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I want to start off by saying I want to go see my doctor. However, we are currently in the process of shopping for life insurance, and I don't need any additional medical diagnoses driving my rates up even higher! So, no, I haven't yet discussed this with my doc. That being said...

I'm 34 and was diagnosed with type 2 diabetes when I was 25. I had weight loss surgery (biliopancreatic diversion with duodenal switch) when I was 26, lost a bunch of weight...haven't needed any diabetes meds or treatments at all since I stopped the last one about 6 months after my surgery.

I wanted to get those specifics out about my diabetes because I know some symptoms overlap. In fact, until recently, I just assumed everything was caused by my diabetes. However, the more reading I do, the less convinced I am that diabetes is the culprit for the following reasons:

• I've been well-controlled for YEARS.
• Even when I was very poorly controlled, I did not have any physical symptoms of diabetes.
• Every account I've read of diabetic neuropathy seems to begin in the feet and be quite painful. That has not been my experience.

So, here's what I've been experiencing:

• Tingling in my limbs. It's most often my fingers/hands. Sometimes it reaches up to my elbows. Sometimes it includes my toes, sometimes all the way up to my knees, but not as often as my hands. And it's not at all painful, just tingling kind of like when your hand is just starting to fall asleep. And it's not constant but will happen for a few hours or a day at a time. This has been happening for YEARS, since before my weight loss surgery and before my diabetes diagnosis. But it seems to have become more frequent in the past year or so.
• Twitching. This has been getting more frequent within the past couple of months, which is what really triggered me to start considering other possible issues. It can happen anywhere - my fingers, my eyes, my lip, my nose, the middle of the front of my thigh, my calf - like some kind of painless shock causing a little twitch or spasm. Sometimes, it's just a little twitch here or there, no big deal, which is why it's easy to dismiss. But more recently, I've had days where it seems to be almost constant. For example, I was doing a 4-hour drive home from visiting family over the holidays, and it just seemed to keep moving around my face. My top eyelid would twitch, then my upper lip, then the tip of my nose...just one thing at a time, but kept going almost the entire drive. My hands and arms were also tingling the entire drive.
• Inconsistent blurred vision in my right eye. I had Lasik eye surgery when I was 27 and have had better than 20/20 vision ever since (they told me I had what they call "eagle vision," that their equipment couldn't actually measure any better than 20/15). Of course, eye problems also come with the diabetes territory, but, again, I've been so well controlled, and it's only one eye, and it's inconsistent. It'll be a bit blurry for a couple days, then fine for a few days, then blurry again...and it's most noticeable for distances, not reading.
• Here's where I'm thankful for the anonymity of the internet...I've had multiple occasions where I stand up from my desk and essentially wet myself even though I didn't feel like I had to pee. It hasn't happened in a few months (thankfully), but I'd say it's happened probably 4-6 times in the past year. My bladder control seems completely fine other than that (I don't have the more common issues of peeing a little when I sneeze or anything like that).
• Difficulty swallowing. I take vitamins every day, and I have had multiple occasions where I have them in my mouth, have water in my mouth, and it just takes me like a whole minute to swallow. I WANT to and am TRYING to swallow, but it's like my mouth or throat just isn't listening to my brain. It has at time caused me to choke a bit as the tablets dissolve in my mouth and become very bitter and gross...blech.
• Depression. I've read this can be associated with MS, but mine may very well just be situational, as I had 2 kids, moved twice, changed jobs, and unexpectedly lost my father within a span of less than 4 years. I've been on venlafaxine (Effexor) for about a year and a half, which comes with a laundry list of potential side effects, BUT many of my symptoms began before starting that medication.
• 0 sex drive. Like, negative sex drive. But I know that can also be caused by a lot of things, especially since I've been on hormonal birth control for medical reasons since I was 16 aside from when I was pregnant with each of my 2 kids.

Because of the weight loss surgery I previously mentioned, I'm very much on top of my labs as far as vitamins and minerals and such (I actually have a spreadsheet of my lab results from 2008 to present so I can identify trends to catch if something is heading south before it becomes a deficiency). I know my vit D had slumped previously, but it's now back up to 50+. Folic acid and B12 have never been low. Iron has never been low, and ferritin has actually been high. B6 has also been high, which I know can cause nerve issues, but it was back down to normal at my last labs in May 2016. I had slightly high zinc and slumping copper a few years back (copper was in range, but near the bottom), so I cut back on zinc supplementation, and the two balanced back out nicely to both be normal. I have lots of other stuff tested, too, but I believe those are most of the usual suspects.

Well, if nothing else, this is a good list for me to have written out to take with me when I can go see my doc!

Hello jellojiggler,

There are many conditions that can cause the symptoms you are having and diagnosing MS requires the exclusion of all other possibilities as well as testing that indicates MS. A diagnosis of MS cannot be made based on symptoms alone.

If you have not had a current eye exam by an Ophthalmologist specifically addressing blurry vision then you should do so. Blurry vision can have benign causes such as dry eyes, too much time looking at electronics (cell phone, computer, TV., ect.), eye fatigue, medications, stress/anxiety and as you know, diabetes.

Having no libido (sex drive) should be discussed with your Gynecologist, there could be a hormonal imbalance. If you are still dealing with depression even on Effexor then please speak to your prescribing Dr. as it is possible the dosage isn't correct, it's simply not working for you or you might need a combination for the best results. Losing a loved one can be very difficult to mentally deal with. I would agree with your assessment ---- your depression is situational but birth control and other medications can also cause depression.

I am sorry you are dealing with so many concerning symptoms. MS would not be my first thought but only a Dr. and testing can give you proper answers.

hi JJ would you feel comfortable sharing a list of lab tests you're keeping records for? my brain does go here first:

A Clinical and Nutritional Comparison of Biliopancreatic Diversion With and Without Duodenal Switch
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1356374/

and we have a pretty good sense here, for some tests anyway, re which part of the 'normal' range matches an ms patient and which part matches a healthy control