new diagnosis???

Hi all, ive been experiancing headaches and alot of fatigue for 6 months on and off, my neurologist has just told me i could have ms and i need a lumbar puncture to confirm this? as im 32 this is very worrying, any advice?

Hi Jamie, and welcome to the site

To be honest, it’s really too early to be worrying about what might be as there are a lot of things that have similar symptoms to MS. The lumbar puncture is one piece of the puzzle - you’ll also need MRI scans and possibly other tests before the neuro will have a good idea about what’s going on.

If it does turn out to be MS, please don’t believe all the media-led hype about what MS is and isn’t. Only a small proportion of MSers end up in wheelchairs and the vast majority of us lead really quite normal lives. Yes, we have to face some challenges that we would rather not, but MS is NOT the end of the world - there are much worse things to have!

If you want to read up on MS, then please stick to the MSS site and the MS Trust site. There are some very dodgy websites out there! And please remember that NO ONE gets everything that is listed on these sites. MS is a massively variable condition - we all get some of the symptoms, and we get some of these badly and some mildly, but we don’t get it all.

So try and be patient while the testing is going on, when you have your LP make sure you drink lots of coke and/or coffee (lots of caffeine and fluid) and lie down for at least a good few hours afterwards to avoid the “headache from hell” that a small number of people get afterwards. And most of all, try not to worry - hang in there!

Karen x

Thankyou karen for taking the time to reply, ive already had mri scans and they showed slight swelling? I have read some quite scary things about ms from other websites but the mss seems the most reputable.

Im a very laid back 32 yr old normally but the words multiple sclerosis really seemed to have rocked me. I will have to take this 1 step at a time.

Thankyou again

Jamie