Does this sound like MS?

[Kitkat05]

The following blurb is what, in summary, I have experience in the past year. The one reason I think of MS, is because the only doctor who has been there when I had a convulsion attack told me it looked to him like MS.

A year ago, age 21, I experienced small spasms throughout my whole body which developed into jerks and then full on body convulsions within a few days. I was taken to the hospital and given many tests from blood tests, CAT scan, MRI, an EEG (during an attack), all came back negative. I was a healthy female, no traumas or accidents to the head.

The year progressed and I've seen about four neurologist now. My symptoms have progressed to attacks where I collapse and have full on convulsion (never lost consciousness), but when  am done, I can't move my body, confused, and usually have a hard time speaking. Usually within a few hours to a day I start to gain full motor abilities back. Though lately this period of recovery has taken longer, over a week. I have emotional mood swings that are not provoked and make no logical sense in why I feel that way. Mood swings usually (but not always) happen before a major attack.

I do have small muscle twitches throughout my body (every single day) which over a year have gotten stronger. First just one twitched in a muscle, now its stronger, example: that one muscle twitches in my arm, it pulls on another in my hand and then my finger jerks. In the past month I have started feeling a tingling numb sensation in my body that appears randomly, along with a type of cold shivers in random localized areas.

Over the past year I have also experienced terrible headaches which migraine, sinus, and regular pain medications which have not helped. For the spasms through out the year I have been given different motor tic mediation, seizure medications, anti-convulsion medications, none have shown any improvement. Occasionally I do have blurry vision, and my pupils dilate in light though the eye doctors said my eyes looked healthy.

My convulsion attacks happen during physical activity, relaxing actives and during sleep. I have seen a psychologist and a psychiatrist to out rule any psychological problems, and both agree it's a medical problem. I have not yet had two doctors diagnosis me with the same thing, most of them keep disagreeing with each other. What could be causing this? What could I suggest to my doctors? Any input would be much appreciated, thank you for your time.  

[dolphinscry07]

after reading your post i am amazed as to how similar your story is to my husbands.october of this year he was having chest pains.we took him to the er and they said he was having panic attacks.he was put on some meds for stress.after a week of taking them he delevopled spasms.it effects his upper body and sometimes to the point where his arm will just jerk up.he has seen his family doctor who sent him to a nero.doctor a second nero doctor. he has had a ct scan,mri and eeg plus bloodwork that all came out fine.they are telling him that this is stress coming out of his body.he is not stressed and even on the meds he still twitches during the night while he sleeps.also if he gets cold they get worse.he has started to stutter,at times has problems walking.and all the meds they have tried does not help.and as time goes on i see this getting worse.he's spasms are mainly in his arms,hands,face and sometimes his legs.And so far no doctor can tell us what it is or how to controll it.Right now their calling it a motor tick but there not forsure since his movements dont fit that all the way.

[Kitkat05]

Thanks you so much for your input! :)

[essdipity]

Hi, Kitkat. This does not sound like MS, which doesn't cause anything all over the body. That's because MS symptoms are the result of specific abnormalities in various places in the central nervous symptom. That is, a given lesion is the cause of a given symptom. Doctors can't always pinpoint exactly where the cause and effect are, but they have proven that that's how MS works.

You'd have to have a huge number of MS lesions that developed pretty much all at once to have the condition you describe. That is highly, highly unlikely.

It sure seems as if you are having increasingly worse seizures, from what cause I don't know. There definitely are seizures that don't involve losing consciousness. I wish I could be of more help, but I can only suggest you keep plugging until this mystery is solved. A big university neurology research center may be your best bet.

Good wishes,
ess