Multiple Sclerosis

[namechangeforthisop]

Hello.I am a regular poster.Having a bit of an issue and I am hoping people can help!
Long story,will try to shorten.Am being investigated for vertigo issues ?vestibular migraine and am waiting for RI appt as they are not sure fter initial assessment.
I wouldlike to know if anyone here has or knows anyone with MS...and if they would share the info with me re symptoms etc.Various things are leading me to thinking I may have this.Thankyou in advance.na

MRI

My sister has MS. At the time of diagnosis, she had blurred vision, problems with her balance (dizziness), headaches, slurred speeach, pins and needles (having them in your face is supposed to be a significant symptom) and numbness in various places. Her doctors faffed around a bit and in the end it was her optician who saw something (I'm not sure what) that made him suggest the MS as a possibility.

Hope you get some good medical advice.

The optician being more definite than the docs was a bit of a shock and I think she was very grateful to him (although obviously the news was not good)..

I should say that she had all of the above symptoms at various points over a period of 18 months-2 year. By the time she had the diagnosis and the first steroid treatment she had all of the symptoms at the same time and was in a bad, sad way.

Hope this helps.

speech (that wasn't a bad joke!)

excellent.re speeeach.Thanks for your reply.I feel quite sure it is this as over the last few years have noticed things but didn't really piece it all together until recently.

Glad to help.

The other thing we didn't realise until later was related to her pain thresholdshe had a job that involved catering for lots of people and always seemed to have lots of burn marks on her armsapparently this was because her nerve endings (which would have made anyone else scream blue murder at the touch of the stove/trays etc) were numbed and therefore there was more of a time lapse before her brain reacted to the pain.

I just thought she was my tough as old boots older sister!

Ah Lionheart that is I do hope she has it under control now.Thank you so much for eplying.It is quite scary but so is the way I am without knowing what the heck is going on at the momnent.

Yes, I understand. By the time she got to the diagnosis she was very low. Once she had it and she felt something was being done she felt much more able to cope. The not knowing/lack of control made it hard in those early days.

I know there are more people on MN who have first hand experience and I hope they will come and talk to you.

And I'll keep my fingers crossed.

Thank you

Hi my brother has ms. He was diagnosed at 25 and is 33 now and is very well.

Initial symptoms were numbness and pins and needles. Slight tremors in his hands.

Since diagnosis he has been very well with only one relapse involving double vision. He is on no long term treatment. The opticians can often spot ms if the optical nerve has been damaged which is a hallmark of ms if it's affected your eyes. I was also investigated 3 years ago after some odd symptoms but my scan was clear so they said a virus was causing them. May I suggest the ms society website as it has a wonderful forums page. Also be aware lots of things can cause strange symptoms. Good luck.

and bump

Thank you for replies.I have looked at the MS website and I am trying not to Google!Just have to wait for the MRI I suppose.

Do NOT Google!!

This is a good source of information though.
I used to work woth people with MS, symptoms and severity vary so much between individuals, so it's probably not a good idea to compare your symptoms with anyone elses just yet. Also, some of the early symptoms of MS can be indicative of other conditions too, so try not to worry.

The things people have mentioned above are all early symptoms, or may be the only symptoms people ever have. But balance issues and a feeling like a tight band being wrapped round your chest were other common early symptoms that I used to hear.

One good thing is that there is a huge amount of support out there nowadays for people newly diagnosed with MS, only a few years ago, there used to be nothing. Litrally nothing at all to help unless you were seriously disabled.

Plenty of people have MS in a form that doesn't affect their day to day lives to a huge extent, and many symptoms can be helped greatly with regular excercise and physiotherapy.

I hope you get the answers you need soon.

Thank you all very much for your helpful replies.I shall have to wait and see what happens.It does seem daunting though.

The link spinspinsugar posted seems to be a long way from evidence based.

Uses some pretty dodgy references as well.

I'd steer clear, not least as a diagnosis of MS is not something you should feel the need to rush toward.

I was tested for this last year, many symptoms but mainly nerves burning + pins & needles, with terrible headaches. I am now classified as one of those with a "functional" nerve problem (ie, def a problem but no real cause!) - like IBS & migraine are.

Hope your tests are clear.

I've been tested for this twice,I get pins nad needles and numbness, visual problems etc.Mine has been diagnosed as Fibromyalgia though, not MS
just recently I was getting a "different" (as in different to me) type of headahce which the doc said was vestibular migraines.
I also, during a flare up of this get problems talking where my mind goes totally blank,a nd my fingers/head/brain/hands etc never seem to co-ordinate during a flareup, hence the sometimes really awful spelling on here

There are different types of MS and I guess each case is different, my DH had MS which was dx by MRI scan, it was hard to know what symptoms were down to the MS as he was dx with a brain tumour at the same time, over the years he was dx as having migraines bells palsy and had two cataract ops, I think some of it was MS thou his MS stayed pretty much the same according to his scans which showed many white spots.

Thanks for the info.That is interesting one of the queries is that I have vestibular migraine,I also have symptoms like Saltire and Milliways.
Onlyjoking,that is very sad.I have heard that MS is hard to diagnose and that people may have it without realising.I would like the MRI scan soon really as I am finding waiting difficult sometimes,even though it has only been 3 weeks.It's just awful feeling rotten.and not really knowing what is happening.
Milliways and Saltire do you agree with your diagnosis?

I agree with mine, but then I've never really thought that mine was anything else, IYSWIM. I had the MS checks more to rule it out than diagnose it.
my friend has Lupus and ssome of her symptoms are very similar to mine too

The initial symptoms of MS vary so much and can easily be confused with other conditions. Vertigo can be a symptom - have a look at the MS website and forums. Try not to worry. Hope you get a clear diagnosis soon.

I'm another one with a clear MRI and a lot of symptoms which would indicate MS. I have 'functional nerve problems' and 'atypical persistent migraine' instead (which seems to mean I share the symptoms of MS but there is no lasting damage showing on the MRI).

Try not to worry (not that I was able to take my own advice) - many people seem to cope with MS, and you might not have it anyway. I hope you find out soon though - the waiting and the googling is the worst bit.

Thanks again.I have had persistent vertigo for 4 months!I only thought M.S when I looked at Vertigo on Google and the Vestibular Migraine and Vertigo linked to the M.S website.Also questions asked at my Vestibular assessment made me realise how I had been over the last years.As we tend to adapt and get on with it don't we?
Anyway I will try not to worry and just wait to see what happens.Thank you all for your replies.