Am I Crazy? Or Possible MS? Seeing Dr This Week. Opinions...
Posted: Mon Dec 01, 2014 7:43 pm
Hi everyone. I have been researching MS for about a week now. I have had some symptoms that seems to go along with MS. I have an appt with my GP this Friday in hopes of getting a neuro ref. I don't really know how to start explaining what's been going on but I'll do my best. For starters I'm a 33 year old woman. I have had 4 pregnancies since 2007. all preterm, 1st with several defects and she passed from a heart defect while in the NICU at 4 months old. My 2nd was stillborn 8 months into my pregnancy. I now have two very healthy kids ages 2 and 4.
My symptoms started back I believe when I was 18. Although at the time I didn't think anything of it. It wasn't until I started looking into MS that I recalled this incident. When I was 18 I got deathly sick from a kidney infection. OK, deathly was taking it a bit far... I went to the ER and got an IV antibiotic and sent home on some as well. I had a follow up appt with a urologist who did a CAT scan of my kidneys. Everything was fine as far as that was concerned. (My kidneys are misplaced (both in my abdomen, one directly on my bladder and one below my spleen) but I have know that since I was a little girl. I was born with that defect) They also preformed a test where they inserted a catheter into my bladder and some kind of sensor into my rectum. They filled my bladder full of fluid and then monitored my bladder on some kind of computer device where the sensor in my rectum was sending signals. It was found that I have a spastic bladder and unable to completely drain all the urine from my bladder. It was causing urine to sit in my bladder and give me kidney infections. To "fix" this problem they inserted 4...yes FOUR adult sized catheters into my bladder at ONE time! VERY VERY painful!!! Never want to go through that again. It seems to have worked all these years. I haven't had an infection since.
OK so I have read that a spastic bladder can be a symptom of MS. That's my earliest memory of anything MS related.
Fast forward several years. Or not, maybe rewind, IDK. I have had deep leg pain all of my life. I remember as a little girl it was always growing pains. But as I got older it never really went away. Well, it did for many years (15-24) but right as I became pregnant for the 1st time these "growing pains" came back. It was horrible. I could hardly bare to stand. I was like that for the duration of my pregnancy. After I delivered I don't recall having the pain anymore, at least for a while. Then it returned here and there every few months between pregnancies. Some times it effected one leg, sometimes both. It was hit or miss. Just until here recently I always assumed poor circulation because I have varicose veins in my legs and I have always thought that was the reason for my pain. The pain feels like a tooth ache but much worse. No OTC pain meds help and no anti-inflammatory meds helps either. I have naproxen prescribed for cramps during my monthly period and have tried using it for my leg pain when it comes on but it's never been helpful. The pain I'm describing would come on all of a sudden and last for a minimum of 4 days and as long as 2 weeks. Also the pain I feel in my legs I also feel in my arms too. Never in both arms at the same time, always only one arm at a time. And once the pain is gone it will stay gone for about 2-3 months before returning. Another thing is the feeling on constant shin splints with little to no activity. It eventually radiates down to my ankle and up to my hip.
Back/neck pain:
Many years ago when I was 16 I was in a minor car accident when I jarred my neck a bit. I went to some PT and it seemed to be ok. A couple years later I started having some pain in that area again. I went to a ciro and got some relief. Fast forward to a couple summers ago I started getting this pins and needles feeling in my back. It is usually on one side over my right shoulder blade. It is a place the side of about a little larger than my hand. When I started getting this feeling I also was getting a "catch" like feeling in my neck. The "catch" pain and pins and needle pain lasted for about 2-3 weeks and then disappeared. I was very concerned about what was going on so I went to see an orthopedic for back/spine. The Dr basically brushed me off and tried to tell me it was from keeping my head in a downward position from "smartphone use". That was after I told her I wasn't using my phone like that and spent a very minimal amount of time on my phone. The pain was gone as were the pins and needle feeling. It was gone for almost a year and then it came back about 4 weeks ago. This time I have the same neck pain but now the pins and needles is from shoulder to shoulder and going about 1/4 of the way down my back. I now also have MID back pain just like the pain at the neck although I've never had an injury to that part of my since. It hurts to lay in the bed and I have the most of my pain early mornings. Oh and the pins and needle/tingling feeling is almost like a buzzing feeling. The pain has lasted for over 24 hours without giving up and it has also been off and on happening several times an hour every hour all day lasting about 10 or so mins at a time.
Speaking of pins and needles, when I was pregnant with my last 2 babies I kept a pins and needles feeling in my ribs. Usually one side and occasionally both. I brought it up often to my OB and was always told it was my uterus pushing on my ribs causing this sensation. But, now I'm no longer pregnant and it's still happening from time to time. And when it happens it feels like I have a hard knot right beneath my rib and can't bend over. Also I get pins and needles feelings in my arms more recently and even more recent is a slight numb feeling in my arms and hands.
Sometimes out of no where while walking my lee or hip will buckle on me and make me dip down. Thankfully I have never fallen because of it and not sure why it happens.
More recently I have been having "milky" vision that last for a few days and then clears up. Also recently I've been having what I can only describe as "3D" vision. I'll be reading text and it seems as if the words float off of the background and the background sinks further away. I have to really try to re focus my eyes. I also get a pain bend my eye that shoots down into what seems to be my back teeth and sometimes throat.
Fatigue. Usually I just think why am I so lazy? I really have the desire to get up and do things but most days I just feel like I just don't have the energy to even fix a pot of coffee.
Memory issues: My biggest concern here is I will forget what I'm talking about MID sentence. It makes me feel completely stupid! I will forget why I walked into a room when I only started into the room less than 5 seconds ago.
I see flashing lights. I have been seeing these off and on for about 4-5 years now.
I get tight muscles in the arches of my feet. So tight that doing nothing but sitting will cause them to have cramps. I will have to stand in hope to get the cramp out. Sometimes standing isn't an option and I have to get my husband to stretch my foot for me. These cramps in my feel have been know to wake me in the middle of the night.
I am always running into door frames and corners.
If I am over active I get very tight and painful muscles. By over active I mean out all day shopping, on my feet all day working on projects, etc. I don't workout so I didn't want to make you think that's what I meant. I feel very stiff. It hurst to change positions at this time and the stiffness is mostly from the hips down (hips, knees, ankles) but on occasion is in my elbow or shoulder at night and early morning.
At times I "see things" mostly just black shadows out of the corners of my eyes. Usually I think it's a spider or bug of some sort. I usually know it's not there when that is happening. This has been going on for many years.
Also I seem to have lots of pain in my thighs. The pains is from a simple touch. My kids can tap me on the legs to get my attention or my husband can give me a "love tap" on the thighs and it hurts like I have horrible bruising. Even washing my thighs in the showers hurts like they are bruised. Again, this isn't always, just from time to time. And it like everything else is here for a while then gone for a while.
My eyes are VERY sensitive to sunlight. The sun light actually causes them pain.
I have had ringing in my ears almost constantly for the last couple years. It's more just annoying than anything. I mentioned that to my GP last year and she was clueless so she brushed me off.
The last thing that happened was about 3 maybe 4 months ago. I had what felt like a heart attack. It scared me to death. My chest was tight, I had some pain in my chest, and I could barely breath. It felt like I was being crushed by an elephant. So I had to take small shallow breaths. The pain went down my arm as well. This lasted for about 20-30 minutes. At the time all I could think about was I was having a heart attack. The I thought I was too young for that. So I thought maybe an anxiety attack. I've never had anxiety or been anxious but it was the only other thing I could think of that could produce symptoms like this. That is until the other day when I read about the MS hug. And it sounds exactly like what happened to me. Although it's not happened since.
So sorry for writing a book and thank you if you've made it this far down. Like I said I have an appointment this Friday with a new GP in hope to get over to see a neuro. In the meantime I'm grasping for straws here. I'd love to hear your thoughts here. Does any of this even sound like MS to you or could all of this be totally unrelated. I feel like I have so much going on and most of the time I feel like I'd sound crazy to say all of this to a doctor who would likely end up listing me as a hypochondriac. Thanks for listening. <3
My symptoms started back I believe when I was 18. Although at the time I didn't think anything of it. It wasn't until I started looking into MS that I recalled this incident. When I was 18 I got deathly sick from a kidney infection. OK, deathly was taking it a bit far... I went to the ER and got an IV antibiotic and sent home on some as well. I had a follow up appt with a urologist who did a CAT scan of my kidneys. Everything was fine as far as that was concerned. (My kidneys are misplaced (both in my abdomen, one directly on my bladder and one below my spleen) but I have know that since I was a little girl. I was born with that defect) They also preformed a test where they inserted a catheter into my bladder and some kind of sensor into my rectum. They filled my bladder full of fluid and then monitored my bladder on some kind of computer device where the sensor in my rectum was sending signals. It was found that I have a spastic bladder and unable to completely drain all the urine from my bladder. It was causing urine to sit in my bladder and give me kidney infections. To "fix" this problem they inserted 4...yes FOUR adult sized catheters into my bladder at ONE time! VERY VERY painful!!! Never want to go through that again. It seems to have worked all these years. I haven't had an infection since.
OK so I have read that a spastic bladder can be a symptom of MS. That's my earliest memory of anything MS related.
Fast forward several years. Or not, maybe rewind, IDK. I have had deep leg pain all of my life. I remember as a little girl it was always growing pains. But as I got older it never really went away. Well, it did for many years (15-24) but right as I became pregnant for the 1st time these "growing pains" came back. It was horrible. I could hardly bare to stand. I was like that for the duration of my pregnancy. After I delivered I don't recall having the pain anymore, at least for a while. Then it returned here and there every few months between pregnancies. Some times it effected one leg, sometimes both. It was hit or miss. Just until here recently I always assumed poor circulation because I have varicose veins in my legs and I have always thought that was the reason for my pain. The pain feels like a tooth ache but much worse. No OTC pain meds help and no anti-inflammatory meds helps either. I have naproxen prescribed for cramps during my monthly period and have tried using it for my leg pain when it comes on but it's never been helpful. The pain I'm describing would come on all of a sudden and last for a minimum of 4 days and as long as 2 weeks. Also the pain I feel in my legs I also feel in my arms too. Never in both arms at the same time, always only one arm at a time. And once the pain is gone it will stay gone for about 2-3 months before returning. Another thing is the feeling on constant shin splints with little to no activity. It eventually radiates down to my ankle and up to my hip.
Back/neck pain:
Many years ago when I was 16 I was in a minor car accident when I jarred my neck a bit. I went to some PT and it seemed to be ok. A couple years later I started having some pain in that area again. I went to a ciro and got some relief. Fast forward to a couple summers ago I started getting this pins and needles feeling in my back. It is usually on one side over my right shoulder blade. It is a place the side of about a little larger than my hand. When I started getting this feeling I also was getting a "catch" like feeling in my neck. The "catch" pain and pins and needle pain lasted for about 2-3 weeks and then disappeared. I was very concerned about what was going on so I went to see an orthopedic for back/spine. The Dr basically brushed me off and tried to tell me it was from keeping my head in a downward position from "smartphone use". That was after I told her I wasn't using my phone like that and spent a very minimal amount of time on my phone. The pain was gone as were the pins and needle feeling. It was gone for almost a year and then it came back about 4 weeks ago. This time I have the same neck pain but now the pins and needles is from shoulder to shoulder and going about 1/4 of the way down my back. I now also have MID back pain just like the pain at the neck although I've never had an injury to that part of my since. It hurts to lay in the bed and I have the most of my pain early mornings. Oh and the pins and needle/tingling feeling is almost like a buzzing feeling. The pain has lasted for over 24 hours without giving up and it has also been off and on happening several times an hour every hour all day lasting about 10 or so mins at a time.
Speaking of pins and needles, when I was pregnant with my last 2 babies I kept a pins and needles feeling in my ribs. Usually one side and occasionally both. I brought it up often to my OB and was always told it was my uterus pushing on my ribs causing this sensation. But, now I'm no longer pregnant and it's still happening from time to time. And when it happens it feels like I have a hard knot right beneath my rib and can't bend over. Also I get pins and needles feelings in my arms more recently and even more recent is a slight numb feeling in my arms and hands.
Sometimes out of no where while walking my lee or hip will buckle on me and make me dip down. Thankfully I have never fallen because of it and not sure why it happens.
More recently I have been having "milky" vision that last for a few days and then clears up. Also recently I've been having what I can only describe as "3D" vision. I'll be reading text and it seems as if the words float off of the background and the background sinks further away. I have to really try to re focus my eyes. I also get a pain bend my eye that shoots down into what seems to be my back teeth and sometimes throat.
Fatigue. Usually I just think why am I so lazy? I really have the desire to get up and do things but most days I just feel like I just don't have the energy to even fix a pot of coffee.
Memory issues: My biggest concern here is I will forget what I'm talking about MID sentence. It makes me feel completely stupid! I will forget why I walked into a room when I only started into the room less than 5 seconds ago.
I see flashing lights. I have been seeing these off and on for about 4-5 years now.
I get tight muscles in the arches of my feet. So tight that doing nothing but sitting will cause them to have cramps. I will have to stand in hope to get the cramp out. Sometimes standing isn't an option and I have to get my husband to stretch my foot for me. These cramps in my feel have been know to wake me in the middle of the night.
I am always running into door frames and corners.
If I am over active I get very tight and painful muscles. By over active I mean out all day shopping, on my feet all day working on projects, etc. I don't workout so I didn't want to make you think that's what I meant. I feel very stiff. It hurst to change positions at this time and the stiffness is mostly from the hips down (hips, knees, ankles) but on occasion is in my elbow or shoulder at night and early morning.
At times I "see things" mostly just black shadows out of the corners of my eyes. Usually I think it's a spider or bug of some sort. I usually know it's not there when that is happening. This has been going on for many years.
Also I seem to have lots of pain in my thighs. The pains is from a simple touch. My kids can tap me on the legs to get my attention or my husband can give me a "love tap" on the thighs and it hurts like I have horrible bruising. Even washing my thighs in the showers hurts like they are bruised. Again, this isn't always, just from time to time. And it like everything else is here for a while then gone for a while.
My eyes are VERY sensitive to sunlight. The sun light actually causes them pain.
I have had ringing in my ears almost constantly for the last couple years. It's more just annoying than anything. I mentioned that to my GP last year and she was clueless so she brushed me off.
The last thing that happened was about 3 maybe 4 months ago. I had what felt like a heart attack. It scared me to death. My chest was tight, I had some pain in my chest, and I could barely breath. It felt like I was being crushed by an elephant. So I had to take small shallow breaths. The pain went down my arm as well. This lasted for about 20-30 minutes. At the time all I could think about was I was having a heart attack. The I thought I was too young for that. So I thought maybe an anxiety attack. I've never had anxiety or been anxious but it was the only other thing I could think of that could produce symptoms like this. That is until the other day when I read about the MS hug. And it sounds exactly like what happened to me. Although it's not happened since.
So sorry for writing a book and thank you if you've made it this far down. Like I said I have an appointment this Friday with a new GP in hope to get over to see a neuro. In the meantime I'm grasping for straws here. I'd love to hear your thoughts here. Does any of this even sound like MS to you or could all of this be totally unrelated. I feel like I have so much going on and most of the time I feel like I'd sound crazy to say all of this to a doctor who would likely end up listing me as a hypochondriac. Thanks for listening. <3
