Do I have ms? And tips for pain.
I started struggling with memory issues, chronic fatigue, dizziness and a bad burning sensation in my hand and arms as well as my feet about 4 years ago. More recently the pain has gotten much worse, from my daily 6 to an 8. I struggle now to even hold my phone or text because of the pain in my wrists. I also started having these muscle jerks like electric shocks in my body that happen randomly throughout the day. I was officially diagnosed with chronic fatigue syndrome and fibromyalgia. But my symptoms keep flaring up badly. Doctors have just told me to do stretching and exercise but some days I can barely lift my head from my pillow. My pain is now starting to greatly affect my job as a desk clerk and I currently only work twice a week. And even that seems impossible because of the pain. I’m seriously considering quitting but I’m also in a lot of debt. Is it a possibility I have ms? Or do I really only have cfs and fibromyalgia? How do I deal with the pain until my neurology appt in 4 weeks. I’ve tried using voltaren which helps some days but it only helps before it’s dry. Then I go back to hurting again. I’m only on naltrexone and Advil for the pain and some days I seriously think about giving up. I have had no great improvement in my system since I was 22. I am currently 26 and I feel like my life has ended before it even started. I just want to be able to take care of myself without strong pain or fatigue but no doctor has helped with either. Is there any specialists people are aware of that can help. Even a pain center basically just shrugged there shoulders at my hand pain saying there was nothing they could do besides an emg. Hopefully I get better soon. Thanks for listening to me rant lol
Thank you so much for sharing this with us, Meghan. I feel like it might not have been easy to do, especially since you mentioned that you have a lot of pain in your wrist when it comes to texting/typing. I really appreciate your vulnerability in sharing here. I'm so sorry to read that your pain has gone from a 6 to an 8. I wish I could give you a big gentle hug right now, Meghan. Managing pain like this isn't easy, for sure. I can imagine how frustrating it is to feel like your doctors at the pain center weren't validating the pain you're experiencing. Many living with MS also experience pain like the pain you mentioned. MS affects your nerves (think of your charging cable for your phone and when it starts to fray at the end, exposing all of those wires and that's pretty much how MS reacts within your nervous system) which can cause quite a lot of pain and discomfort. Unfortunately, we aren't medical professionals and can't give medical advice as to if what you're experiencing is or isn't MS. What I can do though is give you some resources and more information on how to find someone that specializes in MS to try and see. This is the National MS Society's doctor locator page. You can narrow down your search to your zip code and search through a bunch of specialities - https://www.nationalmssociety.org/Resources-Support/Find-Doctors-Resources. Also, here is some more information on the pain I mentioned that many with MS experience - https://multiplesclerosis.net/symptoms/pain-chronic-pain. I also want to leave you with this Meghan. It's a resource that goes into detail what the diagnosis process typically looks like for MS - https://multiplesclerosis.net/diagnosis. I hope that helps a bit, Meghan, Please know that you have the support of this community and if you ever have any other questions, need to vent or need some love and support, we're here for you, ok? 🧡 Kayleigh, MultipleSclerosis.net team
