Hi - is ms heritary - and what are the detailed symptoms

[nyanks5l]

Hi
i am 27 yrs old - about the same age my father was diagnosed with this horrible disease.  i may be parinoid but i cant help it - started off a couple of months ago with loss of vision in the side of my right eye followed by a bad headache.  went to the eye doctor and they told me it was probably a migraine with aura.  So thats what that could be, yes.  But recently - like the past week, week and 1/2 for some reason when i am sitting still or lieing in bed ready to fall asleep it just feels like most of my body is twitching or shaking under my skin, i dont know if i can actually see my self shaking but i feel it = like my nerves are moving or twitching inside my body... mostly my arms and hands, like there vibrating..  its hard to describe.  i am a very stressful person naturally and always on edge.  and yes i feel i do have some anixety issues.  but i am affraid to take and/or get addicted to any medications.  but then i think to myself could i be hurting myself more with my all of my issues - i just want to stop feeling so....i cant think of the world - but i would like to feel relaxed at least a part of my day - the only time i get peace is when i am sleeping.  maybe because i cant think so much, but as i say this i forget i do think a lot in my sleep = i am always having weird dreams.  i go to the docs to discuss my problems and either i feel like a parinoid, pesamistic person or they try to just write me off a prescription.  oh - did i also mention that i have very irregular periods as well.  i did take a progesterone pills for two cycles (10 days each) in the past not back to back - maybe 3-4 months in between.  i did get my period the end of may surprisingly - so lets see what happens this month,... and the past week or so i have been feeling a little light headed and or dissy at times - not for long periods of time but enough to scare me.  like a rush and i say hmm.. should i sit down - actually feeling a little funny now.  like lghtheadedness..
i am a big mess.... can you help thanks

[tdpruett]

How to relax. There are so many things out there from yoga to sleepytime tea to long walks on the beach with your husband. The most important thing is to find out what relaxes you? Medication can help you relax if your doctor recommends it but it will always have side effects. So it really depends on you. I think someone who you can talk to would be great for you. ( I am sorry to hear about your dad and see now why it would be hard for you.) I would like to tell you about my friend I would talk to. I think her story would help you. Her name, Paula. I met her through her daughter in high school. When you met Paula you were greeted with a outgoing, loudmouthed, life loving person. You see, Paula, all of her life, had unexpalined things happen to her. When she was little she would randomly fall over, like her legs could not support her. The doctors told her it was gorwing pains. She grow up with dropping things and falling all the time.Other than that, she grew up a normal life. She became a nurse. When she was about 40, she started to have numbness in her hands and when she did not regain the feeling, she knew something was wrong. But by this time, Paula had three beautiful children, one was having a child of her own, with a loving husband and a great job. Paula was diagnosed with MS immmediately. When they took the MRI of her brain, the doctor said her brain looked like swiss cheese with all the holes (lessions). She had MS since she was a child but no one ever knew. When Paula found out it was difficult to accept but she chose to not let it bet her. (You see, there are three different types of MS. First is the one where you have an "attack" and there is no damage done to the nerves. Second is when you have an "attack" and you lose feeling but regain it after a while. The third is when you have an "attack" and lose the feeling forever.) Paula was diagnose with the third type of MS. She slowly lost complete feeling of her hands. But that did not stop her. She played Bingo every Thurday. She drove the car. She still was an outgoing, loud mouthed, life loving person. She even took belly dancing lessons. You see Paula would not let MS run her life. Slowly she had to wear arm crutches because her legs were not working so well. Even with this she was in all of her childrens weddings, went on cruises every year. Traveled to London. She lived like everyone else did. When I started having problems and MS was tossed around, I was so scared. I couldn't sleep well. Then I had a talk with Paula. All she did was tell me what she went through. She told me of her choice to live her life the way she wanted and her choice of not letting MS run her life. Paula told me that if I let the fear of being diagnosed with anything run my life, I would live a miserable life. "What comes will come and you can't stop it. It just happens. You just have to learn that you are tougher than what comes and you can handle it."  Paula was my medical advisor for the last few years. It helped me not to be afraid of what will happen. You would never have known that Paula had MS if she didn't have the arm crutches. She was not different. She did everything she ever wanted to do. She ever set up support groups for those dealing with MS. She helped others find good medical doctors who don't give up on you.  But MS does have its hardships, which you already know. The treatment of MS is to slow down your immune system (since MS is an over reacting immune system). That is probably why your father caught pnemonia. Well, for Paula was diagnosed with cancer. But Paula beat cancer about one year ago. She danced at my wedding while she had MS and cancer. She was a strong woman. Unfortunately about one month ago the cancer came back but spread too quickly. Paula didn't die of MS, she died of cancer three weeks ago. I know the end of Paula's life may not be helpful but it encourages me everyday. This is a woman that had something that she would not let run her life and it didn't. God just wanted her to come home and since she would not let MS do it, He gave her cancer, twice. She lived a full life. She was almost 60 when she died. I hope this encourages you and does not discourage you. I just wanted you to see someone who had the worst type of MS live a long life of joy and happiness. You don't have to be afraid of it.                                                                  I do hope this helps.

[nyanks5l]

thanks for your feedback - actually my father did also pass when i was 10 - he had pnemonia and i guess was not able to fight it off with  his ms.  i do think i am a very stressful person and this could all be linked some how - but the feeling of being jitery is very scarey - i just know that the life with ms is not what i want obviously for me and for my husband and 2 very young girls - 3 and 1 - i know what it is like to be with out a parent and i want to be here for a very long time - so maybe because of his dealth at a young age has caused me to be parinoid of leaving too early too.  I am so scared of things happening to me or my husband and even my children - that i cant seem to enjoy my life.  as stupid as that may sound.  so far nothing is known that anything is wrong with me yet i waste my good days on thinking something could be, causing my quality of life to suffer tremendously.  thats why i sometimes think maybe a good medicine to relax my aniexty (if thats what it is) so i stop thinking & stress out  so much i could enjoy my self for a change and stop hurting my body - cause at the rate i am going if i dont have any disease i will die of a heart attack from so much stress.. how do i relax naturally........ or do i need a pill...

[tdpruett]

I can tell you are a very stressed out person just by reading your post. First thing is first. Relax. I am sure you have heard this from many people, but the stress you put on your body can be a very dangerous thing. Now, I am not a doctor but I have been around and around with the "almost not sure" if I have MS. I am sure you are concerned with the fact that your father was diagnosed around the age you are now. It can be a very scary time for you and it is alright to be a little scared. But the only way to see if your symptoms are not caused by MS is to rule out things.
As I said before stress can do some severe damage on the body. (Mind you I am not saying it could not be MS, I am not a doctor and would never want to have one more person make you feel as if there is nothing wrong. It is the worst thing a person can go through.) I would say try to see if your symptoms are not caused by other things. The shaking at night could just be your bodys reaction to what happened during the day(stress) or maybe too much sugar?. ( I suggest this because my husband had to stop drinking sodas to be able to sleep at night. I also have been in very stressful situations where my body would react in such a way I could not sleep because of the pain I was in.) Also the period thing could most likely from stress. You don't have to take drugs to be able to relax. My key was to be able to find some way to let go. It was very scary at first but I let go of things I normally would never be able to let go of. I looked into things I could eat to help my stressed out body digest food properly. I started making time for things I always wanted to do. I learned to be ok if things didn't go the way I wanted. I HAD to. If I didn't I would have continued having digestive problems, female problem and lack of sleep along with severe pain.
The next thing I would suggest is to find someone who could be your support. I had a dear friend who had MS and cancer as my support.(May the Lord take care of her until I can see her again.She passed away two weeks ago.) She was a great lady and helped me out so much. It just made me feel better talking about what I was going through with someone who had "been there and done that". She let me know time and time again that I was not alone. ALWAYS remember, you are not alone, there is always someone going through it too. Being able to talk it out with someone who had gone through hell and back again really helped me to grasp what may come. (I think maybe your dad might be the perfect one to talk to.) Most of all I was able to tell her my fears of what could be. Just talking about it relieves stress of the unknown.
The last thing I would suggest is to find a good family doctor that wants to put all your fears to rest. Make sure he knows his stuff since MS is a hard to diagnose disease. But if you have concerns of it being MS, get the tests done and rule it out. EMGs is a way to test your nerves up to your spine. It will tell them if there is any damage and where. Not so painful. The most painful one is the spinal tap (but I would wait for that to be the last thing you do.) It will indicate problems from you spine fluid. The one the insurance companies don't like is the MRI of the brain. (Advise: If the doctor you have gone to tells you to have this test without contrast, find a new one.) The MRI with contrast will show if there is any lessions on the brain. I am sure you know all of this already but if you are worried about having MS rule it out. It will take time but atleast you know. And if you have ruled it out then you might be able to sleep better. And if you do have it, there is so much support out there that can help you through the next chapter of your life.
I wish you good luck on your journey.Let us know what happens.