Very concerned that I have Multiple Sclerosis

Hi there! I’m a 23 year old guy with a history of health anxiety and obsession over perceived symptoms. So about a year ago I started getting pins and needles in my left foot. It very soon started happening in my right foot as well. Since then it’s happened roughly once a day, almost always while sitting, for 1-5 minutes at a time. It’s usually either a burning feeling in one of the balls of my feet, or a prickly feeling in one of my heels. I also have a deadened numb spot on one of my middle toes and I think some mild deadened numbness on my left heel. It also may be good to know that My mother has had MS for years.

I’ve noticed it almost exclusively happens while sitting, very often while in my car. I was freaked out about MS from the start, but that anxiety got compounded recently when I started noticing periodic leg cramps, as well as a very subtle fuzzy feeling in between my shoulder blades, usually while hunched forward I think. I also every once in a while feel light headed and see text in doubles, though the light headed thing could be me over thinking and the seeing double thing happens maybe once every few months if that and only for like 5 seconds.

The leg cramps are usually while sitting down for a long time, and they feel like a kind of pressure point in the back of my calf or bottom of my thigh. These have really compounded my anxiety about MS as I now have at least two potential symptoms.

I know that some of the conditions under which my symptoms operate should soothe me (tingling happens while sitting down, for max 5 mins, etc.), but to be honest I’m freaking the hell out. I don’t want to lose a huge aspect of the one and only life I’ll have to this horrible disease. My mother has a great attitude about it, and I could learn a lot from that. But I want to be able to travel, see the world, bungee jump, skydive, all sorts of other able-bodied things. I don’t want that potential taken away from me. I know it’s still only around a 5% chance, but MS is more likely if you have a close family member with it. I’m the sort of hypochondriac that wants to know, like right this instant, what is wrong with me and take immediate steps to mitigate it. So i don’t really know how to cope in my daily life when my health anxiety takes over because it consumes my thoughts.

Should I be concerned? And if so, how can i cope with the worry while still participating in my everyday life?

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by ChiefsCML

Hi there! I’m a 23 year old guy with a history of health anxiety and obsession over perceived symptoms. So about a year ago I started getting pins and needles in my left foot. It very soon started happening in my right foot as well. Since then it’s happened roughly once a day, almost always while sitting, for 1-5 minutes at a time. It’s usually either a burning feeling in one of the balls of my feet, or a prickly feeling in one of my heels. I also have a deadened numb spot on one of my middle toes and I think some mild deadened numbness on my left heel. It also may be good to know that My mother has had MS for years.

I’ve noticed it almost exclusively happens while sitting, very often while in my car. I was freaked out about MS from the start, but that anxiety got compounded recently when I started noticing periodic leg cramps, as well as a very subtle fuzzy feeling in between my shoulder blades, usually while hunched forward I think. I also every once in a while feel light headed and see text in doubles, though the light headed thing could be me over thinking and the seeing double thing happens maybe once every few months if that and only for like 5 seconds.

The leg cramps are usually while sitting down for a long time, and they feel like a kind of pressure point in the back of my calf or bottom of my thigh. These have really compounded my anxiety about MS as I now have at least two potential symptoms.

I know that some of the conditions under which my symptoms operate should soothe me (tingling happens while sitting down, for max 5 mins, etc.), but to be honest I’m freaking the hell out. I don’t want to lose a huge aspect of the one and only life I’ll have to this horrible disease. My mother has a great attitude about it, and I could learn a lot from that. But I want to be able to travel, see the world, bungee jump, skydive, all sorts of other able-bodied things. I don’t want that potential taken away from me. I know it’s still only around a 5% chance, but MS is more likely if you have a close family member with it. I’m the sort of hypochondriac that wants to know, like right this instant, what is wrong with me and take immediate steps to mitigate it. So i don’t really know how to cope in my daily life when my health anxiety takes over because it consumes my thoughts.

Should I be concerned? And if so, how can i cope with the worry while still participating in my everyday life?

---

I'm going to be as honest as I can with you, don't worry. As far as I'm concerned, MS is very easily treated through healthy routines. It's just a chronic condition that must be managed, just like hypochondria/health anxiety. Imo, just go on with your life and learn to accept that living with ms won't be the end of the world. I did the same with my fear, which was ALS (a disease that is always fatal and actually is the end of the world), and I was able to move on with my life for 3 weeks. Now, my fear has reverted to another scary disease, but that'll go by soon anyways, and so idc too much. Good luck.

Read the MS thread stickied at the top of this page. I had the same scare for the better part of last year. Once I stopped worrying about it, my symptoms SLOWLY subsided to the point of being non existent.

THE BIGGEST thing to remember about MS is it involves more than just tingling and buzzing. Can you still walk? Can you still see clearly out of both eyes? Have you gone completely numb in an entire limb for more than 2-3 weeks? Chances are no. MS, more so than anything, is about failing. If something isn't failing in dramatic fashion, chances are....

Good luck. Also I recommend Nortryptoline as it helped with my symptoms tremendously and also calmed my anxiety.

Hi Ryzinn.

The points you mentioned really made me think.

I unfortunately do still feel I have MS though and will hopefully see my doctor next week.

At present I have M.E (diagnosed 8 years ago) and use a wheelchair outside.
The symptoms are very similar unfortunately so cause a lot of confusion.

My problems now are prickling all over the body but especially arms and legs, and weakness in my bladder and bowel.

Really hoping it's not MS though as to be honest I've just come to terms with my M.E diagnoses in the last couple of years.

Thankyou for your post anyway.

Think logically. MS attacks the nerve. This would mean that it would be constant wouldn't it? If your nerve is being attacked, it wouldn't take a breather as soon as you stood up. This suggests a trapped nerve or something.

I'm no expert but that is my thoughts