MS Anxiety or B12?

[Andyreww]

Hey, I've been very worried recently about my symptoms, I'm wondering if anyone has experienced the same or could shed some light on to what could be causing these symptoms.


Burning in the left forearm
Burning down both knees and down the left leg and foot
Perceived weakness in my legs
Tightness in my neck muscles and shoulder


I was diagnosed with B12 deficency 3 months ago. And I received 5 shots in 2 weeks and just got my shot that I get every 3 months. But I never had any of these symptoms before I got the shots. My level was 150.

I was feeling very run down and sore and tight which is why I got the levels tested and since then the B12 has taken away the tightness and soreness etc but I have developed a burning sensation that comes and goes during the day.

I'm still mobile and able to climb mountains etc, but this has been on my mind every day for the past 2 months. and I'm wondering if it's anxiety, B12 or possibly MS?

Thanks for reading.

[cpe1978]

I don't think you can ever over estimate what physical symptoms anxiety can cause. I had all sorts of physical symptoms for months and months, even when I didn't think I was anxious. It was only when at a sub conscious level that I stopped being so wound up that the symptoms diminished.

[Andyreww]

Thanks for your reply,

I was just wondering can anxiety really cause burning feeling even when the skin is touched sometimes it feels like it is wet. I'm wondering if you know anything about MS whether this would just come and go, and this would be the only symptom or whether there would be others. I had a quick neurologcal exam at the doctors office and I passed all of it. Co-ordination muscle strength reflexes etc.

[SarahH]

You could try asking your question on an MS website.

sarah

[Serenity1990]

Hi Andrew.

I apologise this answer is brief as I'm on a hurry out somewhere, but have a look at some of my recent replies on this issue.

The reason MS causes symptoms is because it causes demyelenation. Myelin can be thought of as the rubber insulation of the nerve fibres of the brain and spinal cord. In MS your immune system attacks the myelin of a tiny part of the brain or spinal cord, then the functions that particular part of brain or spinal cord controls stop functioning correctly. Over a number of weeks or months your body repairs this myelin and then months, years or decades later it happens again (at the early stages).

For this reason symptoms that come and go or move around very much point away from MS.

By the way you might read that MS symptoms can come and go. However this is only true in the very latter stages of the disease, where your body has repaired the myelin so many times it's basically no more than scar tissue so malfunctions occasionally. In such circumstances this is where someone has previously had that symptom continuously for a long period, usually more than once over many years. If this were true in your case you would have had it for years and it would be very developed, and wouldn't be passing your GP's neuro exam with flying colours.

So your symptoms, from my uneducated understanding, point very much away from MS and towards anxiety.

How can anxiety cause these symptoms? Well a synonym of "anxiety" is "nervousness": it's characteristically an illness that affects nerves. In other words anxiety and MS are disorders of the same part of the body, namely the central nervous system. When you have anxiety the constantly high levels of adrenaline in your body make your nervous system hypersensitive, which over a prolonged period can cause it to become simply exhausted, and it starts misfiring. Hence many people get things like Benign Fasciculation Syndrome secondary to anxiety, for example. If you have any doubts as to the power of the mind over the nervous system have a look at FND (http://www.neurosymptoms.org), which can leave people completely paralysed; I'm not suggesting for a second you actually have anything as extreme as this but merely using it as an example of what psychological issues can produce. You'll be amazed to hear that functional symptoms (that is, neurological symptoms caused by some somatic element and not by any disease or damage to the nervous system) are actually one of the most common things neurologists see.

For what it's worth I am in the same boat as you, I've been having extreme neurological symptoms for nearly a year now. I've been through the awful times of being convinced beyond all doubt I have MS. I couldn't unlearn all the nasty things Dr. Google told me (please don't google this any more, you'll go mad) so I did what I do best as an academic and educated myself on how the disease actually works and presents. It's only through understanding that there are only about a dozen neurological symptoms but hundreds of neurological diseases that I've been able to comprehend that the way doctors can tell one from the others is through their pattern, not the list of symptoms.

---------- Post added at 20:44 ---------- Previous post was at 20:43 ----------


You could try asking your question on an MS website.

sarah

I strongly advise against this.

[cpe1978]

Thanks for your reply,

I was just wondering can anxiety really cause burning feeling even when the skin is touched sometimes it feels like it is wet. I'm wondering if you know anything about MS whether this would just come and go, and this would be the only symptom or whether there would be others. I had a quick neurologcal exam at the doctors office and I passed all of it. Co-ordination muscle strength reflexes etc.

Personally I think that you would be well advised to follow the advice of a doctor rather than a group of people on an Internet forum with no medical qualifications as far as a I know.

I believe that anxiety can cause many many things.

I do know people with MS and I would suggest that it varies from one person to another. Given that a dr isn't concerned though, I would be inclined to suggest that you are probably fine and would be better served trying to figure out why you don't trust their advice and try to tackle some of the underlying anxiety issues.

[Andyreww]

Hey Serenity thanks for the informative post, I've a few questions about it if you don't mind.

Are you sure that MS symptoms do not come and go in an hourly basis, get worst at times, and then leave in the same way they came, suddenly.

The burning is generally confined to the same areas now, my left leg, both feet, and left arm. are whole limbs affected in MS or is it just certain parts?

Thanks for any advice anyone is willing and has given, it's appreciated

[Serenity1990]

They could get worse at times, but coming and going would be incredibly atypical. When the myelin is damaged it's damaged, the damage doesn't come and go, but takes a long time to repair. There's no reason it should affect an entire limb though.

However I'm interested in your wording "generally confined to the same areas now". At some point was it not confined to to the same areas and does it still move around just not as much?

[yenool]

Speak to the doctor if you are really worried. However I think common sense suggests it is far more likely to be a mixture of the B12 and anxiety, rather than MS which is really quite rare.

[cpe1978]

Serenity - please don't take this the wrong way........

Are you a neurologist, or a trained medical professional? If not, I would guard against giving this level of advice.

[Serenity1990]

Serenity - please don't take this the wrong way........

Are you a neurologist, or a trained medical professional? If not, I would guard against giving this level of advice.

No I'm not, that's why I've said my opinion is an uneducated one.

However the OP's doctor has already diagnosed B12 deficiency and he knows he has anxiety. I was merely trying to explain how doctors can determine the difference between patterns that could be MS and those that couldn't, as if any anxiety sufferer compared their symptoms against a list of MS symptoms to some extent they'd see a correlation. I'm just trying to explain why it's the pattern that's important, not the list.

But yes I take your point, I'll shut up now.

[Andyreww]

Serenity your knowledge is appreciated.

What I mean is that it had a sudden onset, whereas I felt like my left foot was on fire. This was spreading up my entire leg, and at intervals would feel as if there was cold water. at the same time it went to my eyelid and felt like there was speckles of water on top. My right foot then developed a bit of burning and then my left forearm. It all disappeared within a few days, but the left arm seems to still burn from time to time, I find if I put cold water or exercise it tends to disappear.

I have no weakness, normal reflexes and good co-ordination. If there was this many lesions in the brain, would it show other signs and symptoms, or would burning be the only presentation?

[Serenity1990]

Serenity your knowledge is appreciated.

What I mean is that it had a sudden onset, whereas I felt like my left foot was on fire. This was spreading up my entire leg, and at intervals would feel as if there was cold water. at the same time it went to my eyelid and felt like there was speckles of water on top. My right foot then developed a bit of burning and then my left forearm. It all disappeared within a few days, but the left arm seems to still burn from time to time, I find if I put cold water or exercise it tends to disappear.

I have no weakness, normal reflexes and good co-ordination. If there was this many lesions in the brain, would it show other signs and symptoms, or would burning be the only presentation?

I think you really need to trust your doctor. They're trained to see the patterns, nobody on here is. However what I'm trying to explain is that anxiety and various other transitory issues can cause these neurological symptoms and are far more common than MS. Normal neuro exam doesn't rule that out but it does make it a lot less likely.

I guess what I'm trying to say is it's really difficult being someone with these symptoms as quite often the medical profession says you have x, y and z but doesn't explain how they arrived at that conclusion. For the vast majority of people that's just fine. But (as my CBT therapist explained recently) the people most likely to develop Health Anxiety are those with above average intelligence and inquisitive brains, so unless we know the reasoning behind everything we're never totally satisfied. That's why I've tried to pass on the knowledge I've gained on my journey, so you can have a bit more confidence in your doctor's diagnosis. But please do take what I've said with the caveat that I'm not a doctor.

But I know how scary these symptoms are, and you do have my every sympathy. I'm lucky enough to have had a neuro appointment, MRI and the rest of it so it's relatively easy for me to sit here and say yes you can have these symptoms without having MS. However I remember back in January before all that I was a bumbling mess. I hesitate to suggest you ask your GP for a neuro appointment because not just accepting their diagnosis and reassurance seeking goes against the entire treatment of Health Anxiety, but god knows what state I'd be in now if I hadn't had that luxury so perhaps it might put this to bed for you. But if you do decide to go down that road be aware that the appointments routinely take several months to come, then several weeks for the MRI and several more for the results.

Has your GP offered any treatment for the anxiety?

[Andyreww]

I havent got anything prescribed for anxiety.

It's just very irritating, I feel like my legs are weak, yet, yesterday I climbed one of the highest rockiest mountains here.

Above my left eyebrow has now started burning. This will go away. and maybe my right thumb will start. Bah.

[Serenity1990]

I was thinking counselling/CBT as opposed to drugs.

Just as an example, I was diagnosed with a post-viral inflammatory process in my CNS. Basically the symptoms are dead fingers for MS but there's no demyelination and it'll get better. However the worry about what might be going on before (and, if I'm honest, since) the diagnosis caused huge anxiety to the extent that some of my symptoms are those of anxiety alone.

[Andyreww]

He never offered anything and he seemed to think it was from my B12 as he said that the nerve endings miss the B12 when its low therefore making them tingle or burn.

I'm unsure and can not get MS out of my head, symptoms have improved as the days have went on, and I started to imagine that I could not feel tickles and such even though I could feel cotton wool touch my skin etc.

[Serenity1990]

I know exactly what you mean! I think CBT would really help you. :)

[Andyreww]

Hey guys I just want to let you all know that I got a Neurology appointment and then an MRI scan of the Brain and this showed nothing.

the symptoms progressed to one sided bad bad headaches and really bad fatigue that I still have to this day.

[Serenity1990]

Congrats on the clear scan! Wonderful news. Time to move forward and forget about MS. :D

I had similar headaches to what you describe. They turned out to be Cervicogenic headaches (originating from a tight neck, probably from bad posture or stress). They really worried me, but my osteopath got rid of them very easily and quickly. :)

P.S. My apologies for the comments above when you first posted this thread. I developed an understanding of the disease to help myself get better, however that doesn't make me qualifies to lecture others on how it works. I am not a doctor of medicine but I am similarly qualified in another unrelated science, and I know how wrong amateurs can get it from casual research.

P.P.S. Told you so! ;)

[Andyreww]

You did indeed. Thanks for all your advice and help.

I hope this helps anyone else in the future