ALS / Motor Neuron Disease

[Colicab85]

Your partner is right.

What seems more likely over PN, ALS or MS is anxiety and depression.

Stop trying to convince yourself that what everyone in the world has from time to time (dropping stuff, tingly, heat patches etc) means you have a debilitating illness.

I know its hard but you have to try and allow yourself to consider that you have a mental health condition and what you're doing is making it worse.

[MrLurcher]

Your partner is right.

What seems more likely over PN, ALS or MS is anxiety and depression.

Stop trying to convince yourself that what everyone in the world has from time to time (dropping stuff, tingly, heat patches etc) means you have a debilitating illness.

I know its hard but you have to try and allow yourself to consider that you have a mental health condition and what you're doing is making it worse.

I fully admit that I suffer from anxiety, especially health anxiety. But these symptoms are pretty consistent and nothing like I've had before. It's been a week now, and my symptoms have gone from tingling to burning, including aches and pains. There's no let up. I don't think I feel that anxious either, which doesn't make sense.

[Fishmanpa]

There's no let up. I don't think I feel that anxious either, which doesn't make sense.

You're wound tighter than a '59 humbucker! Also, as I stated, your posting pattern is that of someone deep in the rabbit hole.

Anxiety is like a campfire. When you're in the midst of a spiral the fire is burning bright and hot. When the flames die down, there's still a bed of red hot coals burning away just waiting for some more fuel. You may not feel anxious but your body is still on high alert and has a bed of hot anxiety coals inside just waiting to flare up. Just like a campfire, the hot coals of anxiety take a long time to finally go out.

I also stand by my statement that all this is anxiety. Ohhh peripheral neuropathy? I have it in my feet from chemo. My feet are essentially numb and tingly 24/7. I also get "stabbies" which is like being stabbed with an ice pick. Extremely painful! I take meds to counter the symptoms. For me it's just part of the "new normal" as a survivor.

Listen to your partner. Get help for the illness you do have. I have issues that can put me 6 feet under. You have an illness that's doing to you above ground :(

Positive thoughts

[MrLurcher]

Thanks for the advice Fishmanpa, and I appreciate your patience.

Unfortunately i have had to make an appt with an out of hours doctor. My leg felt very abnormal and weak yesterday and isnt much better today. He said over the phone that with my symptoms I should have made an appt this week. Nervous wreck right now.

[Fishmanpa]

Thanks for the advice Fishmanpa, and I appreciate your patience.

Unfortunately i have had to make an appt with an out of hours doctor. My leg felt very abnormal and weak yesterday and isnt much better today. He said over the phone that with my symptoms I should have made an appt this week. Nervous wreck right now.

This is what gets to me... My wife and I have real physical issues and we can barely afford to see the doctor for normal and needed routine checks and tests even with insurance and you're running off to an out of hours doctor that typically cost more for an imaginary illness

Good luck and as always...

Positive thoughts

[MrLurcher]

This is what gets to me... My wife and I have real physical issues and we can barely afford to see the doctor for normal and needed routine checks and tests even with insurance and you're running off to an out of hours doctor that typically cost more for an imaginary illness

Good luck and as always...

Positive thoughts

It's difficult to comprehend a life without the NHS to be honest. It's a fantastic, albeit wrongly used service at times. Even though my grandmother went gravely ill after a routine operation, which was mainly caused by some negligence due to short staffing, I still don't blame the service itself - we're lucky to have it.

My appointment went ok, and it was a paramedic I saw rather than a doctor. after a few physical tests, she determined it was sciatica - probably caused by muscle inflammation. She ran this past the doctor outside the appointment room and he was happy with that diagnosis.

I have since felt better and the symptoms have subsided a little, but today after a stressful hour my legs have felt very weak and I feel exhausted. Once again I'm back on the MS trail. I may visit a doc again tomorrow, I'm just feeling very uneasy about the whole thing. What if it is MS, what if I have a slipped disk, spinal disease. MS symptoms come and go so that seems the likely thing at the moment.

---------- Post added at 16:30 ---------- Previous post was at 14:25 ----------

Oh ****. I've just read up sciatica and long term nerve compression damage - completely freaked me out again.

Says on a lot of websites that anyone who has weakness should seek medical help immediately! Why wasn't I referred for scans when I saw the paramedic / doc and explained my symptoms.

Back to the docs tomorrow.

[Colicab85]

Because you sought medical help by seeing the doctor and they, with their extensively training and experience, deemed it to be nothing to worry about?

[MrLurcher]

Ive been having overactive bladder symptoms since Thursday, which is another issue in MS. Pee'd nearly 20 times today. Petrified right now, its all adding up to MS between all my recent symptoms. Im terrified and so upset.

[MrLurcher]

Seeing a doc today at 2.50. I know he can't say if I have MS or not, but Im hoping for some reassurance or a quick referall to a neuro. Im not going to be able to enjoy xmas feeling like this and having these symptoms.

[MrLurcher]

Well, I saw one of the older docs, he's a bit old-school.

I'm not too happy. I told him my health anxiety history and my recent leg problem, along with the current bladder problem and he said 'it looks like it may be all in you mind, and have you started the tablets?'. It's on my notes about my anxiety and depression.

I said no, and asked can I be referred to a Neuro because of these current MS symptoms. And he said he doesn't see the need to and to trust his judgement.
He was nice about it, and asked are we going to refer me to a urologist and a bowel specialist as well (my crohns / bowel cancer fears).

I'm quite annoyed, I was hoping to at least be on the path to a proper diagnosis or concrete reassurance today. i'm still peeing a lot more regularly than normal and it's upsetting, I've even began to time how many hours there are between pee's so I know what's normal for me and not.