Whole body sx..

I'm kinda going back and forth between lyme, ms, and fibro.   They have so many similarities.  But with my normal Mri's and test hopefully I can lean more towards lyme or fibro.  From my reading, I've heard that if someone has Global symptoms, or fleeting symptoms the cause is much LESS likely to be MS.  MS tends to cause more one sided sx especially in the beginning when there are less lesions.  Is this true?  Can anyone add to this or explain this better to me?  I've asked about it on the MS forum, but haven't had much luck with answers.  My symptoms are definately ALL OVER.  It seems that every inch of my body has something!!!

[margypops]

Yup I have all that you describe I have on and off for years I have taken Anti biotics through the years and now assume it goes into remission then reappears I am going through the same at presant, is your sleep pattern allover the place aswell?

[skarey]

Have you been dx'd with Lyme?  I haven't yet.  Yeah my sleep is not good.   I sleep, but I don't feel like I ever "really" fall asleep.  It's like I'm always half awake.  

[JackieCalifornia]

I had babesiosis with Lyme, and that I'm sure affected my symptoms one way or another ... I had whole-body acheing, headache, bone and muscle all over when first very ill.  I didn't sleep well either, and just dreaded waking up in the morning because it hurt so much.  Strange thing to say, dreading waking up, but it was true.  The last pain to leave was lower back ache, as the treatment kicked in and progressed.  

[skarey]

It looks like a lot of people get the All over sx.  It is this pretty common?  No one responded as to whether they know about the sx of MS being more to one side and no as global as we are having?

[patsy10]

My symptoms are all over as well.  Literally from head to toe.  It's hard to really say regarding MS as the symptoms can be variable from person to person.  Symptoms more on one side or the other is common in lyme too.  There is information by a physician in the health pages regarding this.

The neurologists I saw, including an MS specialist told me that it is very unusual to have MS and not have abnormal test results.  I know I have read stories on the web stating that MS is hard to diagnose but I have heard differently from the 5 or 6 neuro's I saw.  If the MRI's are normal then it can show up on a spinal tap or evoked potential tests if it is present.

[skarey]

I haven't had a spinal tap or evoked potentials.  I guess I should request it to be more certain.

[wonko]

Most doctors won't order the lumbar puncture or evoked potentials unless the MRI and neuro exam show enough signs of a neurological disease.  You should ask your doctor to clarify.

[skarey]

So if my MRI's are normal and neuro exam they won't do them? That ***** cause both are normal besides having brisk/hyper reflexes.  My brother in law has MS -- Primary Progressive.  He's had sx since he was 18.  He wasn't dx'd until his early 20's because his Mri's were normal.  Finally they did a spinal and it was obviously MS.  His first lesions showed in his spine only a few years ago, and now they are in his brain too.  It is so scarey cause he has it bad and his lesions did not show on his MRI for about 10 years.  He is now 33.  Maybe this is why I worry about it being MS so bad cause I've seen personally how tragic it can be.  
  Anyways thanks for the info.
   skarey

[wonko]

PPMS is harder to diagnose, and much more rare.  85% of MS is RRMS.  I don't know the statistics, but PPMS is more common in men than in women.  

Having someone close to you with such a serious illness naturally makes you more likely to worry about it.  But I wouldn't want you to get too caught up with it and stop looking for other explanations that are more probable.

I had an LP and it did help me put to rest thoughts of MS.  I had lesions on my brain MRI, but they were non-specific.  The LP was not that traumatic for me, but it is a necessarily invasive procedure and it can have side effects.  You should discuss the need and risks of it with your doctor.

[SOONERMOM]

When you have symptoms that are all over and that move around, it is most likely a peripheral/systemic issue rather than a central nervous system issue.

MS symptoms come from lesions in the brain/spinal cord.  For you to have symptoms all over, your brain would probably have to be riddled with lesions.  If someone has a spinal cord lesion, it is possible for them to have symptoms from that level and below.  For instance going numb from the waist down.

Normally, in RRMS, people have a flare and experience symptoms from the area of inflammation going on in the brain.  The body usually repairs itself (myelin) and a lot of the flares will resolve on their own.  They might not have a complete remission, but I think most people will go back to whatever their normal was until their next flare.  

I don't think they experience what lyme patients do where we never know what each day will bring.  Different symptoms all the time, changing, worsening day by day.

This is something that the MS specialist told me during my consultation over a year ago.  MS is characterized by "flares" followed by remissions, not by a gradual worsening/growing of existing symptoms.

It makes sense if you know how MS is thought to work.  Attacking certain areas of the brain, then "remitting" allowing for healing to take place.  I am sure that he was not speaking of PPMS.  But like Wonko said, that is rare and is more common in men.

[patsy10]

Soonermom:  Your post explains it well.

Skarey:  The spinal tap is invasive and can have risks.  My neuro told me it would be negative and it was.  He said my all over symptoms were not consitent with MS.  He ordered it because I wanted it to rule out MS.  All my MRI's were normal but the neuro ordered the evoked potentials to see if there were any lesions that were missed on MRI.   He said the test is very sensitive and shows lesions that  cannot be seen on MRI.  I had visual and somatosensory evoked potentials.  The tests came back normal of course like all the other tests I had done, even though I had paresthesias all over my body at the time the test was done.  He diagnosed me with fibromyalgia based on my normal test results.

[skarey]

Thank you everyone for your help!  I swear this forum is more help than any dr's ever will be.  
I think another reason that I'm so concerned about MS is because my sx started in May 07 lasted for about 5 months and then completely went away.  I was sx free up until march of this year, when my sx came back and are worse this go round.  The sx are much more prounounced this time and much more debilitating.  Having my sx relapse and remitt really make me think MS.  I'm not sure if it is as common in Lymes to do this.  As I believe that most times the condition just sticks with you at all times.  is this right?  Im still waiting for some more blood tests to come back which includes the Western Blot, and vit def.  I am feeling SOOOO weak and having a lot of pain these past couple days that I don't know if I can wait.  
   Thanks again for your help!