Newcomer

[Guest guest]

Hi!

I’m , and I’m

new to the list – and pretty new to the idea that I might have MS.

I have not seen a doctor since I was in the Air Force (1986, goodness I’m

getting old!), except for “spot repairs” like stitches and getting

my eye “rebuilt” a couple of years ago.

I am 51. Something has been a bit “off”

since my late twenties – loss of coordination, unexplained aches and

pains, memory “blips”, all things that come and go. Sometimes

worse than others. Then about 4 years ago I had what I think now was my

first really bad attack – for over a month I was in so much main I almost

couldn’t move, was “frozen up” like the Tin Man without his

oil can, staggered around like a drunk, couldn’t follow a conversation or

a show on TV, had to go “potty” what seemed like every hour on the

hour, all day and night. This roughly coincided with Lent, and we were

trying hard to be “vegan”, so I just put it down to the change of

diet. When all the symptoms went away (practically overnight) I was just

relieved and didn’t think any more about it. There were occasional recurrences

of weird stiffness or stumbling or whatever, nothing more than a day or

so.

The beginning of August this year, one day my right hip “gave

out” under me, and when I tried to walk there was a burning weak feeling

in the muscles on the front of that thigh. By the next day, all the muscle

spasms, weakness, etc were back, with very strong cramps in the back of my

right thigh and the top of my right foot. If I was still for more than a

couple of minutes everything “froze up”. Had all the same

symptoms as that first bad one, and added tripping over nothing with my

right foot, and a weird buzzy-tingly feeling all over. Was so exhausted

that I couldn’t do any chore all in one go – had to keep going to

lie down in the air conditioning…

This time we were NOT “fasting”, so I

didn’t understand what was going on – went online to AARP, WebMD, several

other “symptom checkers”, thinking there was some vitamin or

something I was short of. Two results kept coming up – a stroke (I

don’t think I had 2 just the same!) and MS. When I did a little

reading on MS, everything suddenly started to make sense… Talked to

a couple of RNs I know, and they think the same.

I’ve sent off paperwork to the VA to try and be able

to use the local VA clinic and hospital; I’m covered by TriCare (my

husband is retired USMC) but there’s no way we can afford co-pays on MRIs

and all the other testing required, not to mention meds. So now I’m

waiting to hear back, and happy to report that my symptoms are mostly gone

again-

Except the buzzy feeling, which is a little annoying but not too bad.

I found this group while searching out more

information – hearing other people’s actual stories and so on seems

more helpful to me than all the medical jargon. Hope you don’t mind

I’m here without a diagnosis or even a suspicious Doctor..

About me – have been married to Himself for 26+

years, have 2 grown children, 3 grandchildren, 10.5 housecats, 3 dogs,

and 10+ acres of Wyoming not far from Devil’s Tower. I like

reading, sewing, embroidery, knitting, cooking, gardening, so on, and I spend

way more time than I should hanging around on the Net.

Thanks for having me!

in WY