need advice about what to do now?

[mrsturbo]

I am a 28 year old female with ancestors from England and Germany (supposidly that means something in MS).  My symptoms are as follows, pain and stiffness in rt. hand for 9 years(comes and goes), pins and needles in lower extremities for about 4 months( comes and goes),  arms now experience numbness and pins and needles for about 2 months (comes and goes),  get very sick if I spin my kids, and I can't ride in a car or I get extremely car sick, but I am ok if i drive.  This sounds odd, but I can't look at a fish tank, I think it is the depth perception between the glass and the water, but it makes me very dizzy and nauseas.  Most of these symptoms started about four months ago (about 6 months after I had my third child).  For the last two months I keep feeling like I am pregnant again since I am sooooo tired, but after spending lots of money on dr. appt and preg. tests I have ruled out pregnancy, any other gyn problem, and gi problems ( oh yeah I also have bowel issues and urinary issues now).  I had a sinus infection along with an ear infection about 3 weeks ago and ever since have had extreme stiffness in both arms from elbow down, pain and stiffness in legs from calf down, although left side seems to be worse and weaker.  One week ago I ended up in the ER at my pcp's request due to my entire left side going numb and weak from the cheek down.  CT showed nothing.  Next two days I could not function.  My husband had to take off work to stay home and take care of our kids.  I am usually a fairly active mother of three ( a 4y, 2y, and 11 month old).  By day three I felt a little better in the morning and tried to stay active all day.  By the time I actually stopped moving and sat down that evening I could no longer move.  Now the pain just comes and goes and seems to move around, but now I have bad neck and back pain.  Everyday I seem to feel a little better, but by night time I am in too much pain to move.  If this is a flare up of whatever is going on with me, what now?  Will I eventually feel normal again?  I just had an MRI that showed nothing except bilatteral maxillary sinus retention cysts, one is new and one I have had for at least two years.  These cysts are apparently no big deal and would not cause any of my symptoms.  I am going to my first neuro appt on May 14.  I know the Lord is using this to teach me patience, but I still haven't quite learned the lesson.  What do I do now?

[CtResident]

You sound like me in terms of motion issues. Even going on a swing with my kids will make me feel ill.

You got excellent advice about the timeline of symptoms. As it is, once you are started on the trip of finding out what is wrong, there will be tests tests and more tests. Writing it all down will help you keep it in order.

If only I lived near you, I'd help take care of your little ones so you could rest. :-)

You're in a good place here on this forum. I don't remember if you were told this(a LOT of new people here lately, wow!) but there are Health Pages at the top right of this forum. They can give you a lot of advice, quality help from Those In The Know about MS.

Suzanne

[slightlybroken]

One thing you need to do, if you haven't already done this, is to make a time-line. Put dates and symptoms that you have experienced. If you can't remember the exact month, then put at least the year that it occurred. This could help your doctor a lot. Plus it will help you remember everything you experienced and want to tell your doctor. Make sure you describe your symptoms in detail...(How did it make you feel? What did it prevented you from doing? kind of detail)

When you go to your neuro you should have a full exam. At least a 1/2 long..testing your reflexes etc..You'll probably have more test. This sometimes is the longest process..at least it feels that way. They have to rule out mimics and other disease  When they did your MRI did they use contrast? Have you had an MRI of the spine?

If this is MS..most people start with a relapse remitting course. That means in a nutshell that you have symptoms or flareups for days to weeks (maybe months), then you go back to normal or almost normal.

I know this is scary for you but we are all here for you if you need us. Questions, concerns, support, you got it. Hang in there and keep us updated on your appointment coming up.

Take Care