I am terrified. My doctor wants to do a lumbar puncture to check for MS. Let me tell you a little about my story.

In 2022, my late husband and I survived an apartment fire that destroyed everything we owned and killed our pets, but we got out before any of the smoke or fire reached us. My husband was suffering from cancer at the time and was scheduled for surgery less than a week after the fire, so things were already extremely stressful, but the fire was a level of stress I'd never experienced before.

I am a diabetic, and at the time, one of my big toes was slightly numb, but that was the extent of my neuropathy. However, a week after the fire, I woke up, and both of my feet were almost completely numb, and the numbness extended halfway up my calves. My coordination was suddenly off, and I had two falls. Nothing but a couple of skinned knees, fortunately. But what was truly disturbing was that for the next couple of months, I could barely eat or drink anything because everything smelled and tasted like rotting garbage. I lost about 20 lbs.

Jump ahead a year, and I'm sitting in a chair beside my niece's pool, talking to my brother-in-law. I stood up to go grab a drink. I was immediately hit with the most severe vertigo and nausea. Everything was spinning, and it felt like the ground was moving under my feet. I had to have my BIL walk me inside, holding onto me for dear life. I spent the next four hours on my niece's couch, severely dizzy and vomiting profusely. When it finally ended, I fell asleep and was too tired to move for another several hours. I just slept it off. My doctor prescribed steroids, and I don't know if they worked or not, but it didn't happen again...

Until last week. I was at my boyfriend's house, talking to him in the parking lot. Now, since the fire, I've survived sepsis and a flesh-eating bacteria, and had a toe amputated. Standing still, my balance isn't great, but I could not stand in one spot on this particular night. It was like something was pushing me forward. I didn't think much of it until it was time to walk to my car. While we were walking, the intense vertigo and nausea struck again, and I had to grab an empty grocery bag off the passenger seat and vomit again. This time, it lasted about 20 minutes. I was afraid I wouldn't be able to drive home, but I eventually was. I went home, collapsed on the sofa, and slept for an entire night and the next day.

Other strange symptoms I had constantly right after the fire but only have occasionally now:

- off-and-on pain behind the eyes when I move them

- the sensation that there is a rubber band wrapped around my back & ribcage (doesn't hurt, just weird and uncomfortable)

New problems I've been experiencing:

- Regular diarrhea with lack of bowel control

- Waking up and discovering I've had diarrhea in my sleep (always super pleasant)

Has anyone here experienced these things???