Thursday, March 24, 2016

The MS chronicles: The 'Torture'...sorry...The 'Symptom' Fest!

This post has been in drfts for over a month.Culdnt post it becaus all the symptoms of MS describd below are intensifing unpredctably,.and i dont know when i'll be okay enugh to write again..so i decid to share ths for now.. till thn... bye...

It's been almost 7 months since being confirmly diagnosed with MS (which is a neurodegenerative disease that affects the central nervous system and destroys the myelin sheath on the nerves.. thereby affecting the brain-body communication). And it's been there for almost 3+ years before being diagnosed. All this time, Life's been like a torture fest with these symptoms...it's like riding a Ginormous roller coaster with unpredictable twists and turns and ups and downs... with added ghosts in the middle.

There are 50+ symptoms that MS patients can suffer from. Like they say - 'no two MS patients are alike'. Each one suffers with different set of symptoms with varying intensity than the other one. And that is totally true because me and my cousin who is also suffering from this disabling disease have a few symptoms that aren't same in both of us. Right now i am suffering from a moderate set of symptoms.

Many people are unaware of this disease and the infinite symptoms it presents. So, now that i am living with it, i just wanted to let people know about how this disease takes it's patients on an unpredictable torture ride. 

These are the symptoms i am currently suffering From:

Note: Just to keep you informed...Some may find the list quite overwhelming.so,please proceed only if you know it wouldn't affect you in any negative way.
  • Fatigue - Even after a good night's sleep, it feels like somebody sucked all my energy out just like the sun sucks out of that kid in the Glucon-D ad if you remember it. I just feel like crashing and never waking up.

  • Walking difficulty - Can't walk normal anymore. Balance issues started. Feels like i am walking on a surface with lessened gravity. And feels like there is loose connection in the joint my right knee. This causes so much imbalance and pain that i just couldn't walk. Got to buy a Walking Cane ASAP!
  • Vision problems - Blurry vision and sometimes there is this shooting pain inside and around the eye socket. Can't move my eye ball in any direction when that happens.
  • Depression and Emotional changes - Severe. It just gets out of control sometimes. With each episode, it feels like i am falling in to the pit deeper and deeper and deeper....
  • Involuntary jerky movements in various parts.. especially my left hand,right leg and neck.
  • Hearing problems - Lowered hearing capacity. 
  • Speech/Swallowing problems - slurry speech all of a sudden and swallowing problems aren't that big of an issue for now but sometimes even saliva becomes difficult to swallow.
  • Skin sensitivity - My skin turned painful to the touch and hypersensitive.
  • Pain - On scalp.. which sometimes feels like somebody is cutting in to my skull with a nut cracker kind of tool. In both legs.. but, right one is more painful. Both elbows.. but again right elbow suffers more (Sorry tennis elbow...for blaming you).  
  • Sharp ringing sound in ears all of a sudden sometimes.
  • Mild numbness in my right leg. can't feel heat or cold that quickly in that leg.
  • Mild tremors and muscle twitching.
  • Mild Dizziness,Giddiness and vertigo.
  • Bowel dysfunction. Sometimes it feels like my bowels went numb.They'll have no movement whatsoever! ya..gross..i know. This is when 'Zandu - Nityam' tablets became my saviors.
  • Weakened immune system. I'm living with common cold 20 out of 30 days every month. My nose has become super sore, super dry and super sensitive with all the constant wiping. That's when the "Forest essentials Replenishing Facial Emulsion-Tejasvi" and 'The Body Shop Argan solid oil' came to my rescue. If not for these products, i would've cut my nose off! ya.. it was that severe!
  • Frequent Nausea. I pop mints and pass-pass like there is no tomorrow!
  • short attention span, coordination problems and mild memory loss.
  • And last but not least....Temperature sensitivity. Absolutely can't handle humid and hot climate..wet-cold climates are a big no no too. Dry climates are a BIG YES! That is why we're shifting to Bangalore.

Let's see where this merciless disease takes me next.

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Love,
Siri.


5 comments:

  1. I totally understand your position. With one person suffering from this disease in my fmaily , I know the pain.
    Going from healthy to these myriad symptoms is so difficult.
    The worst is the depression.
    Plz switch to completly organic cosmetics and soaps/shampoos as this will ease the skin discomfort
    Also eating only organic food complete with desi ghee,haldi, chavanprash & cutting our sugar,salt,chips.store bought products will help

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    Replies
    1. Thanks for understanding jayanthi :) And in case you haven't noticed, i switched to all natural cosmetics and foods 5 years ago and i started this blog with the intention to promote that lifestyle in India. :))

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  2. Awwiee take care dear... Lots of love

    Sonali :)

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