MS or anxiety

[momma2boystb]

I am a 29 year old mother of two.  I am well aware that I am probably more anxious than most people, but I do not take any medications and I am usually able to calm myself down when I start worrying about something.  All of my symptoms started about 6 years ago when I was in graduate school.  I occasionally have this feeling where I feel like I am falling and I have to catch myself.  At times, it seems to be aggravated by head or eye movement.  I have also been diagnosed with ocular migraines.  During my first pregnancy I began to have flashing lights in one eye that would last about an hour and then go away.  This has happened a total of 6 times in the past 5 years.  I have been to an opthamologist and everything checked out fine with my eyes.  I was referred to a neurologist who did no testing and told me they were ocular migraines, even though I don't have a headache with the eye symptoms.  I occasionally have feelings that there are bugs crawling on different parts of my body, especially my back.  It is not a painful senstation, just annoying.  I also have occasional muscle spasms in various parts of my body (eye, stomach, arm, neck).  Last week, the whole right side of my face, tongue, arm, and leg began to tingle.  I went to the ER where they did some bloodwork and a CT without contrast, told me they had no idea (that it was probably a migraine) and sent me home with a prescription for pain medication which I have no intention of using.The tingling lasted about 24 hours.  I also have feelings of pressure in my head at the top especially directly in the top of my head.  I have horrible posture and spend a lot of time looking at a computer and writing with my head down at work.  I also sometimes feel distracted and say the wrong word or sound when I am talking.  Of course, after I began googling my symptoms I started worrying about MS.  I have an appointment with a neurologist next week, but I just wanted to hear from others about how their MS symptoms started.  Does this sound like MS, anxiety, migraine related or a nerve problem related to posture and overuse?  Thanks so much for your time!

[Lulu54]

You have gotten some good advice here about learning more - knowledge really is power.  In addition to our health pages, please also spend some more time learning about ocular migraines - there  is a good write-up at the Mayo Clinic site -

http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/ocular-migraine/AN01681

Ocular migraines aren't necessarily connected to headache pain and they can also cause tingling and numbness.

I hope you'll do the research and come back with your questions.  We're happy to help.

be well,
Lulu

[ArtistLike]

Hey, Momma.  Just let me be one of dozens of people here who will inevitably state that what you have is entirely familiar.  And I've had every possible MS test except a lumbar puncture and there is no sign of anything at all.  This is my second year going through this process.  I am 33, and my initial issues, which I chose to ignore, set in around age 25-26.  Last year, I was told it was probably due to anxiety and uncomfortable shoes.

I am now on two antidepressants and an anti-panic medication.  None makes any difference for my symptoms.   You may just have to wait and see what happens.  But definitely ask for MRIs, etc., in case you could have something like a brain or spine tumor.  One of my dad's cousins just told me that she had symptoms just like mine for ten years and was told all the while it was anxiety.  Ultimately, it turned out to be a small tumor on her pituitary gland--non-malignant, but causing CNS problems.

You may be in for a seemingly endless process of tests resulting in "you're normal."  Sorry to be the bearer of bad news, but make peace with it and live your life.  I've decided that's what I'm going to do as long as I can hold out. :)

[LisaJF]

Hello Momma2boys and welcome to the forums.

First I would l like to say all human beings go through anxiety and your not an exception.  Some may have more severe anxiety than others and most of the time, they have reasons to be.  It is a normal human emotional experience so don't be too hard on yourself.

When it interferes with a person's life such as work, health or social interactions with others is when that person is encouraged to seek help in order to obtain effective coping mechanisms to reduce their anxiety level. (at least to their best ability).  Sometimes psychotherapy and pharmacological means are used to help.

I can understand your concern and believe your concerns are valid.

Here is the HEALTH PAGES of MULTIPLE SCLEROSIS which is very resourceful:  http://www.medhelp.org/tags/show/7687/Multiple-Sclerosis?section=health_pages


Normally, Multiple Sclerosis is a diagnosis of exclusion, meaning that your doctor (PCP) and Neurologist will investigate other means of why you are experiencing the symptoms you have.  There are simple things like Vitamin B12/Pernicious Anemia that can be corrected that can give you symptoms as you describe.  I do not know what laboratory tests you have had so far, but most include:  Thyroid Panel, Lipid Panel (cholesterol), Vitamin B12 and Folate, CRP, ESR (Erythrocyte Sedimentation Rate),  Lyme, RPR (Syphillis), ANA with reflex if positive (Antinuclear Antibody - testing for autoimmune disorders), Rheumatoid Arthritis Factor, ACE (Angiotensin Converting Enzyme - for Sarcoidosis), Anti-dsDNA, Anticardiolipin IgG/IgM, CBC (Complete Blood Count), CMP (Complete Metabolic Panel - electrolytes/kidney function/liver enzymes) Celiac Disease Comprehensive, etc.  

As you can see there is a lot of blood work that is usually done when someone like yourself experiences unexplained neurological symptoms.  In addition to the laboratory tests, you may also be ordered to have a MRI of your brain and spine.  MRI is superior to CT scans.  

You also may have tests such as EMG (Electromyogram) a nerve conduction study and VEP (Visual Evoked Potential Test).  

A lumbar puncture may also be considered where the doctor/Neurologist obtains a small amount of cerebrospinal fluid for microscopic examination to rule out infectious causes or to use as an aid to diagnose certain diseases such as MS -- although 10% of people who have MS will test negative for this (they look for 0-bands).

Try taking a glance at the Health Pages and you will find it is a great resource!

Again, welcome to the forums and I hope I was of some help.

Please let us know how you're doing!

Lisa

[Deb61]

MS varies so greatly from person to person.  For some people, it starts with optic neuritis.  For some, it started with numbness and tingling.  I cannot even remember what started first because it was so long ago.  I think it started with numbness and tingling and severe fatigue.  I also had vision problems early on.  

A CT is absolutely useless when it comes to diagnosing MS.  The MRI is used to find lesions caused by MS.  

Many diseases and other causes need to excluded before considering MS.  Migraines is one of them.  Just because you have migraines, though, can't rule out MS.  People with MS often do have headaches.  There are many diseases and problems that can mimic the symptoms of MS, though.  Your neurologist will probably want to run even more blood work to rule out some of these mimics, give ou a neurological exam, take your medical history, and run other tests to gather up as much information to determine if it's MS or not.  

You may find the Health Pages at the mid right bottom of the page helpful.  You can click on "MS Information and Resources Index" to find more information about MS.