Has anybody with ms experienced this

Thank you so much for opening up and sharing what you’ve been going through—it’s not easy to be so vulnerable, especially when everything feels scary and uncertain. It’s also totally okay to feel like your family doesn’t fully get it. A lot of members in this community have been there when talking about symptoms that are invisible or strange, it can make people uncomfortable, or they just don’t know how to respond. But please don’t ever feel like you're a burden for needing to talk. That’s why we're here. To vent, to ask questions, to feel understood. Back to your concern, the tingling in the toes and fingers, electric shock feelings (like little zaps), and itching sensations are actually things many people with MS describe, especially the tingling and electric shocks, which are sometimes called Lhermitte's sign when they happen with certain head movements. But even with that, it doesn’t necessarily mean you have MS. That said, your body is unique, your itching and swelling could’ve been a temporary reaction to the vaccine, or something totally separate. The best course of action would be to talk to your doctor. They're the ones who can piece together all the information and provide the most accurate guidance. I hope you can get some other input and clarity soon! -Latoya (Team Member)

Not at all overstepping in asking, please ask away as that is how we learn from eachother and support one another.
My first symptoms were numbness in parts of my lower legs that would come and go. I was young and did not give it much thought. I played softball back then and thought maybe it was something I had injured during a game or practice. But then one day, while out walking with my two small children, my vision completely changed. The world in front of us appeared to turn sideways, with the bottom half going totally black. I was scared, shocked, alarmed etc. However I had a 2 and 3 year old walking with me. So I said let's play a game, and promptly sat down (in case something else were to happen) they were excited and we sat right down and sang songs or whatever I could to distract them. After maybe 5 mins everything seemed to go back to the way it should be. I just turned us around and we walked back home. Once there I called my husband who told me not to worry, sounded strange what had happened but I was young and healthy and surely it was nothing. I started seeing bright yellow lights in my right eye at night, when my eyes were closed, and it was dark and no lights were on or visible with my eyes open. I noticed a slight tremor in my left hand, especially when I was holding something, like a phone or book.
Eventually I did go in 1991 to see a doctor. Explained everything that I was experiencing and was told after a very brief examination, that I was a young healthy woman who was also a bored housewife and subconsciously trying to create problems for attention. Of course I knew that was not true but I was mortified and embarrassed that was what I was told. Between 1991 and 1998 I experienced much of the same symptoms from time to time only my tremor worsened, and the bright yellow lights at night became more normal to experience. Then my right eye started hurting a lot with any movement. I went back to the doctors. This time they looked, with a flashlight in my eye and said they saw 'something'. They sent me right away to the hospital for a CT-scan. The doctor then told me that I may have a brain tumor behind my right eye. Said he could see it with the flashlight and the CTscan confirmed. I was given an appointment with a neurologist, but it was 3 weeks away. So for 3 weeks I thought that I had a brain tumor, which was scary. I wrote my children letters in case I passed away. When I did meet with the neurologist, he was amazing and kind. He told me, and my husband, that he thought I had MS but would need me to get an MRI to know for sure. We were relieved because MS sounded bad, but not like a brain tumor, need to do surgery on your brain kind of bad.
That was in 1998. MRI confirmed diagnosis of MS. I started on weekly Beta Seron injections and they worked great to keep it from progressing. My first MRI showed 3 definite plaques. Propranolol was perscribed for my tremors, I still take that today. In 2015 I had to switch from Beta Seron weekly injections as my body had gotten used to it and it was no longer stopping new plaques from forming. I have gone through co-paxone, Techfidera, and now I have been using Ocrevous for the last 4 years. I get my next infusion on Thursday. This medication has been very effective for me. I currently have 29 plaques in my brain and that number has not changed in over 4 years. I am truly blessed because all of my symptoms are hidden and unseen. Sometimes I stumble, but people do that. I still try to get out and walk. I forget words or use words that I didnt mean and I am ok with that. I usually have no idea that I did it and someone will point out that I stated I was driving my dishwasher instead of my truck and I say well you know what I mean. I was a professional trainer so being in front of people on a big screen or on stage was normal. Messing up was ok, usually made them laugh as if I did it intentionally. I had to stop working last year. Just too tired. And my cog fog got the best of me. Simple computer programs, spreadsheets things I had done for years just became too frustrating to figure out. The anxiety over the computer made me begin anxiety medications. And I need naps. At least 1 nap a day, sometimes 2. I sleep 8 to 12 hours a night. No kidding and that's without sleeping aids. So work was no longer a viable option.


I do want you to know that at first I was absolutely afraid to let people know I had MS. I was afraid of being treated differently or being let go from my job etc. I only recently, maybe last 7 years have been open about it to everyone (except work) I think in todays world people are much more forgiving and accepting of our differences or illnesses. What that first doctor told me stayed with me a very long time. It scarred me, and made me afraid. I am disappointed in myself for that but I was only 27 at the time. I am so thankful that I have grown past that and I am able to appreciate myself and what my body, mind, emotinal and spiritual self has gone through. I will be 58 this year. I am so thankful of each year of life. I recently (in January) was diagnosed with Type 2 Diabetes. So a co-morbidity to work through. Doctors have been great. Sugars are back where they should be. I feel better. Just take the medications and do as they suggest. But I research on my own too and I am a good advocate for myself. My husband of 40 years is Wonderful and so is my Daughter. One of them will go with me to a doctors apt especially if I am sick, because it is hard to stand up for yourself when you are not feeling like yourself.
This may have been way more then you wanted to know. Or it might have been just what you needed. Please do no hesitate to ask any questions or give any advice you want to share.
Take care and have a good night!