thank you for the feedback. like i said there is nothing more upsetting than to have these issues and it is so very hard to function everyday. the incontance is bad and the feeling lightheaded all the time and off balance makes it a real doozy trying to support my wife and kids. and trying to keep my head up and deal with this stuff at work, well it is not easy at all having to change all the time, makes me feel less of a man everyday then when i talk to my doctor they say well your testosterone is really low, you have depression, and for the plumbing here are depends. i want so much for nothing to be wrong but at the same time want something to show up wrong to put an answer to my problems. I have never ever been a bed wetter or had daytime issues ever!!!!!!!
True you have to have two or more occasions separated by time, for example, 2 MRI done probably 6 months apart showing changes on the 2nd one not obvious on the first (read up on the McDonald Criteria which is what neurologists go by) you can have one if you have 1 or 2 CIS documented by doctors (such as changes on optic nerve noted by your eye doctor) things like that.
My symptoms came and went, so to look at me, there was no obvious "being sicker" when I would go to the neurologist.
Please read the health pages to the right of the posts, there is a wealth of information there, some written by one of our own, a doctor before she retired due to MS. It does take time often for a diagnosis and much testing and retesting and often many doctors as many of us have had.
Good luck and I hope you find answers.
My diagnosis took a year. I had first symptom of optic neuritis and a year later had left sided weakness. I was told you have to have 2 or more diffetent symptons separated by time. Basically i had to get sicker to get the diagnosis and treatment. I have been told of the importance of vitamin d and mine was really low so i started taking it. You could look up info on vit d. Best of luck to you! Health problems are very frustrating.
Hi, Shawn, I see you are another Buckeye - there are quite a few of us here. You say you have been seen by many doctors - would one or more of them happen to be a neurologist? That is the type of specialist you need to be seeing. You might check out OSU if you haven't already.
The symptoms you mention could be MS but they could also be something else. The high blood pressure, flank and pelvic pain are not typical MS problems, but that doesn't mean much. Often there are symptoms that don't normally occur. That is one of the problems with MS - we are all so distinctly different in our disease.
The issues of incontinence could be related to something neurological due to problems in your spinal column to not carry the signals correctly. But I lean more toward thinking perhaps it could be associated with the pain you are experiencing.
PLEASE remember I am no medical expert and nothing I am saying should be taken as medica advice. You are stuck in limbo trying to get answers and although it can be discouraging, please do not give up on getting answers.
Feel free to come around often and ask all the questions - this is a smart group and perhaps someone will have suggestions as to what you might do next.
~Laura