@SamyJ 

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SamyJ

Relapse then shingles

Just before Xmas I had some dizziness. Not unusual for me, got worse over the week. Felt like I was drunk and my brain was floating around in head. Went to doctor and tried to explain that I had something like this before, she was a locum so just gave me something for the dizziness. Then I became unsteady on my feet which got worse, with headaches nausea and double vision. I went to A & E as it was the weekend and thought they could give me something else as the tablets weren't working. As soon as you say you have MS, everything gets blamed on that. The triage nurse was a little off with me. And the doctor got me to read off the eye chart and said that was fine. To which I replied yes with one eye closed everything is fine. But with both eyes open I am seeing double. She went off and came back and said I think you are having a relapse, go and see your MS nurse. I said can you give me something to stop the nausea as the other pills weren't working. My MS nurse and the consultant were not impressed with my treatment at A & E. Turned out I had Nystagmus and was having a relapse. So had a course of steroid tablets, rather than the IV steroids as it was close to Xmas. The balance and dizziness cleared up before the double vision. So about four weeks in total. Recently awoke in the night with pain in right side and then in back. Thought I might have a UTI, never had one before. Another visit to the doctor, treated for constipation, symptoms didn't improve. Another visit to the doctor, 1 suppository and 8 laxido's later, I woke in pain at 3am for 2 hours. Off to A & E, told of symptoms and the numbness of skin on back and stomach, itching and heat. Doctor noticed rash on back, told me I had shingles and gave me co-codamol. The next day spoke to my doctor who seemed puzzled that I had only been given pain killers. Have got antiviral tablets now. Hopefully back to normal soon. I know it's a long post but I feel that every time I seek medical advice I have to justify my reasons. I know when something isn't right and they need to ask the right questions Happy New Year!!!!!!!!!
@Stumbler

@samyj , you have been going through it, haven't you? The problem we experience is that MS is a bit of a specialised, neurological condition. General medical doctors are a bit out of their depth with what to do. It's in situations like this, where we have to try and direct the medical professionals in the right direction. The more information we can provide on our condition can only help us to get the right treatment. Let's hope that this year can only get better for you. 😉

@SamyJ

@stumbler, thanks for your reply. I had mentioned as many symptoms as I could. But like you say doctors tend to put most things down to MS rather than look at the bigger picture. Even after 6 years of being diagnosed I am still learning more of how it affects me. I count myself lucky in that my last big relapse was 4 years ago. With just little things symptom wise the rest of the time. Onwards and upwards.