because I didn't have anything neurologically wrong with me. I said that I would like to have one just for piece of mind, and he said fine, but that I was going to be the lowest priority on the list. And that was pretty much the end of the appointment. So not a good one for me.
It's been almost two months since my neuro appointment and I haven't heard anything, and I just started having symptoms again after not having anything for almost 4 months.
I'm just frustrated because it seems like no one is taking me seriously. I'm pretty young (21), and I think part of my problem is that I have had a history of anxiety and depression. But I have been on meds since my last anxiety attack (in Jan '09) and have felt great since then (except for this whole thing now). At the time of my last anxiety attack (in Jan 09) I was finishing off my degree, had been married for less than six months, was buying a house, looking for a job, and was not talking to my best friend. All of those things were totally situational and are totally looked after! I'm settled into my house, my husband is great, I'm totally done school, I have a great job and that friend and I worked out our issues! I am the least stressed that I have been in the past four years, so it drives me crazy that everyone has been telling me that "I'm just stressed". Them telling me that makes me stressed. Anyways. So I have no diagnosis, no answers, no idea when I'll get my MRI and still having symptoms. Right now, at this very second, I'm also just really frustrated because I am having the back/chest pain again and I don't even feel like going to the Dr's because she'll just write me off again. Anyways. This is like a novel, but oh man, it feels good to just send my story out there into the universe.