Fresh Meat !
Posted: Mon Jun 04, 2007 6:35 am
Hi all,
My name's Nick. I'm 27. I like long walks on the beach, i'm not much of a talker but I'm a good .... Oh wait, wrong forum !
Anywho, I'l post my story. So, having 2 kids and a wife, andf being 6'4" and 300 lbs, and a chain smoker , I figured it was time for a change. Started going to the gym. All was well for 3 months, then one day ( Sept '06 ) I got a blinding headache and pain in my right arm. So, I'm thinking heart attack or stroke, Head to ER, and i'm just fine. Doctor put me on an EKG, all is kosher and ok. Have a stress test ( of course I have stress with 2 kids ! )but that's good too.
Tell the doc I have some trouble using my hands at times, feels like they are puffy, my legs and hands get pins and needles, but it's weird, it travels from one hand or leg to another.
Doc sends me to a neuro. Get a c-cpine and all is good. Says it's not a big deal, gives me nortriptoline and says see ya in 2 months. 2 weeks into the nortryp I start to see pink elephants and feel like a zombie at work. He takes me off it. But I still have the weird sensations. Doc says " maybe MS " .. And that's it. I start to read all about MS and surf the web like a fiend. Getting nervous. Getting Scared.
So I go and get an eye exam, low and behold, I need glasses... GREAT ! Next neuro does the EEG ? ( where you are a pin cushion with a car battery attached ) and both the upper and lower tests are great.
Head MRI next, that's clean too. But I still get these pains. And it's weird. Some days I feel ok ( like just a little tried, no biggie ). Other days my hands or feet hurt ( i like to call it the burning hand, as it feels inflamed and puffy ) and weak muscles. Other days it's the foot. And I always love when I seem to misjudge the ground and my back foot slips up. Or I whack my blackberry into the door jam.
So, I've made an appt with an MS specialist in the NJ area for mid next month.
All this so far means no MS, right? Well, we all know better. I know it's not my mind playing tricks on me, and my neuro is a good guy, but he thinks it's all stress related. So we'll see.
But I have to tell you, i've been reading this site for a while, and have learned 2 things. Not to be scared of MS. While it's bad, I'll always be able to find the silver lining, and alot of the messages on here showed me that. I can, and no matter what , lead a happy, full , and productive life, even if the body doesn't agree.
And that for the past 10 yrs I've given away too much of my time to work than my family. While both my wife and kids kill me on a daily basis, I sould appreciate them more, and we should do that road trip to Mt. Rushmore I always wanted.
Sorry for the long rant, but to be honest, family hasn't been all that willing to listen to me blabber about maybe MS ( for good reason, I understand ) but this is the first time I've been able to " speak " it out loud.....
My name's Nick. I'm 27. I like long walks on the beach, i'm not much of a talker but I'm a good .... Oh wait, wrong forum !
Anywho, I'l post my story. So, having 2 kids and a wife, andf being 6'4" and 300 lbs, and a chain smoker , I figured it was time for a change. Started going to the gym. All was well for 3 months, then one day ( Sept '06 ) I got a blinding headache and pain in my right arm. So, I'm thinking heart attack or stroke, Head to ER, and i'm just fine. Doctor put me on an EKG, all is kosher and ok. Have a stress test ( of course I have stress with 2 kids ! )but that's good too.
Tell the doc I have some trouble using my hands at times, feels like they are puffy, my legs and hands get pins and needles, but it's weird, it travels from one hand or leg to another.
Doc sends me to a neuro. Get a c-cpine and all is good. Says it's not a big deal, gives me nortriptoline and says see ya in 2 months. 2 weeks into the nortryp I start to see pink elephants and feel like a zombie at work. He takes me off it. But I still have the weird sensations. Doc says " maybe MS " .. And that's it. I start to read all about MS and surf the web like a fiend. Getting nervous. Getting Scared.
So I go and get an eye exam, low and behold, I need glasses... GREAT ! Next neuro does the EEG ? ( where you are a pin cushion with a car battery attached ) and both the upper and lower tests are great.
Head MRI next, that's clean too. But I still get these pains. And it's weird. Some days I feel ok ( like just a little tried, no biggie ). Other days my hands or feet hurt ( i like to call it the burning hand, as it feels inflamed and puffy ) and weak muscles. Other days it's the foot. And I always love when I seem to misjudge the ground and my back foot slips up. Or I whack my blackberry into the door jam.
So, I've made an appt with an MS specialist in the NJ area for mid next month.
All this so far means no MS, right? Well, we all know better. I know it's not my mind playing tricks on me, and my neuro is a good guy, but he thinks it's all stress related. So we'll see.
But I have to tell you, i've been reading this site for a while, and have learned 2 things. Not to be scared of MS. While it's bad, I'll always be able to find the silver lining, and alot of the messages on here showed me that. I can, and no matter what , lead a happy, full , and productive life, even if the body doesn't agree.
And that for the past 10 yrs I've given away too much of my time to work than my family. While both my wife and kids kill me on a daily basis, I sould appreciate them more, and we should do that road trip to Mt. Rushmore I always wanted.
Sorry for the long rant, but to be honest, family hasn't been all that willing to listen to me blabber about maybe MS ( for good reason, I understand ) but this is the first time I've been able to " speak " it out loud.....