No diagnosis and constant MS Fear

[Jackomo]

I'm seeking some support and advice from this wonderful group of people. For 3 months now I have been having some tingling in my left leg and numbness in toes I also have some weakness in it but it's not limiting, it just gets too tired when trying to work out and I'm always conscious of a different feel when I walk as if it's not supportive. I had some pain in the area from the knee to the ankle for a month prior to the tingling but I ignored it because of being busy with work thinking it would disappear but it didn't. I went to an orthopedic doctor and he requested a lumbar MRI which came back normal, so he said I'm referring you to a neurologist. In my family history we have a member with MS so they did a brain and a cervical MRI which both came back normal according to the radiologist So they said MS is unlikely. It's been 3 months now and I've been getting this tingling or creeping sensation in my leg similar to when you get anxious but only in my leg. Also I get occasional left eye pain and my left hand gets tingly to any small activity. Stretching doesn't help and having no answers by these specialists is making me too anxious and tired. Should I seek another opinion? Are radiologists always accurate reading MRIs? Can early MS be like this and later gets more aggressive? I'm thankful in advance for any input or advice because this is taking over my life in a severe manner. I got severely anxious because of lack of answers.

[gillebro]

Hi there.

Those symptoms sound like they'd be really scary to experience, especially if you're worrying about something like MS. However, rest assured, they're all completely normal anxiety symptoms.

If you've been MRI scanned and it's come back normal, I would say that's a really good sign that you don't have MS. I know it's hard to do, but try to put a little bit of trust in what the scans are saying. If the doctors were concerned, they would have taken quicker action as well.

One thing you can do if you feel the need to make more definitive action, is you can get an eye test done. Signs of MS can be seen in the back of the eye, apparently. I had one done a few years ago for that reason.

I hope this helps.

[Jackomo]

Thank you so much, that helps for sure. Is an ophthalmologist qualified enough to detect that? Also, is there such thing as symptoms precede sings on MRI and such? Can you only have thoracic spinal lesions?

[nervousnelly52]

Not everyone who gets MS has optic neuritis, and vice versa. But if you do have optic neuritis, then an opthalmologist will definitely detect it.

If you don't have any lesions on your brain or spinal cord, you don't have MS- at least not yet.

I don't know what the tingling is. I've been having tingling and twitching too and it's been driving me nuts. But honestly, it's probably benign fasciculation syndrome or some other anxiety-related disorder. I think there's a reason these symptoms are so common in anxiety sufferers.

[Jackomo]

Can anxiety symptoms be unilateral though?

[nervousnelly52]

Can anxiety symptoms be unilateral though?
Yes