how do i know if its an MS symptom?

[sammyj]

Hi

at what point do i know if something is MS related.

i dont know about anyone else but i tend to assume any problems i have are not related to my MS and just hope they go away.

 

at the moment i am having terrible problems with sciatica type pain.

i started about two weeks ago with a pain behind my right hip. just a dull ache initally. this week it got worse and spread across my lower back until yesterday it started to resemble sciatica down the back of both legs.

 

should i be concerned that this is MS related and speak to my MS nurse or just keep hoping it goes away.

 

i know forum users have so much knowledge and personal experience that i thought i'd see if anyone had any idea here frist.

 

thanks

Sam

[Nick]

Sam,

I think this is a very good question! Now that I have been living with MS for a few years I can sometimes recognise a problem as MS related. Because its become familiar to me. However I have some problems that are more problematical to understand. One example are my knees! Problems with mobility have given me pains in the knees, I now put this down to MS, BUT only in respect of my lopsided gait. The damage to the knee itself being only indirectly caused and simply a 'bad knee' Other things are more complex, like neuralgic pains, which for the life of me I still can't attribute either way. Having now read a lot about MS and being a firm advocate of trying to get the best out of living with MS it is clear that the importance of exercise to keep your body going is very very important. I also think that its important to try and establish what a problem is, and NOT simply 'blame' your MS. This is what you are doing I know and it's something that people without MS have difficult in understanding.

 

Nick

[Stumbler]

Sam, have a word with your MS Nurse and see if you can get a referral to a Neuro-physio. They can take a good look at you to see whether you have adopted any bad habits, which are causing this pain, to compensate for MS weaknesses.

 

As Nick said, he compensated with a change in gait, which has caused its own problems.

 

Hope this helps

 

[Hezza]

Hi Sam,

It's a tricky one. If it were me and I thought there was a chance that it was MS related I'd probably speak to my MS Nurse to see if she thought it could be the MS and take it from there, seeing my GP if necessary once I've spoken with her.

 

As well as pain being a symptom of MS issues can also occur if we are moving in a different way or using muscles differently to compensate for weakness elsewhere, sometimes without being really conscious of it, as both John and Nick have explained.

 

Hopefully your MS Nurse will be able to help, even if only to point you in the right direction.

 

[Scully]

Hello Sam,

 

As has been said, it's really difficult sometimes to work out whether we have a new MS symptoms, or symptoms worsened by something we are doing wrong, or, it isn't MS at all and is, in fact, something else. It can be very hard to try and unravel it at times.

 

Some health professionals, do tend to blame everything on MS, whilst others are happy to look at other causes. An altered gait, I know I went very lop sided when dragging my left leg for a while, caused all the muscles on my right side to ache and pull. So yes, a Neuro-physio is great at helping us to work on our core muscles to try and maintain a better posture, despite the MS making us walk oddly.

 

Scully

x

 

 

[sammyj]

thanks everybody for your responses. i saw a GP Friday who said it could be related to MS and i should speak to MS nurse. same advice i got from everyone here! basically he doesnt know.

over the weekend i have had the chance to consider the problem and i think it is related to hip pain i have had for about a month and i am compensating for the hip pain which has caused my back muscles to tighten up and probably put some pressure on a nerve causing the sciatica.

i have logged a call to my MS nurse just in case and am waiting for a call back. my nurse is very good so i expect to hear back today or tomorrow.

 

thanks again

Sam

[Scully]

Hello Sam,

 

Do you, or have you seen a Neuro- physio for pain? They can often identify why we are putting strain on otherwise painless muscles. Perhaps ask the MS Nurse when she calls?

 

Scully

x