Aa
Aa
A
A
A
Close
Avatar universal

MS or something else?

I am a 19 year old female who for the last year and a half has experienced a multitude of problems that my doctors have brushed off. Fatigue, muscle weakness, vision problems, dizziness, problems with speech(mixing up words, difficulty reading outloud, difficulty counting, etc...), difficulties concentrating, memory loss, and many other cognitive issues, numbness and tingling in limbs, frequent UTIs(I've heard this happens in some MS patients because of bladder dysfunction), erratic heartrate... Should I push my primary doctor harder to test for MS or could all of this be caused by something else? I had an MRI on my brain last spring after I had a black out and started slurring my words and stuttering. I saw a neurologist who looked at the scans and said it was probably low blood sugar (the symptoms can be similar but I have them even after eating and my fasting blood work always shows higher blood sugar levels). Had blood work recently that showed elevated prolactin and TSH. I'm so frustrated because my doctors make me feel like maybe I am imagining these problems. Does anyone have any advice?
9 Responses
Sort by: Helpful Oldest Newest
987762 tn?1671273328
COMMUNITY LEADER
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    
Helpful - 0
Avatar universal
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!
Helpful - 0
Avatar universal
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.
Helpful - 0
987762 tn?1671273328
COMMUNITY LEADER
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  
Helpful - 0
667078 tn?1316000935
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
Helpful - 0
6881121 tn?1392830788
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.
Helpful - 0
Avatar universal
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?
Helpful - 0
6881121 tn?1392830788
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.
Helpful - 0
Avatar universal
Forgot to mention that I also have headaches frequently and pain when I move my eyes..
Helpful - 0
Have an Answer?

You are reading content posted in the Multiple Sclerosis Community

Top Neurology Answerers
987762 tn?1671273328
Australia
5265383 tn?1669040108
ON
1756321 tn?1547095325
Queensland, Australia
1780921 tn?1499301793
Queen Creek, AZ
Learn About Top Answerers
Didn't find the answer you were looking for?
Ask a question
Popular Resources
Find out how beta-blocker eye drops show promising results for acute migraine relief.
In this special Missouri Medicine report, doctors examine advances in diagnosis and treatment of this devastating and costly neurodegenerative disease.
Here are 12 simple – and fun! – ways to boost your brainpower.
Discover some of the causes of dizziness and how to treat it.
Discover the common causes of headaches and how to treat headache pain.
Two of the largest studies on Alzheimer’s have yielded new clues about the disease