Thursday, January 14, 2010

Rehearsing My Lines

Dear New Neuro,

As you can see from my charts, I was diagnosed with RRMS on October 29, 2009 after numerous tests and discussions with your former co-neuro. I started Copaxone on November 7, 2009 and to this date, I have not missed any injections. Amazingly.

My New Symptoms Include -

Worsening of Blurred Vision: The blurred vision that at one point seemed to happen 20 or 30 times a day, has increased to more than 100. I don't count but it's a significant increase and my number is not an exageration.

The length of time my vision is blurred has also increased. From maybe a second or two, to five+ seconds. The blurred vision is unpredictable but does seem to worsen in the evenings when fatigue sets in. It is not painful but extremely annoying.

(I hope that before my appointment in February I can get in to see an Ophthamologist. I think of all the symptoms I could possibly have, interruptions to my eye sight is the one that saddens me the most. I love seeing my beautiful family.)

Frozen Finger: This may just be a nerve thing but out of no where my right index finger will be freezing and the rest of the fingers on my hand feel like they're at a normal temperature. It takes about 20-30 minutes for the finger to 'heat up' again but during this time, it hurts. Maybe like frostbite? I've never had frostbite before so I can't really compare, just guessing.

Dazed Vision: This is a new one for me. You know when you're staring off into space and you can see everything perfectly fine yet, everything is sort of in a fog? It's kind of like that. It happens sporadically and quickly if I don't keep my eyes moving.

I feel a bit 'spacey' during it but I'm still completely aware of all around me. I can usually blink out of it pretty quickly but again, if I don't keep my eyes moving, I'll fall right back into it. Is that fatigue? I have no idea.

High-Pitched Squeal: That's the gist of it. It's only happened maybe 2 or 3 times over the last year but it's something I forgot to bring up in the beginning.

That's almost all of it. Last night while I was sleeping I was awaken by what felt like a thousand tiny needles stabbing me on the bottom of my big toe. Or an electric shock. Nice! Lasted only 2 minutes or so and I can't remember which toe it was as I was half asleep.

(Just put Bean down for a nap and almost fell. My right knee gave out, worse than any time before. Hmmm...I seem to have a lot of issues with my right side. Another note for the Neuro.)

Whew!!! MS is tiring. The actual symptoms are almost as bad as tracking the damn symptoms. LOL! Ah well, it is what it is.

6 comments:

Tammy said...

MS sucks! Good for you tracking your symptoms. I agree it is almost as exhausting! I get that dazed/foggy vision too. Weird & frustrating. Aim for the bed if you can when holding the kids. That's what I try to do. Or go down the steps on your butt with them on your lap. They think it's a game. ;) Good luck, sweetie!

Sarah said...

Thanks Tammy!

I think most people I know would suggest I go down the stairs on my butt regardless of if I'm holding a kid or not. LOL! In 2008 I fell down the stairs while holding Bean. It was not MS related, just slipped off the edge of the step. Anyway, Bean was fine as I held on tight to her and made sure that any damage done was done to me. She thought she was on a ride but I screamed out in agonizing pain once I hit the bottom. She was fine, I was not. LOL!

Luckily, I have not taken any MS related spills and I hope I never do. And I'm glad I'm not alone on the dazed vision thing although I'm sorry you're dealing with it too.

Anonymous said...

Hey Girl,

What you're going through also happened to me right after diagnosis. I started exercising like a mother and it went away quickly. That may be easier said than done with the little one, but I bet you can get some of the same results as I did. I was already playing racquetball about 5 nights a week, but I cranked it up even more with running and it really, really helped for a long time. I hope you've been well Sarah.

Anonymous said...

OK, these comments officially suck! What you are dealing with sounds exactly like what I went through shortly after my diagnosis. I am not going to go into the detail of my first comment that Google dumped! But I did want to tell you that although I was already exercising pretty hard, I cranked it up and it really, really helped for a good long time.

How have you been Sarah? I hope you've been well!

Anonymous said...

sorry google! I guess they just needed a minute to actually appear!

Sarah said...

No worries Lew!

I've been doing pretty good, just trying to adjust to the MS thing and paying attention to it all. Hope all is well with you. I need to catch up on my reading in TIMS and your blog. I've been slackin'.