Since the end of 2013, I had experienced a range of problems that were seemingly unrelated, but had left me feeling less than 100%.
I really want to write about how my MS presented because I hope it might help someone else one day. Before all this happened, I thought that people knew they had MS because they kept dropping things, or they woke up one day and couldn't walk. However MS is often referred to as the 'Snowflake' Disease, meaning that every single person with MS presents in a different way and has a whole set of symptoms that are uniquely their own.
I think I could have been diagnosed earlier if I had listened to my inner voice that said that things were probably not quite right. But unfortunately most of my symptoms were not visible and not measurable and so I didn't even bother going to my GP because I didn't want to waste her time. The patches of skin that were extremely sore to touch I now know is called Allodynia and is a symptom of MS. But at the time I felt like a fool going to my GP to say that there were parts of my body that hurt to touch for no particular reason.....and that it wasn't really bothering me. Similarly, I had my husband (a doctor) check inside my right ear twice because I was convinced I had an ear infection. When he said it all looked perfectly normal, I didn't see the point of going to the GP.
Along with the Allodynia and my sore ear, my symptoms over a three year period included:
- A numb left thigh
- Back Pain (investigations showed no problems that would cause this - subsequently disappeared)
- Bladder Problems (having to pee every 10 seconds)
- Fatigue
- Cognitive Fog (problems concentrating)
- Digestive issues that drove me to be tested for Coeliac Disease. These issues went on for months and then disappeared almost overnight.
- Tingling, heaviness, pins and needles, and numbness in my arms.
In early 2016, I happened across an article on MS and when I read the symptoms I had a lightbulb moment in which I realised that I had experienced almost all of them. I nervously floated the idea of MS to my husband, himself a doctor. "What if everything that has been going on is actually part of something bigger.....what if I have MS?" I asked him. He looked at me dubiously and I didn't really bring it up again.
A couple of months later I couldn't really ignore that I was getting regular pins and needles in my arms - particularly the left, and numbness in my finger tips. Then I had a horrific experience where the right hand side of my face went temporarily numb. I made an appointment with my GP. To be honest I was sort of embarrassed and I went in saying "I know this sounds crazy but...". She listened to my story and immediately asked "What do you think it is?". When I replied that I was worried that it was MS, she replied "I think it could be too".
That was the first time I really felt scared that my hunch might be right. I saw her on a Tuesday and she requested that I have an MRI. On Wednesday I felt great and thought that it was possible that I had imagined everything. Then on Thursday things started to go downhill. It started with Allodynia on my feet and lower left leg. The outside of my left leg and arm went numb for a couple of days while my feet unfortunately started to alternately feel painful/or as if they were on fire. I also started to experience vertigo, just to top it off.
The next week I had my MRI which showed that I had "...at least 10 hyperintense foci". It was a bittersweet moment because it simultaneously provided me with my answer and also sealed my fate.
