The neurologist could of been referring to, what's possibly caused you to 'black out and slur your words', IF that was the reason you saw him, low blood sugar is one of the fairly common explanation but alone it doesn't really tell you anything about what's ultimately causing it, so it's understandable your frustrated....
Just from the things you've mentioned, what's coming to my mind is the possibility of it being something to do with your pituitary, though pituitary causation isn't as common as Hashimoto's and Graves disease (off the top of my head) would probably be the more common cause of thyroid issue in your age group. Do you have any idea which neurological tests were specifically abnormal eg postive Babinski sign, hyper-reflexia, clonus etc?
No matter your age, you will always be your best advocate, your blood tests alone support something is wrong and if you feel your not getting taken seriously, please get a second opinion!
Cheers..........JJ
I have a lot of similar issues you describe your daughter having, especially the falling, walking into walls, general issues with balance and coordination, and bowel issues. My primary however assumed me months ago that any bowel issues I had were caused by stress!
My blood sugar has never been above 110(usually around 102 after eating as my blood results showed a week ago), but that is high enough to not constitute low blood sugar as the previous neuro suggested. I did have some positive neuro tests during the very quick exam but he brushed them off since the MRI was normal. My primary is sending my for another MRI because they believe it could be a pituitary tumor causing the two high hormone levels. Guess I'll see what this new MRI shows. Thanks for the answers.
Hi and welcome,
MS doesn't come to mind reading your post, the high blood sugar levels after eating, and high TSH to me suggests an endocrinologist would probably be the better specialist, to work out what the problem could be.
1) High blood sugars after eating:
"Postprandial or reactive hyperglycemia occurs after eating (postprandial means "after eating"). During this type of hyperglycemia, your liver doesn't stop sugar production, as it normally would directly after a meal, and stores glucose as glycogen (energy sugar stores)2. If your postprandial (1-2 hours after eating) blood glucose level is above 180mg/dL, that's postprandial or reactive hyperglycemia." http://www.endocrineweb.com/conditions/hyperglycemia/hyperglycemia-when-your-blood-glucose-level-goes-too-high
2) High prolactin:
"Other conditions that can cause high prolactin levels include pregnancy, liver disease (cirrhosis), kidney disease, and hypothyroidism." http://www.webmd.com/a-to-z-guides/prolactin-15129?page=2
3) High TSH:
"the main tool for the detection of hyperthyroidism is the measurement of the TSH, the thyroid stimulating hormone. As mentioned earlier, TSH is secreted by the pituitary gland. If a decrease of thyroid hormone occurs, the pituitary gland reacts by producing more TSH and the blood TSH level increases in an attempt to encourage thyroid hormone production. This increase in TSH can actually precede the fall in thyroid hormones by months or years (see the section on Subclinical Hypothyroidism below). Thus, the measurement of TSH should be elevated in cases of hypothyroidism." http://www.medicinenet.com/hypothyroidism/page6.htm
Keep in mind that MS has many mimics, and the majority of sx's associated with MS, are also related to a lot of other common medical conditions, your blood test results and high blood sugars are where i would suggest, you focus first on getting explanations for.....
Cheers............JJ
It is easy to find out if it neurological. Even a GP can do a neurological exam. That is how my GP found out I had MS. They test your reflexes, have you follow a flashlight with your eyes, have you smile and or frown, have you close your eyes, may be have you touch your finger to your nose, and may be walk. If nothing shows up abnormal it is not neurological. If it is MS signals may be different on the left or the right. Something is wrong but you need to figure out what specialist to go to. This can take awhile with visits to specialists who do not find anything. I always had off neurological exams since childhood. I also had symptoms since I was two so they were normal to me. I forgot all about it when I turned eighteen. When I was 44 my GP said there is something really wrong with you. I said I have always been this way. It took two years and 6 neurologists but I was diagnosed with MS. You have to advocate for yourself. I had cancer and did not push hard enough for an answer. I had it for six years before I was diagnosed. I say "There is something wrong I do not know what it is but something is wrong".
Alex
The neurologist did tests, including MRI with and without contrast, Visual evoked potentials and a lumbar puncture (positive for O-bands) but insisted it was Acute Disseminated Encephalomyelitis (ADEM), or as he called it, post-infectious encephalitis. But she never had fever, never had swollen glands, the predominant profile for ADEM is much, much younger, male, fever and mid-winter, and there were too many eye, bowel, fatigue/depression, spasms for the years prior to the walking into walks, falling, very slow cognition. Just weeks after she was given IV steroids, she went downhill, ended up in a wheelchair and started with incontinent bowels. The MRIs showed all new activity in the head, and a very large lesion in the neck. At that point, the neurologist was almost crying...he could not say the words, but sent us to a top-flite MS center. She was hospitalised, all new tests of head/neck/spine were done, including looking as arteries/veins, tons of blood work...it only took a couple of days to rule out other possibilities for the confirmation of MS.
Thanks for your answer. What made you realize your daughter had MS? Did the neurologist conduct tests for it or did you take her to an MS center on your own?
It is so, so common to be marginalized and told "it's all in your head, especially when you are in the pediatric/young adult group.
So many in the medical field are still under the belief that MS is only a disease of adults, and may have never seen a case of "pediatric onset" MS.
It took from 14-18 for our daughter to be diagnosed...no one in the pediatric practice thought it was much more than isolated maladies, depression, etc...even when she was walking into walls, only one doctor realized a referral was needed....that neurologist STILL denied it could be MS.
If you could get copies of all your tests, the disks from your MRI, and get an appointment at a comprehensive MS center, they will do a workup to look for all possibilities.
Forgot to mention that I also have headaches frequently and pain when I move my eyes..