Hi.
I was diagnosed with MS in 2007, at the age of 17, although going through medical records, GPs suspect the MS formed around the age of 14ish, based on complains I had started giving from then. Shortly after, the symptons muted, aside from a permanently altered vision in the left eye, and it only came back around 3-4 years ago, with ongoing and continuous symptoms since then. I take a high dose of gabapentin for neuropathic pain, and Zolpidem for sleeping, plus other medication for depression and borderline personality disorder, something the MS nurse has suggested may be related to the MS given the dates of diagnosis of it, however she cannot prove it.
So now i’ve laid the back story, here is my current issue. Over the past 4-5 month, i have become more and more absent minded. I get simple things wrong, things I have done hundreds of times, but end up doing it the opposite of the right way. I make very simple and basic mistakes due to attention suddenly disappearing. Anything long winded I do not complete, unless I am forced to do so. Things I enjoy i do not find enjoyment in or talk about, unless someone actively engaged with me about that subject and we may do something related to it together, I no longer do it by myself. I am no longer able to stick to routines, plans i make and go out of the window. More alarmingly I can set a timer for say 30 minutes, then when it rings I sit on my chair completely lost as to what I was meant to do at the sound of the alarm. When I am interested, I become super focused, potentially for many hours at a time. I have become that guy who puts something down, then a minute later “…where on earth is that?”. I’m increasingly forgetful, and have a glazed look on my face as i stare absent mindedly into space.
My friends I hang out with most saturdays have noticed this, and started commenting that I am starting to display ADD (ADHD) like behaviour. Whereas before I was fairly atttentive and focused.
I am hugely concerned, as one of my hobbies is combat robotics, which is like the old TV show Robot Wars, or the American Battlebots. Basically chunks of metal ripping the heck out of each other, unfortunately this can also become extremely dangerous if you make a mistake with some of the weapons or even batteries, I made a mistake this morning that triggered the weapon, purely as I had entirely lost the plot, and thankfully the weapon was still under a lock so didn’t cause any harm, but I know full we if I had been paying attention and was my old self, tha sort of amateur and extremely dangerous occurence wouldn’t have occured.
Is this a common effect of MS, and if so, is there anything I can do about it to lose these symptoms or lessen them, so I can go back to enjoying hobbies, and remembering things and focusing on them?