Here we go...

Hi guys,

Well where to start...My names Claire and I'm 23. I've been advised that keeping a blog or diary might help me (and hopefully some others) work through some of the feelings of sadness, anger but mostly confusion that being a young person with Multiple Sclerosis leave you with. I'll also be writting about any symptoms I experience and any other MS related news items or 'miracle cures' I hear about.

But lets start at the begining..

Before I was diagnosed I always associated MS with women of a certain age, mainly because the few people I knew with it were exactly that. I, like most 20 year olds, assumed that I was indestructable but that changed in the summer of 2008.

My first symptoms happened when I was 20. I'd been enjoying the few days of summer we get in England by spending it sitting in the sun with my friends. Then one afternoon I experienced a throbbing headache above my right eyebrow and blurred vision which I put down to being out in the sun for too long, and as a red head the heat often left me with those symptoms anway! I knew somthing wasn't right when my headache worsened and painkillers weren't working. My vision got to the point where I couldn't see a thing unless I closed one eye and the double vision was effecting my dexterity and balnance. Within the space of 4 hours from the orginial symptoms of headache the entire right side of my face had 'dropped' and become paralysed (Palsy) and my left eye had turned round so my iris wasn't visable at all and all you could see was the white of the eye.

My parents are both Nurses and took me to A&E worried that I'd had a stroke. If I'm honest even hearing the word Stroke didn't scare me at that point because I even though my face clearly showed there was something wrong, I didn't feel ill so I assumed everything would be fine. Teenagers eh?!

The doctors in A&E gave me an eyepatch for my left wandering eye which really helped with my balance, and did a number of different neurological examinations testing strength, dexterity, balance and speech. I thought I'd passed with flying colours untill my Dad and I were called into a private room so the Emergency Consultant could tell us what she thought was wrong. She told us that she thought it was MS but needed to do a 'Lumbar Puncture' (also called a 'Spinal Tap') which would involve using a syringe to remove fluid from around my spinal cord which could give a definate diagnosis of Multiple Sclerosis.

I still didn't feel worried or sad about MS at this point, and looking back I can see that was because of my ignorance about the disease. My aunt has MS and she never showed any visable symptoms so I just thought it might make me tired more easily but not for years! I was most worried about not being able to smile for me 21st birthday and to this day its little things like that which upset me most.

I was given steroids for 4 days then sent home. I got some small movements back in my face but I was back in hospital 2 weeks later with even worse facial palsy which now made it difficult to swallow. I was again given steroids and started to improve again. Its been 3 years since I was first diagnosed and my face still isn't back to normal. When I'm ill, hungover or tired the drop on the right side of my face becomes more obvious and I've got used to that now even though it still upsets me every now and then.

I've had a few severe relapses since then including loosing most of the strength in my legs meaning I had to use a frame or wheelchair all the time but thats for another time.


These are the symptoms I experience daily:

Drop Foot: I trip over my own feet 3 or 4 times a day
Loss of strength and dexterity in my hands: I'm always dropping things and am unable to hold very small or very big objects regardless of their weight
Bladder Problems: Needing the toilet often without any warning
Weak Legs: I am unable to walk more than 10m on a bad day, 50/100m on a good day.
Painful  muscle cramps: In my upper arms, lower back and calfs.
Right sided weakness in my face:
Shooting/stabbing pains: Usually in my hips and back after or during walking.
Fatigue: Not being able to stay awake and feels like I have heavy limbs.


Well that's it for tonight But I'll try and post every week so If you want to ask anything, or want to to find something out for you about anything to do with Multiple Sclerosis just ask :)

See you soon
Claire