disabled vet recently diagnosed
Posted: Sat Oct 17, 2015 1:54 pm
Hi everyone, my name is Bryan. i've finally decided to look around for a venue to talk about this a bit.
I am 35 years old, and left the army 2 years ago with a medical discharge and received a 90% rating from the VA after 16 years. i have disk disease and arthritis in my spine, foot knee and neck problems etc.... and sleep apnea. for years ive battled with chronic pain all over my body, fatigue, heat intolerance etc.... so as you can imagine ive spent some time wondering what was going to happen to me next.
In early May of this year, i woke up one morning with my right arm, hand, and torso numb and tingling, with pain in my arm and fingers that slowly progressed for a couple days so i went to the ER, where after 7 hours and lots of poking with a needle, i was told i slept on my arm wrong and was sent home. a few days later it was still getting worse, with burning pain and tingling running through my arm into my fingers. another ER trip got me a neurology referral. so by this time after a couple weeks the pain had gotten bad enough for me to have trouble lifting my arm above my shoulder. Loma Linda immediately did an mri and found lesions in my brain and C2. they ordered more mri's with/without dye and a week later it came out the same. by this time i was thinking some kind of neuropathy, but was told it was a demyilinating condition. thats when i started thinking MS. so after a lumbar puncture i got a call to come in to discuss results. 2 months had gone by now. My doctor, who i had been seeing all this time was in fact the chief of neurology who told me it's RR MS and i've been on copaxone for about 3 months now. ive gotten some relief in my right shoulder, but the arm/hand pain is still there with minimal relief. often horrible pains like someones trying to break my arm or rip my bicep off or wring it to pieces. at first it was all at once. I also have lhermitte's sign and often, as i type actually, i get strange electric pulses throughout my body.
kind of a tough place to be at 35, going from 10+ mile runs to my legs and body aching just because i got dressed and walked out of the house. but at least now i have an answer for the things that plagued me for years that no doctors could understand or explain.
I look forward to talking with others and learning what your experiences are.
I am 35 years old, and left the army 2 years ago with a medical discharge and received a 90% rating from the VA after 16 years. i have disk disease and arthritis in my spine, foot knee and neck problems etc.... and sleep apnea. for years ive battled with chronic pain all over my body, fatigue, heat intolerance etc.... so as you can imagine ive spent some time wondering what was going to happen to me next.
In early May of this year, i woke up one morning with my right arm, hand, and torso numb and tingling, with pain in my arm and fingers that slowly progressed for a couple days so i went to the ER, where after 7 hours and lots of poking with a needle, i was told i slept on my arm wrong and was sent home. a few days later it was still getting worse, with burning pain and tingling running through my arm into my fingers. another ER trip got me a neurology referral. so by this time after a couple weeks the pain had gotten bad enough for me to have trouble lifting my arm above my shoulder. Loma Linda immediately did an mri and found lesions in my brain and C2. they ordered more mri's with/without dye and a week later it came out the same. by this time i was thinking some kind of neuropathy, but was told it was a demyilinating condition. thats when i started thinking MS. so after a lumbar puncture i got a call to come in to discuss results. 2 months had gone by now. My doctor, who i had been seeing all this time was in fact the chief of neurology who told me it's RR MS and i've been on copaxone for about 3 months now. ive gotten some relief in my right shoulder, but the arm/hand pain is still there with minimal relief. often horrible pains like someones trying to break my arm or rip my bicep off or wring it to pieces. at first it was all at once. I also have lhermitte's sign and often, as i type actually, i get strange electric pulses throughout my body.
kind of a tough place to be at 35, going from 10+ mile runs to my legs and body aching just because i got dressed and walked out of the house. but at least now i have an answer for the things that plagued me for years that no doctors could understand or explain.
I look forward to talking with others and learning what your experiences are.