@Heather_Louise 

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Heather_Louise

Steroids...Im new and confused.

Hello all, I name is Heather, and I’m very new to MS. A quick version of my story is I woke up one day in July and couldn’t walk I had numb hands numb feet no strength in my legs just a total mess ended up in the hospital for five days. So that’s where this all starts but here we are 4 1/2 months later and I still don’t have a confirmed diagnosis. I have another appointment on December 16 but in the meantime my neurologist seems to be fairly confident that it’s a MS. He’s basing that off of the onset of my symptoms my initial MRI, I’m waiting for another next week. Just had lumbar puncture done so he’ll review those results with me and I’m waiting on the vision test. In hindsight, I definitely had other symptoms going on for probably close to two years that I just chalked up to stress and anxiety. Things like dizziness being off-balance tingling in my finger tips tingling in my toes so long story short is me ignoring things obviously didn’t make them get any better. Where I’m at right now is while we’re waiting to To confirm diagnosis he had me do a round of IV steroids. I finished the last infusion last Wednesday I really haven’t noticed any change sense. Can anyone tell me if I should expect to see a change anytime soon or not at all I’m just really confused. Thank you in advance for any help
@ItsMewithMS

HI- I think we can all relate to your confusion, fear and anxiety but none of us can answer your questions about when things will resolve because MS is a very individualistic disease and it's path and course for one person is different from another. One thing I've learned from my years and then reading the stories on this forum (and in other places) is that is you can never learn enough. If you use the little magnifying glass in the upper left and put in anything you have a question about the past discussions about that topic will pop up. A common one is "Diagnosis". It seems like everyone has very different initial first symptoms but Optic Neuritis is a common one. That may just because it impacted our sight or caused such pain we couldn't ignore it. I also had so many little symptoms that I brushed off and explained as pinched nerves from over-doing kick boxing or because a fall from a horse that were very likely early symptoms of MS and were explained (by me or Drs) as due to something else. I'll post in a couple of helpful links. Your profile doesn't say where you are from and diagnosis and treatment varies by country. That is another thing I really became aware of due to this site. So be aware of that when you research- The MS societies of the US and the UK are good sources of information but also some other sites...random Google searches can't always be relied upon I have found. You may be able to relate to this Healthline article or the Aaron Boster videos- he has quite an extensive library I have learned a lot from https://www.healthline.com/health/multiple-sclerosis/tests-diagnose#lumbar-puncture Aaron Boster's playlist- there are a few that focus on diagnosis- https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=UUkQopiiFbAo0zS_9BmRF3Bg I'd definitely try to document when prior symptoms happened, what they were and how long they lasted. Some Drs don't like to start treatments or take things to seriously if they feel this is a CIS (Isolated Symptom) but if you can demonstrate any kind of a pattern they may take action. It sounds like they are working through the tests and hopefully you get resolution soon. It's good you found this forum as well as I have found the users very helpful and supportive. Good luck- search, post and use this site. If you want to address your question or a response to someone else's question to a specific person just put a "@" and their name so the response also hits their email box - that can be very helpful- like to hit my box use " @itsmewithms "

@Heather_Louise

@itsmewithms THank you. I am in Florida. My doctors haven’t dismissed me it’s just been a long process IMO. I really started noticing the dizziness, anxiety and tingling finger tips and toes last April 2018. But I gradually got worse with balance and vertigo and I kept thinking it was just anxiety. It wasn’t til I woke up this past July and couldn’t walk that realized I could no longer ignore whatever it was. This has been the longest, saddest 4+ months of my life. I just want to get back to some kind of normal. Thanks for your reply. I have gone through some of Dr Bosters stuff and I continue to try to educate myself.