Look Deeper: Signs of MS
robert
Posted on May 22nd, 2012
World MS Day (WMSD) 2012 is only one week away! To mark this we are releasing our third riddle entitled ‘Look Deeper’. We need everyone to share the riddle as widely as possible outside of their MS circle, with friends, family and colleagues, to ensure that as many people as possible become aware of the unique challenges of MS.
The riddle highlights that people with MS have varying symptoms. We want as many people as possible to know that MS comes in many different forms, that there is no exact set of symptoms that everyone experiences and that each person’s MS is different.
Many of the postcards uploaded to our ‘1000 faces of MS‘ wall recount these experiences. George Pepper says that, “the onset was all very sudden for me. After ruling out meningitis, the fear was then a brain tumour which led to an MRI scan.”
Max Lewis says that,
“in late 2005 when out at a restaurant, I went completely blind and people thought I was drunk. But I wasn’t, I don’t drink. Then, in 2006, after I fell out of bed, I got the shocking news that I had MS.”
“I was diagnosed with MS in September 2005. Prior to that I had many symptoms however no one put it all together,” says Mary Schneider.
“I was diagnosed with MS on October 27, 2010,” says Lee Domenico. “It was a bittersweet day for myself and my family. We finally had answer as to what was wrong with me for the past 10 years. No, I really didn’t want to have MS, but in the same breath, I also didn’t want to continue life thinking I was crazy,”
We still want to hear from those of you who have not yet told us what living with MS means to you to become one of the “1000 faces of MS” and tell the world your story.
Tagged: Look Deeper, symptoms of MS, Video, WMSD2012, World MS Day, World MS Day 2012
Mon 1er symptôme, j’avais 37 -38 ans j’ai perdue la vision de l’oeil gauche durant quelques semaine, une fatigue intense, perte d’équilibre. Je me rappelle pas que la fatigue soit passée. En 2009, probleme de vue, la vision était dans le même axe, tout était double et la perte d’équilibre était pire ainsi que la fatigue. Présentement, je travail dans un bureau et les gens comprennes que j’ai besoin de me reposer parfois. Je fais mes injections de copaxone 1 fois par jour.
Ces d’apprendre a écouter son corps qui n’est pas évident, car voir qu’on ne peu plus fonctionner comme dans le passer ces pas évident a tous les jours.
Nathalie, 48 ans
The town I grew up in (Selkirk, Man) has an extremely high number of people affected by MS…and I do mean a “high” number…what is in the area that is causing this. For one a large steel mill….and secondly the town is surrounded by farming and at one time pesticides with harmful ingredients (DDT) etc were commonplace.
i was just confirmed to have MS, two days ago by a neursurgeon. the shock hasnt worn off yet, still breaking down alot, also still reading on the meds she wants to start me on asap..i had been having signs for last 8 years, but no one pegged it all together , i thought its old age, arhtirtis, exhasution, etc.., but now i know. it all came to light in feb when i lost eye sight in one eye and had to undergo steroid treatment to get it back. it was that eye doc who started the digging into MS, and thank god he did..i now have the answer to so many things that have been going on with myself, that was starting to make me think i was crazy because no one could figure out what was going on. so in a way its a huge relief now, but scary at the same time.. i come from a huge family, and on both sides this is the first time anyone has had MS. any insight is apprecaited as im now learning everything i can about this.
I was diagnosed on September 30th 2011. I knew what MS was since my mom had been diagnosed with it almost 12 years earlier. I was very fortunate that between my PCP and my neurologist it took them only two weeks to figure it out. My whole left side started shutting down just two weeks prior to my diagnoses. I was crushed when the doctors told me that they wanted to have an MRI done to see if I had any lesions to see if I could possibly have MS. My mom never really talked about how MS affected her or what her symptoms were. I just knew that she had become disabled and was always in pain. I was terrified. A week after my diagnoses I told my mom about my results. She then talked to me about all she had been going through over the years. My mom recently passed away on March 5th. It was not the MS that killed her but cancer. We had only found out she had cancer 2 weeks before she died. The doctors figured she had it for a long time but kept thinking it was her MS acting up. I live and fight everyday now not just for myself but for my mother and everyone else who has been stricken by this disease.
I was at work 28 years ago and as I got up from my desk my left leg collapsed from underneath me. Both my parents walked me down the isle 5 months later. No one would figure out I had MS for 12 years. In that time I had several surgeries to fix what I now know is nueophathy in both hands and legs, an a tonic esophagus, and by pure luck I saw a Doctor who after an MRI told me I had MS, I was never so happy in my life, I was not crazy or a super “A” type personality, at least now I knew there was a place to start to heals from all the hell of the past 12 years and I could begin to work on healing. I have now had MS 28 years and while I am not sure how I will wake up I know I will and it will be a new day to fight on. By the way, my initials are MS, ironic isn’t it, I am not my initials though.
My first symptom occurred when I was making my first psychology test at the university. I was 38 years old by then. I started to have double vision and I could hardly finished my exam. Went to the doctor immediately and he made me a brain MR. He found a very small lesion but told me not to be concerned because it was nothing serious. Every other doctors I went to see, told me I was very tired and depressed and recomended me to take Prozac.
One year after, exams time, I had the very same symptoms but all the same nobody took very attention and kept on saying I was just tired (I was a night student, and had my job during the day).
5 years later, they finally diagnosed me. Fortunately I’m not physically handicapped, but my cognitive system is getting affected as time goes by.
I have had active MS symptoms for 14 years. I have seen all kinds of discriminatory practices including at Duke University Health System. There are ADA violations and it is getting harder and harder to get around. My world is getting more and more limited. Sometimes it is scary just to walk outside not knowing if I will fall and end up in the hospital and be out of commission. I am playing risky every time I get out of my home.
Most people do not understand what it is like and expect more from me. They expect me to just get up and exercise and it will go away. I am sorry but MS does not allow me to do that. It is hard to maintain friendships and family connections.
Mon 1er et principal symptôme a commencé par une fatigue épuisante, puis une vision flou et des troubles de l’équilibre. Pendant des années, mon entourage n’a pas compris ce que j’avais “on me traitait de petite nature, de faible”. Maintenant, je vis chaque jour à l’instant présent : quand je vais bien je fais des choses et quand je suis épuisée je me repose !!!