diagnosis 1

It was about 8 years ago, I started complaining about really intense pins and needles in my legs. I went to see my doctor who prescribed a trapped nerve and gave me a sheet of exercises (basic Yoga poses, really) to alleviate things. These did the trick so I thought no more of it - when the tingling returned I just dug out my exercise sheet and did some stretches!

6 years ago in 2003 I began a relationship with the woman who would eventually become my wife. On our first holiday the pins and needles returned and my left leg started to get very heavy (when I was running around Lake Garda trying to buy something for Emma who was unwell. As the song goes, we can laugh about it now but at the time it was terrible).

The pins and needles carried on after our return, attacking my hands and gradually my torso - it was never painful, just a little bit weird. And anyway, it pretty much cleared up shortly after.

In 2005, after we got engaged, we both thought enough is enough and Emma insisted that I go to see my doctor again. This time he seemed a little more concerned, proposing that I should see a Physio and a Neurologist. Even at this point MS wasn't mentioned.

We got into see the physio, who listened to my symptoms, did some physical manipulation and said that there was nothing that he could do. He didn't want to be drawn to make a prediction or to speculate on the cause but by this point we were getting pretty distressed and practically begged him to give us an idea of what we were dealing with.

He said, "Well, considering your age and your symptoms, it could be Multiple Sclerosis".

It was around about that time that we started freaking out.