Unexplainable Pain and Other Symptoms- Help! - Multiple Sclerosis Message Board

hereinwi · 03-07-2007, 08:53 AM

Hello everyone,
I have a question for anyone who can answer. I have been having pain for around 5 years, since around the time I had my daughter. Unexplainable pain along with numbness in my face, hands and ankles (which swell and get cold too). I have cold shooting numbness up my spine and I have such stong pains in my legs (constant pain which is almost always there but goes away at times enough for me to only notice if I try) along with stiffness that is almost unbearable. I am only 27 and am unable to run without pain and have a hard time lifting my knees. Recently I have found myself getting lost in places I normally go or not knowing how to spell words that used to be simple for me to spell.I also have itching on my back and legs quite a bit and get somewhat restless since my legs hurt if I don't move them often enough. Oh and one more thing.. Constipation, AWFUL!! My doctor told me it is fibromyalgia but then said maybe it is a good idea to have a neurologist look at me. I am wondering if my symptoms are those of MS and very very scared to find out if I have it or not. My boyfriend is convinced I am too young to have MS. Please help!!

tiredbunni · 03-07-2007, 12:25 PM

Hi,

You are not too young to get MS. I hope and pray that you don't have MS. Your symptoms could be many other diseases which has to be ruled out before a definite dx of MS is given. Swelling in your face, hands and ankles doesn't sound like fibro. Did you doctor do the tender points on you? You are suppose to have a 11 out of 18 to be dx with fibro. I was dx with fibro in 1992 and then with ME/CFS in 1994. Now with MS in 12/06. Write down your symptoms on paper and hand it to the neurogolist. That way you won't have try to remember them all. Let him/her do the tests. If you are not satisfied get second or third opinion. Just take a deep breath and take it one day at a time.
I am still adjusting to my dx of MS but I can only live and enjoy one day at a time. There is too much life to live to be worried. I hope you that you get the right dx quickly.

Bunni in SC

dx 12/06 MS
Avonex, Klonopin, Flexeril

hereinwi · 03-07-2007, 01:21 PM

Thank you so much for your response. My doctor diagnosed me with fibro by methods of my unknowing. He just basically said- well you hurt all the time, and you are young so we wouldnt think anything too severe might be going on. So he said it is fibro.. I have also been having attacks in the middle of the night where I can't breathe, I have to cough to catch my breath. He told me that those are panic attacks. Any idea what those might be? Oh yeah, and a lot of people post saying that their bodies feel bruised. I feel like that all the time. And like I can't grasp onto something very tight. I just can't do it.

tiredbunni · 03-07-2007, 03:51 PM

You are welcome. It seems like your doctor doesn't want to take the time to find out what is wrong. He sticks you in this catagory of fibro. I had my back hurt so bad and it was stiff, I could barely get out of bed the pain was that bad. My doctor said it was depression . Yeah, right.

You having attacks in the middle of the night (I assume your are sleeping) could be related to sleeping disorders. It sounds like you may have sleep apnea where a person stops breathing several times a night. They don't get a restful sleep. The feeling of bruised or being run off by a truck, is symptomic to fibro, ME/CFS and MS. I have felt that way many times. It is like a bad case of the flu. And your grasp sounds like a neurological problem. There could be weakness in your arm (s). Your neuro will run tests. My hands tingle, hurt and get numb a good bit of the time. However, I was negative on my evoked potentials (checks for nerve damage) for them. I have seen changes since then in my hands, some weakness. MS is so unpredicable but so was ME/CFS.

Please don't worry much. I would keep a journal of new symptoms as/if they occur, so you can tell neuro. You just have to play the waiting game as the neuro try to rule out other diseases. May it be a short wait.

Take care,

Bunni

teacher2be · 03-07-2007, 04:53 PM

tiredbunni..i have some questions. i think i have fibromyalgia, i believe i have had it for 6-7 years. never been dx just compared symptoms to friends that have it and just always thought what it was. always have that flu like feeling. anyways i did not know the symptoms of fibro and ms were so similar until i have been reading on internet about ms. can you tell me since you said you have fibro and ms, what the difference in your symptoms are. i guess my question is when you had fibromyalgia and then when dx with ms how were the symptoms different to where you knew something else was wrong if this makes sense. thank you