New guy with MS here
Posted: Wed Jun 01, 2011 7:53 am
Hi All - my name is Eric, I am a 28 year old male in Chicago who was diagnosed yesterday with MS. I googled up this forum and all of the information is really great.
Here is my real quick backstory - When I was about 19 or 20, half of my body (the right half) went numb for about a month. It didn't affect my ability to do anything and it went away. 3 years ago, one of my eyes was blurry for about a month. Got an MRI but no red flags and it went away. My neurologist yesterday said he caught a lesion in the eye MRI. DOH! Most recently for the last 4 months, my legs have been very tingly with decreased muscle coordination in my legs. This has affected my ability to walk more than a few blocks and that sort of stuff so I went and saw my DR - after a bunch of scans, I don't have tons of lesions, but I do seem to have a few everywhere - brain, spine and so on. So, this being my third clinical whatever, I guess I am diagnosed.
After reading some of the postings here I feel pretty lucky - this current attack while long lasting (4 mo's so far) has only reduced my ability to walk long distances. I can still drive, do my job, handle family duties and all that! Maybe next time it will be worse, but if this is the worst my MS ever gets than I will count myself blessed. Other symptoms I have beyond numb / pins and needles in the legs are having to go to the bathroom a lot, despite, not actually going very much each time (hah) and what my dr. called the MS Hug - a tightness in my torso and what feels like a belt tightened around my left thigh.
Anyhow, I have been prescribed a ton of steroids to try and stop this current attack and we are going to go ahead and pursue Gilenya as my MS medication which I am pretty excited about. Well I am slightly worried about changing jobs or getting fired - I am not sure how the cost of that drug and the insurance issues play out. At any rate, I will make sure to post about my Gilenya results as I start taking it since people here seem to be very interested about that topic.
Anyhow, this is my introduction! Hi everyone.
Here is my real quick backstory - When I was about 19 or 20, half of my body (the right half) went numb for about a month. It didn't affect my ability to do anything and it went away. 3 years ago, one of my eyes was blurry for about a month. Got an MRI but no red flags and it went away. My neurologist yesterday said he caught a lesion in the eye MRI. DOH! Most recently for the last 4 months, my legs have been very tingly with decreased muscle coordination in my legs. This has affected my ability to walk more than a few blocks and that sort of stuff so I went and saw my DR - after a bunch of scans, I don't have tons of lesions, but I do seem to have a few everywhere - brain, spine and so on. So, this being my third clinical whatever, I guess I am diagnosed.
After reading some of the postings here I feel pretty lucky - this current attack while long lasting (4 mo's so far) has only reduced my ability to walk long distances. I can still drive, do my job, handle family duties and all that! Maybe next time it will be worse, but if this is the worst my MS ever gets than I will count myself blessed. Other symptoms I have beyond numb / pins and needles in the legs are having to go to the bathroom a lot, despite, not actually going very much each time (hah) and what my dr. called the MS Hug - a tightness in my torso and what feels like a belt tightened around my left thigh.
Anyhow, I have been prescribed a ton of steroids to try and stop this current attack and we are going to go ahead and pursue Gilenya as my MS medication which I am pretty excited about. Well I am slightly worried about changing jobs or getting fired - I am not sure how the cost of that drug and the insurance issues play out. At any rate, I will make sure to post about my Gilenya results as I start taking it since people here seem to be very interested about that topic.
Anyhow, this is my introduction! Hi everyone.
