How many of you have a fear of MS?

[Catalyst]

There seem to be more and more people worrying about MS, which I know is a rare disease but that doesn't seem to be reassurance enough. How many of us share this fear?

[Shazandra]

I definitely do.....I guess anxiety symptoms tend to mimic MS symptoms.....

[rebeccad]

count me in, every little symptom i think the doctor is going to send me for a brain scan and it will get confirmed, i definatley now have a fear of going to the doctor where as before i was there every other week :-(

[gypsywomen]

my daughter is 26 single mum 2 children works .. is great women dosent suffer with anxiety or any dep or panic and yet she has just been told she hAS MS ,,,STILL SHE IS STRONG ,,she finds it hard to peel potatoes ,they found it in blood tests

[Granny Primark]

Oh gypsywomen that is so sad.
My heart goes out to your daughter and your family.
20 years ago I worked in a nursing home that cared for people with many illnesses.
We had people with M.S and I realised that with certain medication it could be kept under control to a certain degree. Im sure 20 years on they must have made progress and that hopefully will benefit your daughter.:hugs:
When my daughter was 4 the doctors at the hospital sent me for tests for motor neurone disease. It scared me to death.
It turned out to be trapped nerves in my neck that were caused by a car accident.
Im so glad your daughter is remaining strong. She must be one hell of a brave person.

[gypsywomen]

thank you lyne it is a worry for me ,i do hope meds help but she also has blood disorder where it eats at her bones and slowly everything ,, docter stumped its awful she laughed today and asked if i would take for walks when she is in weelchair soso brave love her so much

[leony]

Think ur daughter is truly amazing and i hope she keeps her positive attitude to life and she gets all the help and support she needs from all the different organisations she bloody well deserves it :hugs:

[Bexmumto3]

oh bless your daughter gypsywoman, she sounds like such a strong person. Did she have to have a specific blood test for MS or is it just found in the normal bloods that we have taken i.e liver,kidney, etc

I get these thoughts quite often & have asked my GP but they said they thought it was highly unlikely so I'm holding onto that & thinking it is just my stupid brain !!

xx

[icysmoooth]

I had a fear of MS I was recently told I have it but then when i saw a neurologist he says he doesn't know so I could or could not have it. Funny thing about it is I worried more about possibly having than I do now that it is a very real possibility. The important thing to remember is it affects people differently and it is not some sort of death sentence or a guarantee that you will become disabled. Luckily there is nothing wrong with me and my life is completely normal. They are making huge strides in treatments (CCSVI is the biggest one). I hope is someone reads this and it helps to ease some worry xoxox

[crazyhayz]

ICYSMOOOTH - havent they sent you for an MRI to check to rule out MS?

GYPSY WOMAN - your daughter sounds so brave, speshly having two kids, wish i could be as strong as her, my ONE QUESTION IS THOUGH: You say they found the MS in blood tests?? Ive heard it can only be spotted in MRI's?? Did she have any symptoms of it then?? Im just wondering as ive had basically every blood test under the sun and all is clear, so do i have to ask for a specific blood test for MS????? yOUR HELP WOULD BE MUCH APPRECIATED xxx

[Nattyburt]

Hell yes, i look up the symptoms and tell myself i have all of them so i must have it, right? apparently not.....

[nomorepanic]

Never worried about it at all

[Tinker28]

I used to never worry about it either. but since there is sooo much on TV, and in malls and such about this diesese, I have been worrying about it.

[eleanor_rigby]

I had never even heard of it until i got opticneuritis when i had just turned 18 years old. I had an mri scan which didn't reveal anything soon after, and 3 years on i haven't had a problem since. they discharged me and told me the cause was unknown. i feel like im kinda waiting for some sort of crash in the next few years where i will be told i do actually have ms.

[crazyhayz]

alix what are the symptoms of optic neuritis? its just that i had an appt with my optician coz i had foggy vision. vision was 20/20 but she spotted that i had slightly swollen optic nerves. She sent me for an appt that day at my local hospital, and i was checked by an Eye Casualty Specialist. He said he couldnt find anything wrong atall. So i was discharged. My foggy vision was put down to anxiety. I accepted that and it soon went away.. But the thing is, i keep thinking "But surely i mustve had SOMETHING going on in my eyes for the optician to say they were swollen and send me for an immediate appt?" Ive had a CT scan due to dizziness and all was clear. But im CONVINCED i have MS, i have sooooo many of the symptoms, and i know the only way to spot MS is through an MRI......... But ive also heard on here that it can be picked up on blood tests??? But dr.google says otherwise........

[eleanor_rigby]

I'm not entirely sure if people's experiences of optic neuritis vary or not but for me the symptoms were very obvious and not like what you described. For a few days I had a horrible headache above the eye, then I think it was pretty much BAM, blind in that eye and sooooo damn painful with eye movement. When I wanted to look to the side I had to hold my hand over my eye and turn my head really slowly so that my eye did not move with my head. I went to the hospital and they diagnosed me there and then with optic neuritis. Before this happened I originally went to my optician who couldn't tell anything was wrong and assumed my headaches were stress eurgh. but the hospital was reliable and I would trust them if they told you nothing is wrong. My vision came back slowly over the course of a couple of months and the pain went after a week. That week was the most horrendus thing ever though. I had to wear an eyepatch which helped, and i was way more concerned about the pain than I was about the fact that i was blind. If this is most people's experiences with optic neuritis then i can safely say you would KNOW if you had it. No two ways about it. The hospital would know as well.

Yeah to be tested for ms i believe you need an mri scan and im not even sure they are 100% reliable. if they show signs of it, there are further tests that can be done to confirm it. havent heard anything about blood tests looking at it.

[icysmoooth]

I've been through testing for MS - two MRI's and a third one will be done next year to see what is going on. I've also had a neurological exam and evoked potentials. So for now I don't worry about it, I eat following an MS diet and exercise. I don't experience any problems and have no trouble being a mom to my almost 4 year old son and doing everything I've always done. I think positive about it and have been give hope that I may not have it but I will deal with it if I do have it :)

[zippy]

my sister in law was diagnosed with m.s about 12 yrs ago and she works full time and is ok most of the time infact she is fitter than me lol.

[jaynee]

I am convinced I have MS or MND or brain tumour etc. i'm going totally mad with anxiety and dont know what way to turn. I'm glued to the internet scanning symptoms. My GP has referred me to mental health and in the meantime I am expected to relax!!! I will need sectioning by the time I get seen :(
Does anyone on here feel ill all the time, I mean never well but everyone is saying there is nothing wrong, I told my GP I thought I had ms and he just tried to silence me! Jayne

[crazyhayz]

Jaynee, thank god i posted, i like you feel ill with anxiety all the time, like constantly. Im having CBT though plus meds, so am on the up, but im never relaxed. im constantly tense and feel like im losing it. I am utterley convinced i have MS like you too... hope we can find peace together lol! x