Hi. I'm Jim, and I interact with several connect groups - chronic pain, peripheral neuropathy, mental health, and suicide. My youngest sister has had MS for around 20 years, and I have several cousins, all from the same branch of the family, who have MS. I learned around 5 years ago that I have idiopathic peripheral neuropathy, which began with numbness and pins and needles in my feet and ankles. By now, it has progressed to severe burning pain in my feet, and some numbness has begun in my hands. I think my father and all 5 of my siblings have had neuropathy.

Along with neuropathy, I've accumulated several other issues - memory problems, balance, dysphagia, dizziness, double vision, ED, fatigue, a slowing down of my thinking, and other things. I also have major depressive disorder, PTSD, anxiety disorder, and suicidal ideation.

Putting all of this together, I began wondering if I had MS, so I talked with my doctor about it a week ago. He referred me to the neurologist I'd been seeing awhile back, and today I had an MRI of my brain and spine. I also met with a speech therapist this morning, to figure out how to deal with the swallowing problems.

I don't know if the symptoms I'm experiencing are just random, unrelated issues, or if they're indicators of MS. I don't know if I really want to know.

Jim