This Is MS Multiple Sclerosis Knowledge & Support Community

I am 27 years old. I am a psychiatric nurse in Houston, TX.

I started having issues with balance in April of 2011. I had broken a toe earlier that year and thought my gait was impaired because of that injury, or maybe I had an ear infection, or maybe it is all in my head. I had moved half way across the country to be with my boyfriend and I thought my balance issues would just go away. MS was always in the back of head, I am a registered nurse and I understood the signs and symptoms I was having.

I started seeing a neurologist in January of this year. I went through numerous tests and a few doctors. I fell at work after losing my balance, spraining my ankle, putting me on light duty and keeping me on crutches. I finally got an MRI of my brain in April, my doctor kept telling me that she didn’t think my balance was caused by MS even though I would cry my eyes out in her office believing it was. The MRI showed “extensive white matter signal alterations, with distribution and configurations typical of multiple sclerosis.”

I have not been officially diagnosed; there will be an MRI of my spine and a lumbar puncture soon.

Part of me is relieved by finally having an (almost) diagnosis, but I am so afraid and I can not stop crying.

Maeghan

maeghanrose wrote:I am 27 years old. I am a psychiatric nurse in Houston, TX.

I started having issues with balance in April of 2011. I had broken a toe earlier that year and thought my gait was impaired because of that injury, or maybe I had an ear infection, or maybe it is all in my head. I had moved half way across the country to be with my boyfriend and I thought my balance issues would just go away. MS was always in the back of head, I am a registered nurse and I understood the signs and symptoms I was having.

I started seeing a neurologist in January of this year. I went through numerous tests and a few doctors. I fell at work after losing my balance, spraining my ankle, putting me on light duty and keeping me on crutches. I finally got an MRI of my brain in April, my doctor kept telling me that she didn’t think my balance was caused by MS even though I would cry my eyes out in her office believing it was. The MRI showed “extensive white matter signal alterations, with distribution and configurations typical of multiple sclerosis.”

I have not been officially diagnosed; there will be an MRI of my spine and a lumbar puncture soon.

Part of me is relieved by finally having an (almost) diagnosis, but I am so afraid and I can not stop crying.

Maeghan

Welcome to ThisIsMS, Maeghan. You have found a group of new friends here who understand what you are going through. Crying is to be expected, as you know; this is a difficult time. If we can help in a particular way, let us know.

Did you have actual lesions present or more of a white, foggy appearance of demyalinization? Just curious.

Sorry about what is going on. In the meantime, consider getting on a good MS diet. That could help out.