MS or Anxiety?

[jsan]

I'm 24 years, female in good health.  About a month ago I began getting some weird symptoms.  First, felt very weak, lightheaded, shaky, was seeing white flashing lights.  Went to the ER and was sent home, was told I had anxiety.  I took a week off from work because I felt weak and I was taking meclizine which made me really droopy, I was given the medication because my GP thought I had vertigo.  3 days later, I was standing on a line and got very hot, weak, lightheaded and had visual disturbances.  So I went home and got into bed.  Ever since I've felt an inbalance while walking and standing, my body feels very heavy and at times I have visual disturbances.  Two weeks ago I was getting leg pains, first on the right one then on both, with some burning sensations, pins and needles, electrical shocks.  Got the same sensatios on my feet, hands, arms.  I took vitamin b12 and it calmed down.  Then I got the tingling sensatios on my neck, lips and tongue. I feel a pressure on the lower part of my head and on my neck and behind my ears, I also feel the pressure in my ears.  At times, I have a weird taste in my mouth and some bothersome sensations on my tongue, it feels as if I had eating a pineapple that wasn't ripe.  After taking vitamin b 12 for three weeks I start getting the electrical shock feelings again, especially on my legs, and the nerve tics.  I have the same pressure on my head and neck.  I also feel pressure on my chest, which sometimes squeezes and on my back, sometimes even on my breast.  All the bloodwork ordered by the neuro came back normal.  EEG, and EMG came back normal.  I feel worse when I first get up in the morning, my body is extremely heavy and also at the end of the day.  My neck is fine when I get up, it only gets painful and feels stiff 2-3 hours after being up but if I rest, it gets ok and I can move it normally.  Please, any thoughts would help, thanks.

[jsan]

What mental issues were you having?

[mkj980]

What you are describing sounds a little like restless leg syndrome a former boss described to me. He said the sensations kept him up at night and that exercise seemed to help them, sometimes he would be up at midnight doing push ups to try to get them to calm down. I've been diagnosed with MS for 3 years, and twitches, tingling burning etc. were not my first symptoms - optic neuritis was (or as it was misdiagnosed at the time "ocular migraine" ha what a lie), along with severe fatigue (I could not have been up all night if I tried - sleeping 12-14 hrs/day incl. falling asleep while driving, in meetings and at 8:00 on the couch or a 5 hour nap during the day) and mental issues so that I had myself screened for ADD. However, all these neuro conditions are tricky so that is just my experience and when you said the twitches etc. were keeping you up at night  it reminded me of what my boss said. I read somewhere that iodine deficiency can aggravate a tendency to restless leg syndrome. i had bought him some kelp tabs which are really cheap and very nutritious, high in all kinds of other minerals too besides the iodine. I don't know if they helped him because I left shortly after that. If your thyroid levels ever came back low or borderline low or you always feel cold, those are other symptoms of iodine deficiency. Worth a try to see if it makes any difference and take a look at RLS as a possibility.

By the way, I am waiting on some test results for Lyme so what I had may not be MS but Lyme because I also had severe joint pain and inflammation and a slightly abnormal EKG and severe night sweats (which is not a sign of Lyme but of another tick borne coinfection Babesia).

[jsan]

I'm a mother of a 3 year old and she is a handful so I can't imagine having 3 kids.  I have no energy and I feel old because I don't do much.  I'm also convinced about MS, I guess it's what we don't want to hear.  I've seen online from other posts that it can take years for a person to be diagnosed with MS so lets hope we are just going through stress, fatigue and anxiety.  I want to think and believe that if all my bloodwork and MRIs are normal, there's nothing to worry about.  Also, I've read online that people are diagnosed with MS and in reality they have aspartame poisoning. As for me, once I began taking vitamin b 12 I felt better for a week but then went back to the same thing.  My blood work says my vitamin b 12 is 414 and the range is 211-911 and now I wonder if it only showed up normal because I'm taking the supplements.  If that wasn't enough another doctor said I'm vitamin D deficient which is one of the symptoms of MS but she tried to explain that most are deficient in vitamin D and that causes fatigue and muscle pain and this is because it's hard to find the vitamin in food and those who live in NY like me aren't really exposed to the sun, then again, I barely get sick during the summer, it's usually during late winter.  I can't wait till next friday to get my mris results, I'll keep you posted.  I hope you can sleep better, I know the feeling, it's awful.

[akworried]

Hi I'm 27, and overall am in good health. Here recently, I've been getting everthing from pins and needles, burning sensations, and numbness in my hands and feet. The past three nights I've not slept well because my body is uneasy with constant twitching. I'm totally freaked out, and convinced I have MS, but am hoping its something less serious like pinched nerves. I can relate with you about the fatigue and weakness. I'm a mother of three that has to be constantly on the go, and right now can hardly gain the energy to get them off to school. I have an appt. w/ my doc on Mon to discuss my symptoms. Good Luck.

[jsan]

No MRIs because  I had one done in 2004 and it was normal.  But I went to another neuro for a second opinion and she ordered a brain MRI and a CSMRI which will be conducted this weekend and I should have the results by late next week.  The only thing that was found on a second bloodwork was a deficiency on my Vitamin D level.  What I don't understand is why vitamin b12 supplements would help the first week and then I would get the symptoms again, should I take 2500mcg vs 1000mcg?  Do I have MS?  The reason I ask is because I ate eggplants once and got very week and was seeing white lights and a family friend who is a doctor (gp) said I could develop MS in the future.

[Dr. Daniel Kantor, MD]

You said your neurologist ordered an EEG and EMG (electrical tests of the brain and nerves/muscles) -- what about the MRIs?