Delilah008

Just wanted to share and get some opinions on my first exacerbation since I was diagnosed last year.

I've noted that my root foot hadn't felt "right" for about a week or so. I caught myself staring at it and wondering if it was tingling. (I guess if the question even popped into my mind like that I should of known it probably was).

Anyway, yesterday I woke up with an MS Hug mostly in my front chest. I get them all the time so I really didn't think about it. On the way to work it got worse, felt like I had to work at expanding my chest. Not really short of breath, but tight. After being at work for 15 minutes, I was walking down the hall when I suddenly had this feeling that I couldn't go on any more. I got a wave of weakness and lightheadedness, grabbed onto the nearest wall and started bawling like a baby right out of the clear blue. At that point I noticed that my right hand was shaking like crazy (which it did last year when I was diagnosed but not really since). I felt like I couldn't control or understand why anything was happening, but I was thinking clearly enough that I didn't want to walk though a huge group of coworkers to get to my manager.

When I did get to my manager I was pretty much in the same state, and was taken to the ER. During the neuro exam, (the part where they make you follow their finger with your eyes) I suddenly felt really dizzy, stated that I was going to lay back and burst into tears and horribly shaking hand all over again for no apparent reason (again). The neuro exam did eventually show that I have hypersensitivity in my right leg/foot. Neurologist recommended we treat it like an exacerbation. I was admitted for a 23 hour observation to monitor my sugars since I didn't do so well on steroids last time.

Later that night I started having pain in my front thighs, which is a new symptom for me. Not to mention I couldn't walk heal to toe for more than 3-5 steps without totally losing my balance (also new to me).

My thighs still hurt badly on and off and I'm still feeling the tingling in my right foot (and sometimes part of my left) occasionally throughout the day.

Is this a normal exacerbation? Do they normally come on suddenly or did I just miss the signals until the switch got flipped, so to speak? When I was diagnosed last year, it was a gradual buildup with the only major symptom being tingling and numbness in my legs. Any comments?

Oh, and just to mention, I am on copaxone which I take 6 days per week instead of 7 due to the lumps and bumps I was getting with everyday injections.

Thanks.