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Neurology (Expert Forum)
ms or not?? what should i do?
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ms or not?? what should i do?
by sally456, Feb 22, 2006 12:00AM
Dr.:
need an expert opinion; obsessed with ms. I am female.. 39 in Apr. It started at age 21 with a bladder infection. Took anti-biotics. It went away. Shortly after, bladder was not the same. It felt like I had to go all the time, when I voided it sometimes still felt i had to go. Went to urologists..no one found anything. Went to neurologist he did brain/SPine MRI's. this was when i was 24. Tests were normal. One babinski relfes was found.(he scrapped the bottom of my foot rather hard though).Then went to Dr. Miller ms specialist at Columbia presbyterian. At this point my only symptom was the bladder, however anxiety from ms fears caused me to have tingling, arms falling asleep at night, burning sensations, strange sensations of crawling or dripping under skin all over body. Never had these before. Dr. miller did exam, spinal tap and blood work. All normal and he said i didnt have ms. Took months to get over,still thought i had it, finally symptoms of tingling etc. went away. Righta after birth of first child,bladder symptoms subsided age 27. Since then, ive hardly had an bladder problems. 5 years ago, i woke up to vision distortions and since then left pupil larger than right. More so in dim light, vision is streaky in both eyes when i wave hand in front of face. have many floaters for many years, hundreds & when i look closely they look like sperm swimming fast.Also at 23 had chicken pox. After a week vision was cloudy in 1 eye, dr said it was from the virus ..ms specialist said that could be true. Does my history suggest ms?
what should i do? Im scared of ms.
need an expert opinion; obsessed with ms. I am female.. 39 in Apr. It started at age 21 with a bladder infection. Took anti-biotics. It went away. Shortly after, bladder was not the same. It felt like I had to go all the time, when I voided it sometimes still felt i had to go. Went to urologists..no one found anything. Went to neurologist he did brain/SPine MRI's. this was when i was 24. Tests were normal. One babinski relfes was found.(he scrapped the bottom of my foot rather hard though).Then went to Dr. Miller ms specialist at Columbia presbyterian. At this point my only symptom was the bladder, however anxiety from ms fears caused me to have tingling, arms falling asleep at night, burning sensations, strange sensations of crawling or dripping under skin all over body. Never had these before. Dr. miller did exam, spinal tap and blood work. All normal and he said i didnt have ms. Took months to get over,still thought i had it, finally symptoms of tingling etc. went away. Righta after birth of first child,bladder symptoms subsided age 27. Since then, ive hardly had an bladder problems. 5 years ago, i woke up to vision distortions and since then left pupil larger than right. More so in dim light, vision is streaky in both eyes when i wave hand in front of face. have many floaters for many years, hundreds & when i look closely they look like sperm swimming fast.Also at 23 had chicken pox. After a week vision was cloudy in 1 eye, dr said it was from the virus ..ms specialist said that could be true. Does my history suggest ms?
what should i do? Im scared of ms.
Doctor's Answer
by CCF-Neuro-M.D.-PW, Feb 27, 2006 12:00AM
I cannot give you a clinical diagnosis over the internet, so my advice is limited for educational purposes
Your history or tests as you describe do not suggest MS - the highest incidence of MS is in a persons 20s, so if you have not developed any firm evidence of MS at this point, you are even less likely to do so.
I do not know what testing you had for your visual episode - even if you did have optic neuritis most poeple do not go oon to develop MS, especially with a normal MRI.
I would try and not focus so much on a disease that you have little evidence of having to date - its not good for your health!
Your history or tests as you describe do not suggest MS - the highest incidence of MS is in a persons 20s, so if you have not developed any firm evidence of MS at this point, you are even less likely to do so.
I do not know what testing you had for your visual episode - even if you did have optic neuritis most poeple do not go oon to develop MS, especially with a normal MRI.
I would try and not focus so much on a disease that you have little evidence of having to date - its not good for your health!
I have had a numb toe tip for years! Then is the last year developed paresthesia on one side of my body, then in June allergies, October muscle pain that comes and goes, December digestive trouble, then last week had episode with blurred vison and large pupil for an evening. A lifetime of anxiety! Right now it is really bad, so I know what you are going through! I also had negative mri and lumbar puncture, and I am pretty sure that rules out ms. I know anxiety can cause a lot of symptoms. I think the medical field does not understand a lot of things that happen to the human body. It is so complex. It may be one of those things that is never explained and learning how to live with the uncertainty is not easy! Good Luck!
Carolyn
In any case anxiety, stress and anguish exacerbate a lot the symptoms.
I tell myself sometimes, ok, if you're still pretty much ok in 5 or 7 years...then you probably dont have it..what a way to live, huh?
What are you doing about your anxieties..? I am going to start therapy soon..i am on effexor, but i think i have to increase the dosage. and some days i forget to take it....
So after reading my post, what is your unprofessional opinion...? you think its all anxiety related??? i hope the forum doctor agrees with you....
Thanks again. it made me feel much better.
thanks for your help.....
Sorry its so long, but i am desperate for help.
i just wanted to know if it sounds like i have ms, does it sound mild, and can you have a mild case for life?
Thanks so much for helping me.
www.fluoroquinolones.org (not commercial, non profit org) in order to discard your reaction to the medicine.
I know that I was given alot of cipro by differerent doctors and it never helped my "bladder problems".
I could have been given others, but i just remember the name cipro.
thanks for your help...you seem to be really up on all of this neuro stuff...I have to stop concentrating on ms..its driving me insane.
Speaking as someone who admittedly got a little (OK - alot) obsessed with MS, I actually got to see a real live highly reputable Neurologist the other day - had to pay through the nose for it but I'm so glad I did! As you'll remember from my posts, I have classic MS symptoms, so I expected he'd want to do a spinal tap, evoked potentials and another MRI at least. But no. He Threw a few things into the mix that I hadn't considered.
He said, quite emphaticly, that while he would have expected MS from my symptoms, hes certain I don't have it becase with such severe symptoms, I would not have had a normal MRI - even if symptoms had resolved. So then he looked at other possibilities - which were stress (not in my case until symptoms got bad) Hyperventilation (apparently over breathing causes a chemical change that can cause all sorts of neuro symptoms - again, not in my case - I under breathe if anything) or complicated migraine. He thought I'd had this since I was 19 and never had CFS. I found it really hard to beleive a migraine could last 3 months and cause such havoc, so went away not entirely convinced - I wanted so much to beleive it, but just could'nt until I got on the net that night and found out all about it.
And yes, there it is - people who have the same as me. And as I have a history of migraine with aura, which makes it all the more likely, I can finally accept I don't have MS. WHAT A RELIEF! He's put me on medication to prevent attacks so heres hoping. Anyway, I'm not saying thats what you have, there are other options, but maybe its time you saw a good neuro to put your mind at ease sweetie. You've got enough going on without this. Maybe it might be worth trying some yoga breathing exercises