HELP worried i might have MS

[mair278]

Since my daughter's birth 5 months ago, ive been experiencing unusual weakness in my arms and legs, and sometimes a get weakness sweep across my whole body out of nowhere. At first i attributed it to the epidural i had before my c section but now im not so sure. Im having more trouble with my hands now, its like my motor function is off, i didnt used to be this clumsy. Im very afraid because i dont know what to do, i just moved here a month ago and still have yet to find a doc. Im just trying to figure out what could be causing this, im 24 years old

[Heather3418]

Rena gives you some great places to start your search for answers.  And welcome the MS Forum.  I do not believe I have seen you post before.

One thing that sticks in my mind, is that you say you didn't have symptoms before, until 5 months after the birth of your child.  This is something we hear about often.  Usually a woman has had mild symptoms that she can track down, as some strange feelings before the pregnancy.  Throughout the pregnancy everything was just fine.  Within a few months after birth, everything really starts to present itself.

In the MS community it is felt that MS, if it is MS, will remain quiet during a pregnancy, because the mother's immune system changes when she is pregnant.  It kind of "shuts off somewhat" to allow the "foreign body," (her baby) to grow in her womb without her immune system attacking this foreigner.  When your hormones return to normal, the immune kicks itself back into full gear.  This is when alot of women may report an increase in symptoms.

If you look up the MS Society on Google, you may be able to locate an MS Specialist in your area, with their help.  Alot of people have received good tips on doctors, this way.  If you need a referral, your symptoms should be brought up with your family doctor, so they can steer you in the right direction of a Neurologist that is qualified to deal with possible MS.

Please keep us updated.  Congratualtions on your new precious baby girl.  We will help you in any way that we can.  Hopefully this is not MS, but you DO need to be followed up by a Neurologist, no matter what it turns out to be.

Best Wishes and Gentle hugs to your new daughter from us,
Heather

[Rena705]

Hi there and welcme to the MS Forum!  First of all I would like to congratulate you on the birth of your daughter!  Secondly I would like to let you know that you have come to the right spot with your concerns.  We have a great group here and although we are not physicians, we can usually assist you to find the cause of your symptoms through sharing what we have been through.

For starters, I would advise you to take a look at the Health Pages located in the upper right hand corner of this page.  In there you will find a plethora of information that will assist you in what this MS thing is all about and what steps should be taken when in search of a diagnosis.  There is an article in there called My family doctor says I may have MS, what do I do now?  This will give you the steps that should be taken while searching for a diagnosis.

I understand that you are scared and not sure what is going on with your body.  You didn't mention where you are from...if you let us know, we may be able to give you the names of some doctors or show you the way to find one.  As I said before, there are a good group of people here and I am sure others will put in their opinions as well...I can't say that your symptoms are MS but they do sound familiar and I think it would be a good idea to have yourself checked out.  Another think you should do is keep a daily diary as to what your symptoms are and then at a later date this can be made into a timeline which can prove to be invaluable to yourself and and physicians you may see.  It can take a LONG time to get in to see a specialist so I would advise that you try to find a gp or pcp as soon as you can.

Please remember that we here are behind you 100% and we are here 24/7 if you need someone to talk to...it can be a little slow on the weekends but we will get to you ok?  Should you need to rant, rave, laugh or cry, we are here and we will help you in any way that we can ok?  Please keep in touch and let us know what your next step is going to be...we can help and being that you have a 5 month old baby to care for you need to ensure that this isn't something serious ok?

Lots of Hugs,

Rena