Well I'm at the Starting Gate

OK Suszanne, I want you to calm down.  You are getting you knickers all in a knot.  I know that this is allnew stuff.  I have not driven in a while, and I kinda like being driven around.  I know that it does take away some of your independence, and no one is anymore independent than I am, so just breath.  It will be all right.  It is just the monster.  So we just have to deal with it, I think that you are panicking a little, and you know what you have that right, you are entitled too.  But take a couple to deep breathe, it is going to be all right, things are going to get better, and you are going to start to feel better.  I know it, I feel it in my bones, I am still waiting to go to the doctor to check on my shoulder to see if it is broken, so hang in there I am!  You have your family who is with you and behind you all the way, so you will be fine.  Breathe, do not get your knickers in a knot.  Sherry/smomdukes

I wish I could give you expert advice, but I'm just learning about all this myself. It sounds like you have a loving family who's there to support and encourage you. Hopefully you are getting some professional help with the depression. Depression is normal with MS and is obviously related to any disease or illness (just tends to be worse with MS). You know all that I'm sure.

Not being able to drive is a problem, but not a disaster. It just complicates things a little. Do you think this is permanent or will you eventually be able to get back behind the wheel?

If you spend much time on this site you probably know how unpredictable all this is. People do lose their symptoms and feel better sometimes. After feeling like I was losing my mind (memory loss, depression, anxiety, and confusion), vision problems, tremors, bladder problems, etc. I am now feeling better than I have in probably two years. Things aren't perfect (or even normal) by a long shot, but I'm enjoying life for the moment and gettings things in order for any future problems.

Hang in there,

KJ

You've received such great responses already.  Good to hear that you are finally in the system.  Just the fact that the doctor was willing to prescribe you with Copaxone lets you know that he would call this "probable MS."  Now they will be looking for changes on MRI to make it Definite MS.  If it were me, I would get started on the Copaxone.  And don't worry, plenty of people get started on it and stop for whatever reason.

Please do see about finding someone to help with your depression.  If I had not already had a relationship with a counsellor when I was going through the process of being diagnosed, I certainly would have found one.  Very important to be able to address your emotional needs.

Please keep us posted on how things are going.

I am sorry you had such a disappointing episode, unfortunately this disease is so unpredictable and difficult to diagnose and treat that disappointment should be listed as one of the symptoms.  It may be the only one that 100% of us has!

I wanted to address two things you mentioned in your Post.  First is that the doctor didn't do anything for your chronic pain. Is your pain related to the MS or is it from something else?  I have MS and some nerve pain that comes with it, but also have been in chronic pain for 45 years from spine problems, for which I have had 4 major surgeries.  My neurologist also told me he doesn't handle pain, but I don't need him to do that because I see a pain management specialist for my pain and he implanted an intrathecal morphine pump, that delivers Mophine, Bipuvicaine and Baclofen to my Central Nervous System on a 24/7 basis and since getting it in 2000 I have had a significant decrease in my pain level.  The pump isn't for everyone, but I do think everyone in chronic pain should see either a pain specialist or another doctor that understands pain well.  Unfortunately, pain isn't taught in medical schools as a specific subject so many doctors do not really understand the impact it has on a person or how to effectively treat it.  You can read my other Share Posts about these and other pain related issues on www.healthcentral.com/chronic-pain.

The second item I wanted to comment on is your distress about not being able to drive.  I haven't been able to drive in 11 years and there are times I am still very distressed about it.  I lived in suburbia at the time I had to stop driving, and there is no public transportation where I lived so I moved into Manhattan, where I can now get around by taking my motorized scooter on the city buses.  I still am left stranded when I want to leave the city, and that is when I miss my car and license the most.

I made a dramatic life change so I wouldn't be stuck in my house alone, but I am a single woman, my daughter was just graduating law school, and could do that. You seem to have a very caring and loving family and friends and one thing I have learned by having MS is that our loved ones want to help and don't feel we are a burden.  It is still hard to ask sometimes, but if we don't we are the ones that are hurt.  We have to remember that those around us don't know what we need all the time, even when we think it is very obvious, so they rely on us to tell them.  It took me a while to learn this, and not just with driving by the way; I am talking about all the things we do in life that become difficult for us at one time or another and we need to ask for help.

Hang in there.  And don't forget to ask for help when you need it.

Best,

Denise