Went to neurologist and now I think I have MS!

[megs18]

I am a 20 year old female who is pretty new to HA and NMP. At the beginning of April while I was relaxing in bed, muscles all over my body began to tense up and twitch like I was severely shivering, but I wasn't cold. My heart rate went up and it was hard to breathe, but this all subsided once I controlled my breathing and tried to self-soothe.

The next day, I thought I would feel normal again, but I felt lethargic, dizzy and just not normal. This continued for a couple weeks and I saw a doctor who told me it was probably an anxiety attack and I was still experiencing anxiety. In the past few months, this somehow snowballed into health anxiety. In the past few months, I've convinced myself I had pneumonia, a brain tumor, and probably a bunch of other things. I noticed my pupils are different sizes sometimes and went to an eye doctor who said I should go to a neurologist.

I've also experienced some one-sided weakness/numbness in my right side (leg and arm) and some facial numbness on the right side as well. It's also my right pupil that's usually bigger. I went to a couple doctors with my brain tumor worries and they all told me brain tumor symptoms wouldn't come and go like mine do. These symptoms then subsided. I also have felt pins and needles all over my body sometimes.

I went to the neurologist yesterday and she basically said it's really most likely not a brain tumor, but it could be MS (since MS symptoms can come and go like this). She ordered an MRI, but they haven't called me to schedule it so it could be weeks before I get it. Meanwhile, I haven't even considered MS before she said that and now I am freaking out.

I have basically been crying since I left the appointment and of course now I know I have to have MS. The "panic attack" was just an "MS attack" and the pins and needles, lethargy, dizziness, it all makes sense now!

I know MS fear is common on this forum, but I will not be able to make it through these next few weeks without help. I am freaking out. Do neurologists send everyone who comes in to get an MRI for liability reasons?

I know MS is hard to diagnose and is often misdiagnosed as anxiety, which is also why I am so, so scared. I am only 20 years old and I am picturing how awful the rest of my life will be if I have to go through this.

---------- Post added at 11:16 ---------- Previous post was at 09:08 ----------

Someone please help. Any advice or comments would be so appreciated.

[Emilym80]

My aunt has MS. Unless she told you about it, you wouldn't even know it. She takes a tablet daily, which has minimal side effects, and as long as she does so she has no symptoms whatsoever. Obviously it's not ideal to have a condition like MS and she is one of the luckier patients but for the vast majority of sufferers it's far from a death sentence and there's new and more effective treatments being developed all the time.

Remember MS is quite rare, 1 in 10,000 (ish) and your neuro needs to inform you of all possibilities when they're consulting with you. Anxiety is still way more likely.

Until you've had your tests done my advice would be to take the attitude that the professionals can deal with it and get on with things as best you can- this helps me out.

All the best :)

[highandlow]

Hi there
Were your neurological exams abnormal? i.e do you have clinincal rather than perceived weakness. By the time you reach a neuro it is unlikely you will be diagnosed as anxiety. Around 1/600 people have ms. You may or may not have it. I suggest you get some psychological help in the mean time i.e anti anxiety meds/ counselling.

You are the right age for ms , but it doesn't mean you have it. Try not to panic. pm me to chat. I am going through the same thing too.

[Gotagetthroughthis]

Hi there
Were your neurological exams abnormal? i.e do you have clinincal rather than perceived weakness. By the time you reach a neuro it is unlikely you will be diagnosed as anxiety. Around 1/600 people have ms. You may or may not have it. I suggest you get some psychological help in the mean time i.e anti anxiety meds/ counselling.

You are the right age for ms , but it doesn't mean you have it. Try not to panic. pm me to chat. I am going through the same thing too.

If I was the original poster with these worries, reading your post would have just made me 10 times more anxious lol. Good for you for giving your input but saying "by the time you reach a neuro it is unlikely you will be diagnosed with anxiety" "you are the right age for MS" "around 1/600 people have MS" is hardly going to calm anyone down. The poster before you said it is 1/10,000 (ish) people who get MS, I don't know which numbers are correct myself.

Anyway I hope whatever you and the poster are going through turns out to be ok and you feel better soon.

---------- Post added at 13:32 ---------- Previous post was at 13:24 ----------

Hi Megs18,

Sorry to hear you are going through such a hard time with these worries and symptoms. I've been there and its not nice at all.

First of all you have not been diagnosed with anything yet and the symptoms could all be anxiety so I know its easier said than done but worrying isn't going to change the outcome its just going to make you feel worse so if you can just let things be for now, try keep distracted and not be to hard on yourself.

I have uneven pupil size and the body shaking/tremors you describe. I saw a neuro a couple of years ago and had a CT scan which came back clear and they put my symptoms down the anxiety/depression. I have recently gone back to the neuro as I have headaches that wont go away so have been referred for an MRI but the neuro says he is pretty sure its nothing sinister but will do the MRI anyway.

If you do end up having MS, like others have said there are some great treatments for it and many people live a near normal life with it. Dont worry about that for now.

It doesn't necessarily mean you have MS just because they are sending your for an MRI. I have a friend who had lots of strange symptoms and was sent for an MRI and it came came back clear. I have also recently had an MRI myself due to headaches and some other strange symptoms that come and go, I am currently waiting for the results.

Hope you start to feel better soon anyway. Take care.

[highandlow]

If I was the original poster with these worries, reading your post would have just made me 10 times more anxious lol. Good for you for giving your input but saying "by the time you reach a neuro it is unlikely you will be diagnosed with anxiety" "you are the right age for MS" "around 1/600 people have MS" is hardly going to calm anyone down. The poster before you said it is 1/10,000 (ish) people who get MS, I don't know which numbers are correct myself.

Anyway I hope whatever you and the poster are going through turns out to be ok and you feel better soon.
---------- Post added at 13:32 ---------- Previous post was at 13:24 ----------

.

Hi

Woops, I wasn't trying to scare the original poster, I did re-read it and hope I didn't. I just think they send people for mris because they fit the right bracket ( female, young etc.), to rule things out sort of thing. Ms isn't that common. MS generally isn't misdiagnosed as anxiety by a neuro as they are fairly used to anxious people, so what I mean is if it is ms it will be found. I think that is a good thing.
Going for an mri certainly doesn't mean ms, lots of people have weird and wonderful symptoms that aren't ms. From the O.P symptoms im not getting a ' definitely ms' vibe particularly the pins and needles all over etc, that sounds like anxiety .

Btw Megs, I really wouldn't worry you may not have ms and if you do, you will be fine. Plus everyone I know with ms leads a completely functional normal life ( including my ex bf who now lives in aus and does a physical job, surfs etc.) .

kat x

[Gary A]

Certainly nowhere near 1/600 people have MS, not sure where you got that figure. As far as neuroligical conditions go it's quite common, but it's still a very rare condition in the grand scheme of things. Also, neurologists diagnose loads of people with anxiety, and I'm actually willing to bet that they diagnose more people with anxiety than they diagnose people with actual neurological conditions.

Primary care doctors differ in their assessments. Some are very confident and will be staunch in their diagnosis of anxiety. Others will be very confident but just to be 100% sure, they refer you on for an expert opinion. I'm sure I've actually saw a load of people on this board who were referred to a neurologist and were told their symptoms were anxiety related.

[highandlow]

Certainly nowhere near 1/600 people have MS, not sure where you got that figure. As far as neuroligical conditions go it's quite common, but it's still a very rare condition in the grand scheme of things. Also, neurologists diagnose loads of people with anxiety, and I'm actually willing to bet that they diagnose more people with anxiety than they diagnose people with actual neurological conditions.

Primary care doctors differ in their assessments. Some are very confident and will be staunch in their diagnosis of anxiety. Others will be very confident but just to be 100% sure, they refer you on for an expert opinion. I'm sure I've actually saw a load of people on this board who were referred to a neurologist and were told their symptoms were anxiety related.

I found it in a paper. In the uk it is around that figure, I have also seen 1/800 so who knows. The figures vary over the world anyway, so it depends on where you live. Anyway it is nearer to 1/600 rather than 1 in 10 000 for the uk ( where I live), but maybe it is 1 in 10 000 where the OP lives. Yes, neurologists do diagnose anxiety, or functional/ medically unexplained symptoms. In neurology it is one of the most common diagnosis. My point was a neurologist is more likely to accurately diagnosis someone an anxious, than a gp as they have had more training and see more cases.

[megs18]

Update: MRI was "normal" thank goodness! Highandlow your comments were a little scary, so maybe try not to say that in the future to other posters :) you know how irrational HA makes us.