@turkleton12 

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turkleton12

Dizzy and lightheaded when I walk

Hi all, I am a 26 years old male and I was diagnosed with RRMS this summer after I went to the neurologist with diplopia. I have been an athlete at various levels throughout my life and have always been active outdoors so the diagnosis came as a shock to me. My physician put me on Rebif and I continued my life as usual as best as I could. I was having mild tingling and numbness here and there along with some constipation since my diagnosis but about a week ago I started to feel dizzy and lightheaded. It feels like as if I'm drunk (or hungover bc my head feels kind of heavy) and it will go away if I sleep and wake up but it doesn't.. At first it was mild but got worse in a couple days. I can walk and run and stuff but I have to put a lot more effort into trying to balance myself while walking. The conditions worsens in crowded areas with lots of stimulation like the subway or the grocery store. All of this coincided with a very stressful time of my life so I don't know if I'm having a relapse or an exacerbation or if this is something completely unrelated? I wanted to share this here to see if anybody has experienced something similar.
@Stumbler

Hi @turkleton12 and welcome. It worries me that you confess to a very stressful time, as stress seems to be a major agitator to our MS. On this basis, you could well be having a relapse. Vertigo is a symptom of MS, https://www.mstrust.org.uk/a-z/dizziness-vertigo . And, it seems that your cognition could be suffering to with cases of sensory overload. If possible, you need to discuss these latest developments with your Neuro. Do try and avoid stressful events. You need to ask yourself whether getting stressed out is worth risking your future health. Your university should be able to accommodate your MS, by offering tools to help and extending pressurised timescales. You just need to talk to them about this.

@turkleton12

Thank you @stumbler I am working on trying to ease the stress and when it comes to priorities my health is ofc at the top but it is easier said than done. I will let my neuro know about the latest developments and see what she has to say about it. Thanks a lot for the insight!