Please Please Read

[pnb]

In the past 3 and a half months, I have been to my GP 14 times, Accident and Emergency 3 times and to
a consultant neurologist at BUPA.

I have had a full neourological exam ( by a neurologist, who found nothing wrong)
2 partial neuro exams by my GP ( who found nothing wrong)
Prostate examinations
Testicular Ultrasound
Stomach X-Ray
2 Full Blood Tests

Needless to say I feel I've been through it somewhat.

My story

Whilst sitting idly at work one day, the palms of my hands started gently tingling. I had been feeling somewhat stressed
at the time yet didn't recognise it. I put "tingling hands" into Google and guess what I had.......Multiple Sclerosis !
I panicked and immediately went to my GP who said it was most likely some sort of Carpal Tunnel based symptom. I expressed my fear of it being MS
and he said that he was 99% sure it wasn't but that he had been wrong before !!!!
I went home unconvinced of his diagnosis and continued to research MS. I became convinced that this is what I had and over the course of the next 2 weeks or so
I noticed that my clothes were irritating me, like my skin was irritated. I then developed patches of skin that tingled or had a mild burning sensation.
About this time my muscles started twitching (mostly in my calves) , my bowel habit changed (more frequent and looser), I couldn't sleep and I was ( and still am a bit ) convinced that I was suffering
from a serious disease, maybe even terminal.

My GP, right from the outset believed it was anxiety based as he could find no clinical signs that there was anything untoward going on.
My visit to the consultant neurologist resulted in him telling me that he thought the chances of me having MS were minute and that a scan would be a waste
of money.

I was more or less on top of all this when unfortunately I came down with a Urinary Tract Infection. I was treated with antiobiotics and it cleared up within 3 days.
However, more Googling resulted in me finding out that UTI's are commonly found in MS sufferers and this got me even more anxious.

I was particularly afraid of the infection coming back and one morning I noticed my urine was cloudy. I panicked and took myself to A&E. They gave my urine test the all clear as well as a blood test.
I wasn't convinced so I stole some urine strips and started doing my own tests at home. These, I believed, showed positive, so I went back to A&E and they
just took me at my word and gave me some more antiobiotics. After taking just one of the antiobiotics, I never got another positive result, although I did finish the end of the course.
I am left now wondering whether it really came back or not ????

As well as these symptoms I have already mentioned, I have been getting stomach cramp pain, aching left arm and crampy pains in my hands and arches of my feet.

Ten years ago I went through something similar where I was absolutely convinced I had a brain tumour and I had horiffic symptoms. I was wrong then....

Do you think that, other than the Urine infection, all of my symptoms can be attributed to anxiety ?

One difficulty for me is that nearly all ( but not quite all) of the skin sensations occur on one side. My GP sees nothing suspiscous in this but I can't understand the logic in it.

One thing I do know is that for the past 3 and a half months I fed myself a diet of frightening thoughts, I have been on every cancer/MS web site for hours on end and I'm sure this has had an effect on me.

Even now my GP says that he is convinced I do not have MS. When I ask him how he can be so confident, he says, because nobody can find any clinical signs. Should I believe him ?

My skin irritations tend to be on the left hand side and include patches of tingling or burning skin. The senations may last a few minutes or upto a couple of hours or that may just keep coming and going
throughout the day.


I'm sorry this is so long but I'd be grateful of your thoughts.


Paul.

[seh1980]

hello Paul,

[Wow!] that was quite a post!! lol

It seems to me that the symptoms that you are describing could easily be anxiety based. I suffer from panic attacks and anxiety and have often thought that there must be something seriously wrong with me. I always thought that I had heart problems until I went for all the tests and they all came back ok.

As you say, you have had a lot of tests done and everything seems normal. If you don't trust your GP, who can you trust when it comes to your health?

The more you tell yourself that nothing serious is wrong with you, the more you will believe it. It seems that you have already made some progress and I'm sure that you will continue to do so.

Let us know how you are getting on, ok?

Sarah

[Meg]

Hi Paul .

Welcome to the site. I hope you finds some comfort here
I've written between your lines below to keep myself on track

In the past 3 and a half months, I have been to my GP 14 times, Accident and Emergency 3 times and to
a consultant neurologist at BUPA.

I have had a full neourological exam ( by a neurologist, who found nothing wrong)
2 partial neuro exams by my GP ( who found nothing wrong)
Prostate examinations
Testicular Ultrasound
Stomach X-Ray
2 Full Blood Tests

Needless to say I feel I've been through it somewhat. and extremely well examined

My story

Whilst sitting idly at work one day, the palms of my hands started gently tingling. I had been feeling somewhat stressed
at the time yet didn't recognise it. I put "tingling hands" into Google and guess what I had.......Multiple Sclerosis ! You may already be aware that when you are breathing fast as a result of being stressed having tingly extremeties is extremely common
I panicked and immediately went to my GP who said it was most likely some sort of Carpal Tunnel based symptom. Do you do a job that puts you at high risk for CT ? I expressed my fear of it being MS
and he said that he was 99% sure it wasn't but that he had been wrong before !!!! How old are you ? Any other symptoms? As you also probably read MS presents with a variety of neurological issues that arrive one after the other..

I went home unconvinced of his diagnosis and continued to research MS. I became convinced that this is what I had and over the course of the next 2 weeks or so I noticed that my clothes were irritating me, like my skin was irritated. I then developed patches of skin that tingled or had a mild burning sensation. I have a patch on my shoulder blade that always does this when I'm nervous or stressed Did you look into environmental issues that this could be ?


About this time my muscles started twitching (mostly in my calves) when you're worried you produce more lactic acid as by products of stress hormones that will do this , my bowel habit changed (more frequent and looser) could be stress related, I couldn't sleep and I was ( and still am a bit ) convinced that I was suffering from a serious disease, maybe even terminal. Have you any more symptoms to report that would support this ?

My GP, right from the outset believed it was anxiety based as he could find no clinical signs that there was anything untoward going on.

My visit to the consultant neurologist resulted in him telling me that he thought the chances of me having MS were minute and that a scan would be a waste
of money.

I was more or less on top of all this when unfortunately I came down with a Urinary Tract Infection. I was treated with antiobiotics and it cleared up within 3 days.
However, more Googling resulted in me finding out that UTI's are commonly found in MS sufferers and worriers who are not keeping themselves hydrated enough as lose fluid in sweating and this got me even more anxious.

I was particularly afraid of the infection coming back and one morning I noticed my urine was cloudy. I panicked and took myself to A&E. They gave my urine test the all clear as well as a blood test.
I wasn't convinced so I stole some urine strips and started doing my own tests at home. These, I believed, showed positive,- what parameter exactly was positive ?? no urine strip checks for infection - did you steal the bottle too to measure them against ? so I went back to A&E and they
just took me at my word and gave me some more antiobiotics. After taking just one of the antiobiotics, I never got anot

[pnb]

Meg,

I am 34 years of age married with two small children.
I have no hobbies to speak of.
I know I am a "born" worrier

The Urinalysis showed a small presence of blood and maybe leucocyte (although I think I left the strip for too long before analysing it)

I have no other symptoms that would indicate MS

( i.e. Optic Neuritis, Numbness, Vertigo etc)

I am not taking any medication.

I really wish I could get this thing off my mind and start recovering.

[carlin]

Hi, Paul and welcome, i am not medically trained and i am the same as you, every ache or pain is a terminal illness, i believe that most of your symptoms are related to anxiety, and if it is of any assistance, my best friend has MS and believe me, she only complains of tiredness and maybe the odd tingle here and there, your tests would have diagnosed this by now, so at least on the MS front, maybe you can relax a bit. keep in touch

[FAN]

hi.....im not sure im the best person to give advice as im new here but i can say that maybe typing ailments into google isnt the best idea. i used to do this and convinced my self i had some terrible illness that only detracted from what i was really feeling, listen to your doctor when he says your ok and concentrate on what he says you could be doing to feel better...i found a little knowledge can be a dangerous thing until i joined here

fan x

[vernon]

hi and welcome to the site. I agree fully with Fan, I used to read up ailments on the net and they can realy make u ill with worry and are usualy wrong. hope u find the help you need here tc Vernon

[stimpy]

Hi and Welcome !

It is a well known fact that the internet can be a dangerous place for the panic attack sufferer.

As Meg said most of the symptoms you have can be put down to anxiety.
However the internet can throw up searches for 1001 diseases and all of them unpleasant and deadly.

Mr Panic is a master mimmick. He knows you have this fear that you have MS and so he copies the symptoms in order to frighten you.

The tests you had seem very through I'm 100% sure if there was anything there it would have been found.

I think the UTI was just an extreme bit of bad timing.
(Not to mention the fact there is a big going around at the moment and UTI is one of the symptoms - So the doctor tells me.)

Hang in there hun.

Love, light and Best wishes
Liz xxx
With hard work and determination and all the things you know.
The world is there for you to take. There's nowhere you can't go.


[]Scatty Eccentric & 'Poet Laureate to panic and anxiety'

[pnb]

Hi pnb, this is your future self here. It was anxiety all along. You’re now 53 years of age and nothing bad has happened. Just thought I’d let you know. Take care.

pnb

[Pkstracy]

Amazing post to yourself to remind you, just remember to come back and read it if the anxiety monster every flares back up.