could this be ms?

[meandmeg]

i was wondering if someone with experience with ms could answer this for me. i'll make it as brief as i can. my main symptoms have been painful leg spasms that i would get nearly every night for almost a year. i saw dr at the time, and blood work showed no possible reason. it spread to my shoulders for a while, then subsided. about 5 months later, both my hands were very painful and weak. i couldn't open anything and no one could touch my hands. the pain subsided after about a week, but the loss of strength remained for about 3 months. in addition, i had a weird episode happen both 8 years ago, and then again last week, where out of the blue, within minutes, i went from being 100% fine, to feeling nauseous, breaking out in a cold sweat, lightheaded almost loosing consciousness and my hands and feet were pulling inward so stiffly it hurt badly and no one could pry my hands open. the episodes only lasted about a day or so, but i've never experienced anything like that with my hands and feet muscles before. i've been to my dr and all my blood work came back fine today, and she suggests going to a neurologist. i don't have insurance though, so this will cost me a lot if it's going to lead me on a wild goose chase. any advise?  

[Gio77Italy]

the problem would be immunological, not a specific type of infection.

an immune problem in general triggered by some types of infections. some bacterial, some viral like the new strains of Influenza A.

it is not a direct infection of the central nervous system like in Lyme or Syphilis but a auto-immune reaction that causes all those funny paralysis here and there.

the Guillain-Barré for example is a auto-immune syndrome notoriously associated with infections.  often flu shots and pandemics.

[meandmeg]

wow thank you for all your advise. i've been searching the internet but haven't been able to find any information like what i experienced. i guess i shouldn't say i'm certain i didn't have an infection, only that the dr did not feel i did, and no tests showed indication of one.

i watched the video on dystonia, but no, it doesn't look at all like what i experience. and my dr ruled out restless leg, though it does sound similar. my hand and feet don't spasm, they just feel like they are being pulled in to the center of my body and not being released. they are "locking" in position and no one is able to move them for me.

gio77italy, do you have an idea of what type of infection it might sound like to you?

neurodreamz, thank you for all your time. i'm only 41, so parkinsons is out, thankfully. i'm just baffled. but it doesn't sound like either of you would say it's related to ms?

[Neurodreamz]

I was thinking Gio77Italy has some good advice about infection. I read one of the possible triggers of dystonia is infection, assuming this is what it is.

[Neurodreamz]

Hi
Those attacks do sound very scary. I did some surfing. Have you hears of a dystonic storm? Hands can lock up as you described. I wonder if it was bad enough it would cause you to lose your bowels and vomit? Dystonia is part of the class doctors call "movement disorders". One type of dystonia, Paroxysmal dyskinesias, one can be perfectly normal in between events.

Here's a youtube video, is this what you remember happening to you? If so, I would find a way to get insurance so you can determine the cause before another one happens. Where do you live?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5A4-bRDnue0

Plus I found this on a neurology site. It describes your symptoms but the person has a lot else going on, so I don't know if it fits.  It was answered by a neurologist, but the answer is locked (small fee of $3 to view).
http://www.justanswer.com/neurology/3rz3c-ocassional-severe-hand-finger-cramps-locking-looks.html

Here's some general info on dystonia. It's a genetic condition. You never mentioned how old you are. With dystonia, it's helpful as if you're over 60, in could be caused by Parkinsons but you sound much younger than that!! If you think it may be it. sometimes they do genetic testing.  

http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/171354.php

If you're young and the above symptoms fit, it could be early-onset dystonia which affects Jewish people more frequently (1 in 3000 to 9000 people).

Let me know, I can do some more digging, at least if you suspect it is something, you'll know with more certainty a neurologist is the right specialist to see.

Laura

[Gio77Italy]

well diarrhea and vomiting are possibly symptoms of an infection that's why I asked. from what you say there is actually indication that the problem is triggered by an immunological problem started with an infection.

why do you say you're certain you had no infections?
some infections are almost asymptomatic. they wouldn't even show up on CBC unless you took it in the right moment when values are out of range.

I have been having similar problems, my left arm once was like crunched on itself the same way you describe it. it looked like my aunt's arm who's had brain ischemia.

every time it was coincidental with infections but I wasn't aware of it because I wouldn't give much importance to diarrhea or other symptoms like "water" leaking from the nose and unusual headache. I also had partial paralysis of half of the face coincidental with headache and diarrhea.

if you have blurred vision, vision symptoms in general ask someone in your family to test you with the Romberg's test, often is linked to conditions affecting the optical nerves. look it up on Youtube to see how it's done it only takes a minute. you could do it on your own by putting a book on top of your head, stand up still feet joined together if you wobble you get a positive test.

[meandmeg]

thanks for all the information. it's hard to know what to do without insurance. right now i'm not having any symptoms in particular except some muscle spasms in my face, and a little bit of blurry vision from time to time.  the scariest parts for me were the 2 episodes 8 years apart. i had diarrhea and vomiting with both episodes, but they came on so quickly, and hurt my hands and feet so badly it scared the crap out of me. i'm certain i had no infection of any kind along with any of the symptoms, and my dr was baffled as to what else it could be. she said she ran every test to look for deficiencies she could think of and nothing came back. i don't know if i should pursue this or wait for another episode of symptom to happen before going forward. does anyone think this is ms? or does everyone think it really doesn't sound like it??

thanks for all your help, i really appreciate hearing from people who know what ms is truly like.

[Neurodreamz]

My son had one isolated MS like event, and the doctors asked him about other symptoms typical of MS (like being bothered by a hot shower). I think neurology may be helpful, especially if you have other MS symptoms.

Do you think it could have been a pinched nerve? This could cause bilateral pain and weakness in the arms. Do you remember lifting anything before the event? Muscle spasms can also be caused by a Magnesium deficiency, especially ones that occur at night. I take Magnesium Malate for mine. Magnesium Glyconate is a good version, too. Some Magnesium like Magnesium Oxide can cause diarrhea. It would be cheap to try a natural Magnesium supplement before seeing a specialist to see if it makes a difference.  Also, sometimes leg spasms at night can be a condition called Restless Leg Syndrome.

With most neurological conditions,even with MS, it is possible to wait a few months for a diagnosis. Here is Canada, it's an 8 month wait to see a neurologist. With my son, he had optic neuritis, so they saw him right away in case it was a tumour. Even with possible MS, I would have had to wait 3 months for a MRI to diagnose, and decided to pay $1000 for one right away. Maybe if the symptoms aren't bugging you too much you could find a way to get medical insurance and follow up then. Even with MS, my son at 22 was given a choice to start medication or not. Because he had only one event and it's possible he'll never develop MS, we asked the doctor about waiting, she said it was fine. He'll get annual MRIs to monitor any changes in his brain.

A tough decision for you. I would weigh how manageable the symptoms are. Good luck making a decision. I can empathize, here in Canada, we're lucky, health care is free (government now charging everyone $300 on their tax return in they have an income) and it is never a decision not to make an appointment.  If you're in the states, hopefully Obama gets national health care off the ground. I heard Hilary tried and failed when Clinton was in power.

Laura

[Gio77Italy]

did you have infection symptoms before it happened? loose stool, bladder symptoms?

there's no particular link between your symptoms and MS.

might still be a Immunological problem triggered by an infection that is disturbing the central nervous system.

[HVAC]

It is hard with our medical system because you have to figure out what is wrong so you know what specialist to go to. I am no Doctor and I would not like to hazard a guess. A Neurologist seems like a reasonable next step. The testing such as MRIs is a lot of money. You could shop around and find the cheapest place to get a MRI if you need one but they are still at least a grand. Even with insurance my MS testing took all my savings with the copays. I had to see specialists for two years. I am sorry there are no easy answers here. Our medical system stinks.

Alex