# Way too much



## momof5 (May 4, 2010)

The past two plus years have been way too much to deal with concerning health issues. It has been just one thing after another.

Now I'm dealing with a nodule on my left lung the size of a pea, and am getting a second opinion on this. Spent most of the first months of this year dealing with new fms issues with my arms and legs.

Now dealing with severe dizzy spells and am being tested for MS and a tumor that grows behind the ear that could be causing this, along witth some heart testing for issues that could be some t ype of blood blockage to the brain due to palpitations of the heart.

I try to remain positive, but this is starting to get to me. I would love to go back about 2 1/2 years and just do design like I would like to do. All these things keep me not feeling well, worried about the future, am I going to die? Am I going to have MS on top of everything else. 

I searched MS and some of the new things that have come along could be FMS related or MS related. sigh.


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## David Baxter PhD (May 4, 2010)

I'm sorry to hear this, Deb. I'll keep my fingers crossed for you while you wait to find out what these new tribulations are all about.


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## momof5 (May 4, 2010)

Thanks David.

Lately I find it very difficult to be, and maintain that upbeat person that used to be here.


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## Retired (May 4, 2010)

Hi Deb,

Sorry to hear about your current health concerns.  It may be difficult not to jump to conclusions and see only the worst case scenarios, but if you can, wait until you have all the facts to figure out how to deal with it.

If you are looking for recent articles on MS, here's a Medscape article you may find of interest:

Current and Future Disease-modifying Therapies in Multiple Sclerosis


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## Daniel (May 4, 2010)

Regarding testing to rule out MS, are you scheduled to have a MRI?   That would seem to be a reassuring way to help rule it out:



> Usually, doctors base the diagnosis on symptoms and results of a  physical examination and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI)...
> 
> Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) is the best imaging test for detecting  multiple sclerosis...
> 
> Multiple Sclerosis (MS) and Related Disorders: Merck Manual Home Edition





> It would be extremely rare to consider a diagnosis of MS in the context  of  repeatedly normal head and spine imaging and negative CSF.
> 
> http://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/445655





> It could be anxiety that you are experiencing.
> 
> A negative MRI directs us to a diagnosis contrary to MS.
> 
> Multiple Sclerosis Forum - MS symptoms with clean MRI





> The first important role for MRI in the diagnosis of MS allows for an  early diagnosis of MS for CIS  [clinically isolated syndrome]  patients...The sensitivity of diagnosing MS within the first year after a single  attack is 94%...
> 
> The role of MRI in the diagnosis of multiple scler... [Adv Neurol. 2006] - PubMed result


OTOH:



> A negative MRI at the time of CIS [clinically isolated syndrome] does not rule out MS. MRI evidence  plays a supportive role in what is ultimately a clinical diagnosis of  MS, in the appropriate clinical situation, and always at the exclusion  of alternative diagnoses.
> 
> The role of MRI in the diagnosis of multiple scler... [Adv Neurol. 2006] - PubMed result


More info:
Diagnosing MS : National MS Society


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## momof5 (May 4, 2010)

Hi Steve, thanks for the link, I'll go there after my son uses the computer.

Hi Daniel, Thanks for all the links, I'll read those also.

I'm going to have an mri of the brain done. 

This came as a shock to me that this was a diagnosis in consideration. I'm not sure what brought on the thought process. Unless it is the chronic fatique along with the severe dizzy spells.

I'm on a medication for vertico that should help but it isn't helping right now.  I have had problems with my arms and legs going nuts on me, sort of restless along with spasams and numbness and tingling. This could be both arms and legs or just one arm or  leg. Feeling extremly weak.  Family dr put me on nurotin thinking that there was an increase of symptoms with the FMS.

I'm sure that the links provided above will be helpful.

Just difficult having all these things at once. Included are additional testing on the liver, spleen and bile ducts being enlarged. Not sure yet what the cause of this is, I'm just waiting for the CT scan to see if anything has changed before seeing the GI dr on this one.

I could really use a break is my thought process, then I tell myself that there are others that have more going on and I should be thankful that this is all there is, but I somehow am not able to wrap my brain around this thought process right now.


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## Murray (May 4, 2010)

momof5 that sounds like so much to worry about and deal with. I wish I had the words to help. As Steve said don't assume the worst until you have all of the facts. I am keeping my fingers crossed for you while you wait for all of your test results. Can you do something that you enjoy to distract and calm you?


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## Daniel (May 4, 2010)

> I could really use a break is my thought process


As stated in the book _Full Catastrophe Living: Using the Wisdom of Your Body and Mind to Face  Stress, Pain, and Illness_, mindfulness is one way to take a vacation from such concerns.   (I listened to the audio version of the book in addition to talks by the author at YouTube.)

And literally taking a weekend vacation, or at least a staycation, may not be a bad idea.


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## Cat Dancer (May 4, 2010)

I'm sorry.  Do you know when you'll get someanswers?


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## momof5 (May 4, 2010)

It will be a couple of weeks CD for any answers. I still have to schedule the MRI, I need to get the verification number from the insurance company

Daniel, what do you mean that mindfulness could help? I take it that is what you are saying?

Murry, what I am trying to do is work on my home site, and try to get some pages up on there. I have been coding all week and trying to get a layout in my mind's vision for each of the kids pages and then their sub pages. Along with things about me that I want on there.  Then I have my web design site to work on and get that up and going. So am trying, but not so great as I would like to get things going and resolved.


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## Daniel (May 4, 2010)

> Daniel, what do you mean that mindfulness could help? I take it that is  what you are saying?


Yeah, any such relaxation technique could help with the stress of waiting.

Regarding mindfulness specifically:



> *Mindfulness-based stress reduction programs are currently being taught  in hundreds of hospitals throughout the United States*. But you can get  started on your own. Here’s a quick-start guide, but keep in mind – it  takes practice. Learning not to get frustrated is part of the journey...
> 
> Thoughts are just mental events. They are not necessarily true. They do  not necessarily reflect reality. And they need not define who you are.
> 
> http://forum.psychlinks.ca/coping-s...ulness-learning-to-switch-off-your-brain.html





> I did a course at St. Joseph's Hospital in Toronto on _Mindfulness  Based Stress Reduction_. This course is based on the material in the  book *Full Catastrophe Living: Using the Wisdom of Your Body and  Mind to Face Stress, Pain and Illness *by Jon Kabat-Zinn Ph.D. It  was taught by two psychotherapists.
> 
> http://forum.psychlinks.ca/coping-strategies/1527-mindfulness-based-stress-reduction.html


Which is not to be confused with "positive thinking" for the sake of positive thinking:



> With that in mind, she cautions that the idea of “fake it till you make  it” can actually be harmful to one’s health. “What my research shows is  that those insincere positive emotions — telling yourself ‘I feel good’  when you don’t — is toxic and actually more harmful than negative  emotions. We need to become more sophisticated about what is real and  what is fake within people’s attempts to be positive.”
> 
> http://forum.psychlinks.ca/positive...c-spin-on-the-power-of-positive-thinking.html


BTW:



> Greater awareness about oneself can be a double-edged sword. Mark  Epstein, M.D., a New York City psychiatrist in private practice and a  meditation practitioner, extends a caution about one of the ironies of  meditating. "It could actually raise your level of anxiety if there are  certain feelings you are not owning." In other words, there's nowhere to  hide when you're practicing "bare attention." And this, for some  people, is both the good and the bad news.
> 
> That's why some experts suggest marrying meditation to psychotherapy.  "Both allow the person to be present for the moment, open and  nondefensive," says Thomson, who explores the complementary nature of  the two in a paper published in the _American Journal of Psychotherapy_.  "In both meditation and psychotherapy, we are trying not to get caught  up in internal preoccupation, but to be intimately present with what is  happening here and now."
> 
> http://forum.psychlinks.ca/mindfulness-and-meditation/14589-the-science-of-meditation.html


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## forgetmenot (May 4, 2010)

Hi i know how stressful it can be waiting for test results but if you can just keep focused on task to be done that will help distract you a bit.  The MRI is a great tool and once the test is done you will get results back quickly at least your doctor will  Take care okay try keeping busy so yur mind does not go crazy thinking abt all the negative things  take care


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## momof5 (May 5, 2010)

Violet, thank you for your kind words.

Daniel,

Thanks for all the really great information.

I have a lot of just normal stress in my life with all the illnesses that I have and have been through, not to mention just daily living stresses.

Today I have the echo cardogram done to check on the heart function. Family dr thinks that the dizzy spells could be heart related, which is why this thing with MS comes at me so hard. Primary care dr is usually the one who comes up with things like this, with my descriptions of what is going on.

The weird thing is that when I was looking up the issues that I am having with my arms and legs, fms and MS were the two things that were listed. I know my primary care doc has a lot to wade through with me. sigh.


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## Daniel (May 5, 2010)

> The weird thing is that when I was looking up the issues that I am  having with my arms and legs, fms and MS were the two things that were  listed. I know my primary care doc has a lot to wade through with me.  sigh.


BTW, the MS society says that hormone fluctuations, flu, infection, etc. are often confused with MS symptoms.  

And the Cymbalta people seem to say that any physical sensation can be caused by depression, though I am overgeneralizing.

Also:



> There is often concern on the part of patients, and sometimes  physicians, that FM is the early phase of some more severe disease, such  as multiple sclerosis, lupus , etc. Long-term follow-up of fibromyalgia  patients has shown that it is very unusual for them to develop another  rheumatic disease or neurological condition.
> 
> National Fibromyalgia Association: Newly Diagnosed Patient


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## momof5 (Jun 24, 2010)

Daniel, Thank you for the information. I sometimes wondered if FMS was an early symptom of something else to come up.

Well, the good news is that I don't have MS. There was some indications of back things during her exam (already know the extent of my back issues and they are horrid) She is sending me to have a neck and lumbar MRI done, and I am requesting an MRI of the thoracic area to see how the herniations are doing in there.

More news, I have a very mild case of COPD, which could explain some of the tiredness and weakness that I have been going through.  I still don't have any updates on the nodule on the lung due to a mix up of how to get the first ct scan to the dr. I was told the hospital would mail it, but they only sent reports. Seems to be that I have to go in and get the cd myself and then send it to the Dr.


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## bluebird (Jun 25, 2010)

Oh, dear.  Hopefully things will work out.


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## momof5 (Jul 5, 2010)

Thanks Bluebird, I hope that it all works out ok. Like the title states,  Way too much. sigh


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