Multiple Sclerosis worries

[BrotatoChip]

So I've posted on this forum before, concerning my fear of getting a fatal aneurysm, which I have gotten over. I've now recently developed a new fear which is MS.

A bit of background, I'm a 19y/o male who would consider himself healthy enough. Over the past years I've developed a habit of worrying too much about everything health related.

But into the meat-and-potatoes; My fear of MS has arisen because of strange tingling sensations I've been getting on my arms. When it happens, both my forearms up to my hands start tingling in "waves" and the tingling lasts anything from 10 to 40 minutes. The tingling seems to intensify when I extended my arms. My arm also goes completely numb quite often at night, often waking me up. And when I say completely numb I mean that it feels like soft rubber for a few seconds.

Another symptom that alarms me is the fact that I have what I would describe as minor Dysarthria. I've had it since I was around 12, and what it basically is that I sometimes may mispronounce phonemes and the words come out slurred. I always assumed it was just something that I was born with and thought that other people have minor speech impediments as well. But now with the latest tingling stuffs it has got me worried as it fits perfectly with the tingling in the symptoms list of MS.

Oh and I almost forgot to mention, I sometimes get pins and needles down my back. This usually happens outside for some reason, especially when I'm wearing a warm coat. I go to a sauna often and don't get any strange tinglings there, so I doubt it's temperature dependent.

[Serenity1990]

Symptoms that come and go are not MS.

[Lemondrizzle]

I am having an MRI to rule it out

[CleverLittleViper]

It's possible the pins and needles in your back (which will be temp dependant if it only happens if you're wearing a warm coat ) is cholinergic urticaria. It's a form of hives, and is caused by heat.

I had/have it. I used to notice it when my body had sufficiently heated up, either during a walk on a cold day, or going from a cold place to a hot place without giving my body sufficient time to acclimatize. Sometimes, it can be caused/create a blockage in the sweat pores.

For me, it usually cleared up in less than a minute tops, and I'd simply have to loosen my coat or just wait for it to go. It was just a flash of pricks around the back of my neck normally. I get red blotches on my arms after a hot shower, too. It's just one of them things.

But I would say it's doubtful that's linked to MS at all. Especially since you know what the trigger is of it...

As for the other symptoms, I don't think MS can present in that fashion. It'd be very unusual for MS to present with bilateral, symmetrical symptoms. Maybe you have a pinched nerve? I know I bend my arms when I sleep and I think that pinches the Ulna nerve in my elbow and it sends my hands straight to sleep. It's OK, they're lazy buggers anyway.

There's lots of causes of numbness and tingling, most of them are benign, and easily fixed and far more common than MS.

[WorriedTeen221]

It's possible the pins and needles in your back (which will be temp dependant if it only happens if you're wearing a warm coat ) is cholinergic urticaria. It's a form of hives, and is caused by heat.

I had/have it. I used to notice it when my body had sufficiently heated up, either during a walk on a cold day, or going from a cold place to a hot place without giving my body sufficient time to acclimatize. Sometimes, it can be caused/create a blockage in the sweat pores.

For me, it usually cleared up in less than a minute tops, and I'd simply have to loosen my coat or just wait for it to go. It was just a flash of pricks around the back of my neck normally. I get red blotches on my arms after a hot shower, too. It's just one of them things.

But I would say it's doubtful that's linked to MS at all. Especially since you know what the trigger is of it...

As for the other symptoms, I don't think MS can present in that fashion. It'd be very unusual for MS to present with bilateral, symmetrical symptoms. Maybe you have a pinched nerve? I know I bend my arms when I sleep and I think that pinches the Ulna nerve in my elbow and it sends my hands straight to sleep. It's OK, they're lazy buggers anyway.

There's lots of causes of numbness and tingling, most of them are benign, and easily fixed and far more common than MS.

I suffer from CU, have for the past 3 years! It's a horrible condition and if I don't use antihistamines I'm pretty much in for a day of torture :(

[CleverLittleViper]

I suffer from CU, have for the past 3 years! It's a horrible condition and if I don't use antihistamines I'm pretty much in for a day of torture :(

That sucks. :( I have a very mild form of it, luckily, but I can't imagine having it worse. I've heard that for some people it can be quite debilitating because they have to constantly monitor their temperature.

Luckily, I've heard that it is a condition that often goes away.