PatientsLikeMe ™

October '07
As far as the MS goes,well no for sures yet. Years ago thought that previous back problems were causing me some symptoms like numbness and tingeling but everytime I come down with a virus more symptoms appear and stay. Dr. is leaning towards MS. I was however for sure diagnosed with Sensory Neuropathy three years ago with no reasons why. I thought it could be because of a severed nerve that occuring a surgery to clean up a burst disc on my L5. All the drs. I have seen say that would not cause a lot of the probs I am having. Right now I am a mystrery to the health profession.

My update as of December '07
Mri came back clean on brain, my eye had swelling. Went to optomistrist she did a glocoma test and felt something is very wrong so she sent me to opthomlogist and he suspects MS but because my eye was clearing up the swelling was gone but next time I have eye pain he wanted to see me right away. I have an evoke coming up at the end of month. I will be requesting an mri of my spine next relaps which I suspect will come in spring because of past journal writings for the last four years there seems to be a pattern.

But even without being in a relaps I always have symtoms of spasitity, numbness  and
headaches

Jan 15, 2008

Well before I was scheduald to have my evoke test my neuro sent me to a second opion with the head of neurology through Kaiser Premente because he couldnt believe my brain mri came back clean. The new neurologist had a huge ego problem. The way he talked to me was very patranizing. I felt terrible about my self when I came out of there. He barley admited under his breath that there was sweeling in my eye on the mri. It was weird. Anyways I had the evoke and a week later his nurse called and said my evoke was fine. I wanted to talk to the dr. because I had questions but he never called back. When I tried to take a peek at the computer during the testing I saw big peak going up and some going down. I tried to look it up on the net to see what it could mean but I didnt find anything. Oh Well. I am tierd of all the testing trying to find out what is wrong with me so Im going to give it a break for now. If I happen to care again probably during anther symptomatic time that takes me down. and then I will go on the search again but taking it to UCLA. I am very sceptical of Kaiser Premente not just for this but other situations that has happen to me and to others that I know. Anyone else out there with Kaiser?

Feb 10 2008

well my four kids and my husband all came down with the flu and bad chest cold that had high fevers, and once again I felt it comming for myself and then nothing came of it in the same way the kids and my husband got it.  While they were comming down with it I was having a sever lower back pain and a new symptom of sever arm pain. I had no strenght in my hand because of it. Instead of comming down with the same virus that my kids and husband came down with I got horibble body pains mostly in my arms, chest mucles, neck and a headache and eye pain. The headache and eye pain that last up to three days but the aches and muscle pain wont leave. Maxalt works like a miricale. Anyways, The fatique is terrible. I feel like I am starting anther episode but I am doing my best to fight it. Im taking lots of tylenol and greentea pills to get through the day. So again I dont get sick in the same way my family does and whatever I do get manifests its self into a relaps, Why is that?

To be continued.........

August 10th 2009:

Well....Once again going through all the symptoms, right eye pain, dizziness, fatique, bladder and bowel problems, cramps in leg and so on and so on and decided to give the doctor thing anther try. I had anther relaps in march that lasted only two weeks I went to the doctor then and he did lots of blood work on hormones and everything else and I have amzingingly healthy blood. I thought maybe this whole thing had to do with age and hormones. Nope.He sent me to the Kaiser Premente Nero and he told me my muscle cramps were due to "muscle spasmiditis" (i made that name up) But basicaly he didnt know why I have them so he gave me Tegretal for it which helps. Doctor told me just to get rest, and except that age (im only 43) may be a factor. I was always one to be physically fit and active. Age just doesnt hit you like a brick for a week or two at a time and then feel fine. Becasue of this when I started feeling normal again I step up the excersising. I bought the P90x work out system. It kicks butt. after three months of feeling great and being very consistant with the workout I look amazing. I have a four pack, my husband teases me about my "guns" and my legs have incredible deffiniton. I am physically fit. I had something to prove to myself and my doctor. Then BOOM the California summer wheather hit. Hot. By the begining of July it felt like someone drained everything out of me and the dizziness hit. Thinking about working out or even getting out of bed was just that "a thought".

Well I was going to let this episode go without going to the doctors because I get tierd of being told there is nothing wrong with me. After three weeks of it and having crazy vertigo my mother made me make an appointment for her so she could stop worring. So I followed mothers orders. Again with the blood test every thing is normal except for the test that looks for heart muscle damage. I forgot what the test is called but my past test of the same sort came up low 100's but this time it came up 350. I read about it and what the high level could mean is just mucsle damage from extreme physical activity. Well I figure its from all the weight lifting and extreme cardio that I have been doing for the past few months. I go in for anther MRI this week. Oh yeah the doctor says this time sounds like MS but if they dont find anything he feels its some kind inner ear thing."Beign Paroxysmal Positional Vertigo" BullCrap! He wanted to give me more pills for this I told him no thank you. I expect to have the MRI to come back normal like always but after that I decided to go outside of Kaiser Premente and go to the MS specilist at UCLA pre reguest of my mother. I will for her. This time I will actually make it to UCLA because I will deffiantly get in trouble by my mommy. She is mad that I had let a year go by when I had other episodes without going to the doctor. She wants to find this thing maybe more then I do.

08/26/09

MRI came out clear, My doctor called telling me everything looks fine but as he reviews my constant history of comming in with crazy symptoms for the past five years he feels there is deffinantly something to watch for so he told me that next time my symptoms first start to appear he wants me to go to the nero specialst that is at the down town L.A Kaiser facility.  In the mean while I went to my opthomologist at Kaiser for a routin eye exam and she was tell me a story of one of someone who worked in her department of having bleeding in his urine and other scary symtoms for five years and the Kaiser docs never could find anything so he went outside of Kaiser and they found he had stomach cancer that whole time. He is doing well now but "shoot" what does that say for Kaiser Premente doctors. This is the model that Obama is going for in his reform. Doctors that are on salary. Yikes.

Jan 07, 2010

Well I have had a great few months of feeling great. Even been looking for a job, helping my husband do some major landscaping of our rental home that turned into a jungel.

I have been going through this MS thing for a few years now and have it down now to where I know it is about to kick my butt. It seems like it take about a month for it to land me in bed and this the noticable symptoms that make me aware of a cycle.

1. Cramps in my legs for a couple of weeks but I still feel fine

2. The cramping legs go as fast as they came but then turns to the middle of my back straight up to my head. Its so painful that it makes me nausous. Usually when I get a stiff neck it gradually gets better over a period of time. Not this though. It is terribley painful for about two weeks and then all of a sudden I wake up and its completely gone like it never happened.

3. Then I notice that my thought process and comprehension of conversations takes me awhile. I will be asked a question or asked to do something like "can you hand me that" and it takes a moment to get into my brain. Sometimes I find myself repeating what the person asked of me trying to figuer it out.

4 The dropseys....nothing stays in my hand. I cannot grab anything without it falling to the floor first.

5. Emotional....not quiet like PMS more sad then irritated. I cry at the drop of a hat.

6. Then the day I get the dizzy spells BAM I know I will not be able to peel my butt out of bed. I will be feeling fine and then I am spinning and it stops and then spinning then it stops.

7 Within 24 hours of the spins I am a big BLOB. With the major fatigue I get the tingeling bladder and constapation or diareah. My face tingels and my right eye is painful to move.

Me and hubby.