Text book MS symptoms! Absolutely terrified

[oceanscape]

Feel certain it’s MS as it fits everything I have read.

- left arm and leg feel weak and “dead” 24/7 (but no weakness as far as I know, I am very active and can still do my runs although they ache more than usual after). Terrifying as I know ms tends to strike one side only.

- tingling in left foot in one specific spot of the sole that was there permanently for a week but is now minor and intermittent

- tingling also occurs in other random areas of legs and feet, on both left and right side but these are fleeting and come and go

- left eye feels weird, like I need to keep blinking as otherwise it kind of burns. No change to vision but I’m constantly checking it

- muscle twitches; had one on my left thigh that lasted a couple of hours after a panic attack and then since then I’ve been getting them in other locations of my legs and buttocks but they just last a few seconds. Never had these before in my life

- feel like I’m slurring my words sometimes, although if I am it’s minor and that could be anxiety

- I have type 1 diabetes and scared myself senseless after reading it makes you a lot more susceptible to MS

- I am 33 years old so bang in the age where MS is most common

soooo, based on the above it’s looking bad, right? Waiting for a neuro referral but feeling deflated, anxious and depressed. Also I am male so read that if I do have it then it’s more likely to be the “bad” kind that just gets worse and worse and doesn’t give you remission periods.

I went through the most stressful period of my life 3-4 weeks ago so maybe that’s triggered it. Genuinely feel like my life is over and so depressed

[Pepperpot]

Hey

I have had allllll those symptoms, apart from being T1DM. I feel that you need to try and calm down, and re evaluate in a month. I bet those symptoms wont be there x

[NoraB]

Yeah, I had all of these (and more besides), and I have the unterrifying (but seriously annoying) condition known as Fibromyalgia...

Also, anxiety (stress response) can cause all of these symptoms too. (And your last sentence would suggest that this is down to anxiety)

Edited to add that I forgot the cervical spondylosis (wear and tear in the neck) with minor nerve impingement which accounted for some of the neurological symptoms in my hands and arms etc

[oceanscape]

Thanks to both of you for replying, it really helped.

Thought I’d give an update on the above. I was lucky to get a neuro consultation and MRI scan last week. I haven’t got the MRI results yet but the neuro looked at the scans himself and said no signs of MS. A big relief but I’m still beating myself up with worry that the radiologists will see something when they get round to looking at the scans.

Since I wrote that initial post my left eye pain has got a lot worse but the other symptoms have lessened (although they are still there). My left eye is painful but more in an irritation / strain / dry eye / tired kind of way rather than a deep pain. I just want to close it and rest it, even after waking. I have had 2 separate eye tests and both were all clear so I have no idea what’s going on, the opticians said the eye looks completely normal and healthy but then I foolishly read an article online that said opticians can’t pick up optic neuritis as the eye appears normal in the early stages. I’ve been advised to use eye drops for dry eyes but they’re not making any difference whatsoever.

The fact it is only one eye is what’s so worrying to me as everything I read online suggests more serious indications when it’s one eye rather than both eyes, especially when it comes to MS. And I read that optic neuritis in one eye is the diagnosing factor for MS in something like 50% of diagnoses so this eye issue plus the tingling is freaking me out so badly as I can’t comprehend how it can be anything else? Would be too much of a coincidence? I am trying to take comfort from the fact that I don’t seem to have any vision distortion but my constant checking needs to stop as it’s so tiring. I’m covering one eye and checking the other eye multiple times an hour and can’t stop it as my brain is so concerned I will suddenly lose vision or experience distortion.

In separate news I saw my GP for anxiety and have been given Citalopram. Have a stressful week of travelling for work next week so will start it when I get back but nervous after reading about the bad side effects in the first few weeks. I hope it will help me as I’m exhausted from all this.

Hope everyone is well.

[oceanscape]

I received the MRI report and the radiologist's conclusion was "no clear cause for symptoms being experienced" and it did not flag any abnormalities. The only comment that is really worrying me is that it said "no significant white matter lesions". So I am thinking there ARE some white matter lesions? Also, I had a MRI *without* contrast so now I'm worrying it wasn't very accurate.

In the past, when I've received clear results I instantly feel a massive weight of my shoulders and so much relief. This time, I haven't had that at all and I'm still really anxious and scared. My symptoms are still persisting and it's been 6 weeks now. I've never had symptoms for this long before. And given my HOURS of Google research I am so scared because my symptoms are an exact fit for MS and it just seems like it would be impossible for it NOT to be MS. I'm really scared and have no idea what to do for next steps now. I'm thinking of getting a MRI second opinion but I know that this is probably unnecessary and won't help my anxiety. I'm just at a loss.

[BlueIris]

"No significant" is basically medical speak for "None". No need to get hung up on the semantics.

[Frantz003]

I have all those symptoms and I am also super frightened. Left leg, foot feel weak and my fat toe feels slightly numb all the time. my joints in my hands hurt bad sometimes like shooting pains and i keep getting a weird buzz feeling all over and water drop feeling. Just wanted you to know you are not alone :(