Monday, 21 October 2013

MS Society boards and help with self diagnosis - crazy, and this has been going on for years

This is exactly the situation that worries me, self diagnosis, every thing mentioned can be attributed to  Atlas misalignment. I had a situation 7 years before diagnosis where I went desensitized down my left side from the top of my head to the  tip of my big toe. I was diagnosed with depression and that fitted because I was stressed. After several weeks the feeling went and I was just left with a slightly tingly left hand. I again normalized and carried on with the next 7 years of my life even had a 3rd child. 
As this was on the MS Society boards, I cannot reply and offer any advice as it will only be deleted

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Do I have MS?????
Author
Post
rini28
03 Dec 2011 at 4:16PM
Ok, I have been going through a really depressive few months in my life. I consider myself a fairly cheerful person who has no particular stressors in life, and I am a 22 year old female. And my last resort has become writing on a forum (which I have never done in my life!) and the reason is that I think i may have MS

So, I've been getting these symptoms that have warranted me to literally tear my hair out, and just cry in dark rooms of my house.
It all started when I was reading a book in my bed, and just suddenly felt this intense tingling feeling on my right arm, and from thereone in , it's been getting fairly worse - my symptoms that is.
I have had a constant dull ache in my left eye, mainly around the eye socket and left side of the nose, I have been getting pins and needles all over my body at random times, but more so on the left hand side. My left foot  sometimes buzzes, like I've got a mobile phone vibrating next to me, *(the 1st time that happened i was proper freaked out! and also happens more when i'm resting or lying in bed.
I 've been having these dull aching pains, in my left foot and left wrist and fingers, that feels like an arthritic type of pain, but doesn't get worse with cold.
With my left eye, i've discovered that the far distance is slightly worse than my right eye, and i went  to the optician today and had it corrected.
Basically, all of thse have been freaking me out, and have made me really depressed, i think i may have become an expert in MS , considering the many an hour i've spent trawling the internet, reading forums, even scientific journals :(
I have been to the GP, and jus said ' it's because you've got iron defiency, and so convinced myself to stop worrying, it's probably anxiety, but then a couple of days later, i had an intense atatck of pins and needles, electrical type shooting pains down my chest and leg, and so rushed to A & e, who then referred me to a neurologist, who then took an MRI, i received yesterrday's results, and it said they need to do more tests , since the MRI "was slightly blurry" , you  don'[t know how much this stressed me out.
I don't know what do to, i feel like im in a limbo with my life at the moment.
Much love,
Sara
mercury
03 Dec 2011 at 8:42PM
Hi Sara.

I have just literally joined this board because I too am worried that I may  have MS.  I have similar symptoms to yourself as well as other ones, and I don't know what to do anymore.  I have been having these symptoms for ten-odd years now but as time goes on they seem to be getting worse. I seem to go through phases - some weeks I feel absolutely fine, and then - out of the blue - I'm knocked down again.  Recently though the good phases are decreasing and now for most of the time I'm feeling like death.  Have you spoken to a doctor yet?  I always find them a bit dismissive myself - 'you're young and healthy, theres nothing wrong with you', etc....

Anyway, I hope things aren't too bad for you and you get an answer soon.

Take care,

Paul.
rini28
03 Dec 2011 at 9:08PM
Hi Paul,
Thanks for the kind reply, yes I have also joined today. And I know the exact same feeling. There are days, where I say to myself, what was I worrying about? Get a grip. And then there are days, where I'm just completely depressed, and feel like, life's not worth living. I don't consider myself an anxious person, but these last few months may prove otherwise.
I have begun to dislike doctors a lot, particularly my GP, who just dismisses my symptoms, as just stress related or saying it's my iron levels, I had to fight tooth and nail to get referred, which says something about my doctor!
I am currently awaiting a second MRI scan, since the first one was apparently inadequate, so fingers crossed. I have kind of let it not niggle my mind constantly till I get my results for definite.

Much Love,
Sara
rini28
03 Dec 2011 at 9:08PM
Hi Paul,
Thanks for the kind reply, yes I have also joined today. And I know the exact same feeling. There are days, where I say to myself, what was I worrying about? Get a grip. And then there are days, where I'm just completely depressed, and feel like, life's not worth living. I don't consider myself an anxious person, but these last few months may prove otherwise.
I have begun to dislike doctors a lot, particularly my GP, who just dismisses my symptoms, as just stress related or saying it's my iron levels, I had to fight tooth and nail to get referred, which says something about my doctor!
I am currently awaiting a second MRI scan, since the first one was apparently inadequate, so fingers crossed. I have kind of let it not niggle my mind constantly till I get my results for definite.

Much Love,
Sara
mercury
03 Dec 2011 at 9:40PM
rini28 wrote:
Hi Paul,
Thanks for the kind reply, yes I have also joined today. And I know the exact same feeling. There are days, where I say to myself, what was I worrying about? Get a grip. And then there are days, where I'm just completely depressed, and feel like, life's not worth living. I don't consider myself an anxious person, but these last few months may prove otherwise.
I have begun to dislike doctors a lot, particularly my GP, who just dismisses my symptoms, as just stress related or saying it's my iron levels, I had to fight tooth and nail to get referred, which says something about my doctor!
I am currently awaiting a second MRI scan, since the first one was apparently inadequate, so fingers crossed. I have kind of let it not niggle my mind constantly till I get my results for definite.

Much Love,
Sara

Glad to hear you're having another MRI scan - at least somethings being done.

As for the doctors, [filtered word] 'em! (excuse my french).  They always say it's stress-related when they don't have an answer.  They make me sick!  Twats.  That's my rant over lol.

Anyway, signing off now, but hope to catch up with you again and see how things are going for you.

You take care,

Paul.
Brog64
04 Dec 2011 at 12:12AM
Hi Sara,

If the pins and needles are only lasting for a matter of hours or a day at most I would be fairly confident in saying you DON'T have MS. MS symptoms by definition last for more than 24 hours. Everyone has moments of pins and needles, transitory numbness, etc. The pain around your eye coould have been due to the eye strain or could be a tension headache or a migraine. The vision needing correcting has NOTHING to do with MS and is just a normal vision problem.

The MRI could have been blurry if you moved at all during the scan and doesn't indicate there being any problems.

You say yourself you are depressed and anemic. At risk f sounding like your GP these two conditions could very easily explain your symptoms. Depression and particularly anxiety definitely cause transitory sensory changes such as you are describing as can iron deficiency. The attack that sent you to A&E could easily have been an anxiety attack. They can be extremely frightening and the physical symptoms they produce are very real feeling and often cause people to feel they are having a heart attack. The shooting pain and electric sensations you sdescribe are very typical of this.
Why go chasing after a diagnosis which is far, far worse than the problems you do have? Let your GP help you sort out the depression and iron deficiency and see how you feel then. MS is often a diagnosis of exclusion anyway. Meaning that if there are other potential reasons for the symptoms, you won't be diagnosed with MS. Are you on iron tablest and anti-depressants? Are you receiving counselling for your depression? If not, get these things sorted first and then if you are still feeling unwell AFTER they are resolved it may be time to investigate other causes. But chasing the MS diagnosis and reading up on the internet about it etc is just going to make you MORE depressed and anxious.

Hope you feel better soon,

Belinda
rizzo
04 Dec 2011 at 10:45AM
Hi Sara, and welcome to the site happy2

As I said to Paul on his post: while your symptoms are consistent with MS, they are also consistent with a whole load of other things too, some as simple to fix as a vitamin deficiency. So I think it is way too early to focus on MS especially as your symptoms are not presenting as MS normally would (as Belinda says, MS symptoms don't tend to come and go in that way).

I'm concerned you say about literally tearing your hair out and crying in dark rooms. That sounds like pretty serious depression - which in itself can cause neurological symptoms. Stress can also cause neurological symptoms. I've got a feeling that you might be literally making yourself sick(er) with worry: you have a new symptom, you worry about it, it gets worse and a new one starts, you worry about them, they get worse and..... it becomes a vicious cycle.

Hopefully the new MRI will clear things up, but please stop dreading the worst and try and focus on the fact that, actually, you could still easily have something fixable. Fingers crossed for you!

Karen x




rini28
04 Dec 2011 at 2:55PM
Hi,
In response to Belinda's post, I think me using the word depression may have been ill thought, it 's the symptoms that have suddenly popped into my life that have been causing me to worry about the possiblitiy of having MS. It's not the anxiety that has brought on these symptoms. And I am not on anti depressants! I did tell myself for a while, it must be your iron deficiency or some other undiagnosed vitamin deficiency, but then one morning it's you've defintely got MS and one morning is you don't. I still get one with my life, to a certain extent, I mean these problems I have told my parents, but not anyone at work. And as far as I know has not interfered with my professional life drastically.
But aside the point, thanks for your concerns.
And Karen, thanks a lot for your kind words, it has made me think that maybe I;m overthinking the whole situation, and I realize that the whole problem can be a vicious circle, but there's always going to be that doubt, until I have my MRI scan. Naturally, I don't want to appear that I'm needy,  which would annoy people especially those people who genuinely are suffereing with MS. But fingers crossed, I will let you know of my results.

Much Love,
 Sara xo
rubina
05 Dec 2011 at 2:07PM
Hi Sara & welcome
I've come in halfway through your posts (I wasn't around at the weekend). I would also agree with the others that maybe it's too early to be thinking 'ms'. There are lots of things that could be causing your symptoms & with any luck the mri will clear up any confusion over the 'blurryness'. 
It's real easy to say don't worry - we all know that - but stress and anxiety does make us feel worse and can exacerbate things, so the very best thing that you can do at the moment is to stop searching the internet for answers as it sounds like it's worrying you even more - the internet is a wonderful thing don't get me wrong but there are times when it's in our best interests to refrain from the googling. Try to go with the flow for now, see what the test results throw up and see how you get on.
Good luck & let us know how you get on
Debbie xx 
Elenis
05 Dec 2011 at 11:33PM
rini28 wrote:
It all started when I was reading a book in my bed, and just suddenly felt this intense tingling feeling on my right arm, and from thereone in , it's been getting fairly worse - my symptoms that is.
I have had a constant dull ache in my left eye, mainly around the eye socket and left side of the nose, I have been getting pins and needles all over my body at random times, but more so on the left hand side.
My left foot  sometimes buzzes, like I've got a mobile phone vibrating next to me, *(the 1st time that happened i was proper freaked out! and also happens more when i'm resting or lying in bed.
I 've been having these dull aching pains, in my left foot and left wrist and fingers, that feels like an arthritic type of pain, but doesn't get worse with cold.
With my left eye, i've discovered that the far distance is slightly worse than my right eye, and i went  to the optician today and had it corrected.
Basically, all of thse have been freaking me out, and have made me really depressed, i think i may have become an expert in MS , considering the many an hour i've spent trawling the internet, reading forums, even scientific journals :(
it said they need to do more tests , since the MRI "was slightly blurry" , you  don'[t know how much this stressed me out.



Hi Sara,
I hope you don't mind me chopping your post up,  it's just a bit easier for me to reply.
First of all I'd like to welcome you here.  You will find a lot of support here regardless of whether you have MS or not.  I don't.  I often come here to talk to people like you.

My symptoms started over two years ago.  One evening I got intermittent pins and needles in my feet.  The next morning I noticed that they were still there and started to worry.  Prior to this I had been having dull aches in all my limbs,  which I had put down to a bad seat at work.
The next day it had still not gone away, so out of curiosity I googled what could be causing my weird pins and needles, and Dr Google gave me a diagnosis of MS.
A week later the tingling had spread to the tops of my knees on both feet, and into into my hands.  It felt like there was fluff on my face.  And I got this horrendous bussing just like you describe.   LIke a mobile phone, or some kind of bee was vabrating against my skin.
I went to the doctor who ordered some blood tests which came back normal.  She said it was probably stress,  and anxiety but to me it was a red flag.  I was CONVINCED I had MS.
This was the run up to Christmas 2009.  I got myself in a terrible state.  I was panicing,  I couldn't sleep.  I was crying every night and had to move back with my parents.
Then my hands started to burn.  They felt like they were on fire.  I got twiches all over my body, and  was sure that one eye was showing different shades to the other eye.  I got awful pains in my limbs.  Like I had trapped a nerve or artheritis.  I got wierd internal vibration on waking, it felt like my bed was shaking.  It was terrible.
The more I obsessed the worse it got so I convinced the GP to send me to a private neurologist.  He took my reflexes priced me a few times, and then told me there was nothign wrong with me but booked me for an MRI just in case.  In the mean time,  he told me that is was most likely caused by depression and anxiety and I was psycosmatic.  He said he saw 100s of people like me a year.
I thought he was talking rubbish.  I knew I had MS, and I was convinced that I was going to end up in a wheelchair.  It felt like my life was over before it had begun.  I imagined all my freinds feeling sorry for me.
When the MRI came back it was clear.  They found nothing.  The neurologist sent me to a neuropsychiartist who gave me antidepressants and a good talking to. I still didn't believe them.

The point is this:
It's two years later, and I am finally convinced that I don't have MS.  However, I still have weird sensory symptoms of tingling, buzzing and twitching - and it's constantly there.  I don't know what caused this, and I don't know if it will go but I do know this:  I made my life a misery for 5 months and it took me 8 moths for my symptoms to lighten.  I ended up talking antianxiety, and antidepresssants and wasted 5 months worrying about something that never happened.
And I'm convinced if that morning when I noticed my feet were tingling that morning, had I ignored it, I wouldn't have these wierd sensory feelings now.
I don't wish to worry you,  they don't hurt me.  Most of the time they don't bother me.  I got used to it, and who knows it might still go away.
I certainly know it gets worse when I'm under stress.  I'm kind of convinced I fried my brain with over-worrying myself over stupid [filtered word].

What I'm trying to say is please don't worry about it.  It sounds to me like you don't have MS, and could very much be going through what I was going though two years ago.  There is no point in frying your brain over something that hasn't happened and don't know to be true.
Our brains are weird things,  and are capable of doing thing we never even knew they could!

I hope this helps.  Please don't worry!  I wish I could give you a hug!

{{{{{{{{{{{Sara}}}}}}}}}}}}}}

Love

Gabs.
xx
Emma W
22 Jun 2013 at 3:15PM
Hi Sarah & everyone else on here,
I am new to this site and joint because I have some weird symptoms that doctors are steering towards MS. It all started about a month ago when I had a terrible headache for days on end and then woke up with blurry vision and floaters in my left eye. I went to the emergency doctors because the normal doctors was shut, they refered me to the eye clinic and at first they were rude and told me over the phone I was fine. I then ended up in A&E the next day due to the headace and vision loss, they refered me back to eye clinic again, this time I was seen and multiple blood tests, multiple photos and multiple scans later the eye clinic still have not confirmed a diagnosis.
I have been refered to an ENT for bouts of vertigo and he seemed to feel everything was fine, it was just a bout of vertigo and now is gone. he did refer me to a neurologist as did the eye doctor and I saw her for the first time 2 days ago. She examined me and was happy with that but has requested a lumbar puncture and more blood tests which will happen in 2 weeks.
Today I was cutting the grass and got tingly fingers, just the fingers nothing else. I was instantly worried but tried to stay positive and put it down to gripping the mower too tight. I came into the house and sat for a while, when I stood my right foot was tingly, it lasted for a few seconds but was enough to tip me over the edge into complete worry.
I have had an MRI and there are lesions on my brain which could be MS or could be the migraines I've had since i was a child. I'm in a complete state of unknowing and like Sarah I am an emotional wreck. I go from positive that I'm fine, to thinking I could live with this to crying into my pillow. I can not handle the not knowing and I know MS is difficult to diagnose i'm just sick of not knowing. I keep going through it in my mind and driving myself insane. My sister is supportive but not very good to talk to, the rest of my family are RUBBISH. When I told my mum I might have MS her response was  "oh" and she's not been in touch since to even ask how I feel about it all.
I'm 29, I teach secondary school PE, play lots of sport and live independently by myself. I feel so alone in all of this and while my sister says she understands how I feel, she scolds me for being angry & frustrated, she can not understand because she is not going through it herself. I'm struggling with this so much and I might not even have MS, although i'm certain I do.
Thanks for reading
Emma

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