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Hi. I'm new so please bare with me. I'm a 37 y/o single female with no children. I was diagnosed with RRMS 17 years ago at age 20. Fell at home one day and started having spasms down right side of my body and was terrified. Went through multiple neurologists telling me they didn't know what it could be when one finally suspected and diagnosed MS after spinal tap and the MRIs.
I went from optic neuritis that comes and goes, bladder and bowel incontinence over the years to stabbing pain and spasms that are keeping me up at night in tears. The leg pain started in fall of last year and has gotten worse. I notice the pain when I'm sitting or laying but yesterday I was afraid I was going to collapse with pain standing to get my license renewed.
Baclofen is okay for spasms(less spasms than usual anyway) but the pain is ALL DAY. I don't know what to do and needless to say my spirit feels broken. I work an office job sitting down thank goodness but it's a struggle. I don't go out at all anymore and I just need someone to talk to because those around me don't understand. I'm blessed with a closeknit family and few friends, but they can't understand it.
likisha wrote:Hi. I'm new so please bare with me. I'm a 37 y/o single female with no children. I was diagnosed with RRMS 17 years ago at age 20. Fell at home one day and started having spasms down right side of my body and was terrified. Went through multiple neurologists telling me they didn't know what it could be when one finally suspected and diagnosed MS after spinal tap and the MRIs.
I went from optic neuritis that comes and goes, bladder and bowel incontinence over the years to stabbing pain and spasms that are keeping me up at night in tears. The leg pain started in fall of last year and has gotten worse. I notice the pain when I'm sitting or laying but yesterday I was afraid I was going to collapse with pain standing to get my license renewed.
Baclofen is okay for spasms(less spasms than usual anyway) but the pain is ALL DAY. I don't know what to do and needless to say my spirit feels broken. I work an office job sitting down thank goodness but it's a struggle. I don't go out at all anymore and I just need someone to talk to because those around me don't understand. I'm blessed with a closeknit family and few friends, but they can't understand it.
Thanks for any and all advice
Welcome to ThisIsMS, likisha. We are glad you found us; we are here to listen, to share our experiences, and to offer our advice (as you have asked for).
You were diagnosed 17 years ago; I wonder if any of your doctors investigated a possible vitamin B12 deficiency. A B12 deficiency can develop at any time in a person's life. Its symptoms mimic MS. It is possible that you were misdiagnosed 17 years ago. OR it is possible that in addition to MS you have developed a B12 deficiency now too.
After you watch the following video, "Everything You Want Your Doctor to Know about Vitamin B12," I encourage you to see your GP and discuss the possibility of having vitamin B12 testing done. The initial testing is a blood draw for #1 a serum B12 test, #2 a serum folic acid test, and #3 a serum homocysteine test; a fourth test is for methylmalonic acid (this can also be a blood test, but I understand the urine test is more accurate). If you are found to have a B12 deficiency, it is easily and inexpensively treated.
I highly recommend this 50-minute documentary featuring Sally Pacholok, RN, BSN & her husband Jeffrey Stuart, D.O. (authors of the book, Could It Be B12? An Epidemic of Misdiagnoses); Lawrence Solomon, M.D., hematologist with Yale Medical School; Ralph Green, M.D., hematologist at UC Davis; and Donald Jacobsen, PhD, at the Cleveland Clinic (Homocysteine Research Lab).
I would bother my neuro, and failing that my primary doc. Pain sucks and imho needs to be treated. Pain control is often not perfect, but in my experience so much better than nothing.
I am Ammi, I am MS patient for past 20 years and i was diagnosed when i was 19. I am suffering with RRMS. I have been using Avonex for almost for four years. But one thing i would like to mention that It's not avonex that helped me more instead my healthy life style. I have been very disciplined through out these years. I do exercise regularly no matter how small it is, I eat healthy, i read alot about new things on MS over the internet, i keep my self motivated. I regularly visit my doctor.
The best way to manage and cope with MS and its relapses is to stay positive and pro active in my experience. It certainly has kept me going all these years.
I would like to read this article from web, titling living with MS by saying i can.
My belief is MS is the results of toxins we have in our body. The best way to rid the body of toxins is through nutrition. Many have found dietary change have help their MS. Dr. Bergman explains autoimmune disease very well in his video. Hope you can find a way to improve your health.
