What could this be? MS? Or something else, young gymnast.

[Katya4]

I am 21, female. I have had strange symptoms. I posted a MUCH longer post in the neurology forum, too long actually. But never the less I can use it as a log of all symptoms for any future doctor visits.

But in short I have for months been experiencing different parts of my body to have symptoms for 3 weeks or so at a time. During an 'episode' they will be much worse. I will get numbness, tingling, burning, feeling of being stung by thousands of bees, and sensation of vibrating in legs. Also weakness. I am a gymnast, and it is ruining my practice. My balance is off, sometimes I become dizzy. I drop things a lot, hard to type (thank god for spell check) its like my hands are discooridinated, and impossible to write.

What throws it off is that I am a gymnast and present well, but not from a gymnastics perspective, in gym I am failing.

Problems seem to get worse or be brought on by heat. I am very intolerant to heat, working out and getting hot causes problems, so does high ambient temperature. I can not sleep at night already because no AC and I end up with the weird symptoms keeping me awake. I am most comfortable at about 55F for sleeping temps. here now it is 78 and its a killer!!! No problems with even most extreme cold though.

I have had MRI of brain and C spine with and without contrast, came back insignificant. Had one EMG but too late to catch symptoms, never get the emg for about 2 months. B12 is perfect, and so was thyroid.

Saw a neurologist today, after 6 month wait, but he said he is stumped because I don't have any lesions or abnormalities, there for it is highly doubtful it is serious. He said I don't fit any physical or psychological diagnosis and his advice was "Just try to ignore it I guess." I was not impressed, especially after waiting 6 months and the guy to never even crack open my file.
To me it is very serious, it is ruining my gymnastics practice and aspiring career as an aerialist. Whatever it is, my money is not on MS, but I suppose it is a remote possibility.


What ever it may be. I am hoping to get some advice here on what to do, where to go? Any tests I should ask for? Any ideas on what it could be besides MS? Should I be concerned about MS?

Any feedback is appreciated, and thank you for reading my long article here...

[Katya4]

I got some results from my OT today on my arm. He has been testing my grip strength with a fancy little tool, for over 6 months and creating a chart, I asked him today to look at the whole chart map, I have lost almost 20% of strength in my right arm since he stared keeping track!! And its endurance has declined significantly as well. Which was the stronger arm to begin with, but now it is not. Though as a gymnast I am still well above average, but that is a significant loss for a gymnast in any case.

I asked for a copy to take to my GP, I got an appt to talk to her next week about getting tested for Lyme, and any other possibilities or options.

Thanks to all who have responded to my post.

[Katya4]

Thanks so much! I will check it out!

[kwarendorf]

MSFocus.org has a pretty good page on MS mimics. You can find it here:

http://www.msfocus.org/article-details.aspx?articleID=18

Kyle

[Katya4]

"The issue with answering your question is that there isn't many symptoms that are not associated with MS in some way, either as a primary or secondary. "

Could you rephrase this bit? It doesn't make much sense to me, I am confused at what you are stating, sorry.

I didn't mean what symptoms weren't associated with, but what other possibilities that are not MS are associated with those symptoms? If that makes more sense?

[supermum_ms]

The issue with answering your question is that there isn't many symptoms that are not associated with MS in some way, either as a primary or secondary. It  would have more meaning and be more informative, if you focus on the commonality of all your issues together and your resent health issues from the car accident and recovery eg peripheral nerve damage, structural spinal issues, facial impact and reconstruction possibly effecting upper spine neck, face, audio/vestibular, brainstem etc

I would recommend seeing a Sports Medicine Specialist or sports clinic, because they will be looking at the most likely causes of your balance, spasms, all over bee stings etc etc, your medical history and how to work towards getting you back to where you were before, so it might be overall helpful for you to see a doctor who gets athletes.

cheers.......JJ  

[Katya4]

Does anyone have any list of other causes for these symptoms that are NOT MS and aren't already mentioned?

I'm looking into Lyme, I called my doc and asked about the hormones, but she said those would never cause these kind of problems.

I had a rather tragic day in gym today. It makes me angry to not have any answers, because that means no hope of solution, which means I get to just watch things unravel and there isn't a thing I can do about it. I know other people have it 10 times worse than I do, but it is still absolutely maddening! Why not fix a problem before it becomes a catastrophe, instead of waiting until it does before trying to fix it...

[Katya4]

Thanks for the ideas

I'm not an anxious person, quite layed back. I was actually able to go to a very good psychologist down state too, through the auto, both said I was doing great. So I am certain it isn't mental related, none of the doctors I have/had have thought it was psychological either.

They told me after the accident I didn't have any brain damage or spine issues (1.5T MRI). I did end up needing repair of facial fractures though. The driver of my car sustained spinal fractures, so it was a very serious impact. (I am going to ask for 3T MRI, in case anything from accident was missed)

Hormones, haven't had those checked yet. I'll be sure to ask!
The others I have with the comprehensive blood tests.

Vestibular was tested after accident, all normal. No recent tests of it though.

Diet is good, I like to eat organic, I am not vegan or vegetarian or anything of the sort.

Swelling, it isn't presented visually anywhere, nothing on my body ever appears or feels to swell. My PCP mentioned the bit about swelling around the nerves due to heat, but did not elaborate on WHAT, WHY or HOW!?



To me, the doctors I have visited in my little town, haven't seemed too interested in my case. So I'm not so sure how much time they have spent thinking of how or why. I think they see a gymnast walk in and pffft... Shes fine, NEXT! ...Ha. I would really like to know though, what the problem is.
     I don't want it to become anything where down the road I have permanent damage and someone says "If only we caught this sooner, or before __ happened, or, we could have fixed it if we knew in time", I am a very thorough and detailed person, I like to prevent any problems if I can.

[supermum_ms]

Hi and welcome,

From what you have described experiencing and your brain and spinal MRI's, i wouldn't be thinking MS is likely, whilst a low strength MRI isn't good enough for MS, the pattern and wide spread of symptoms with what you've experienced is not typical with MS.

A few thoughts i've come up with are to do with still being a (competition?) gymnast at 21 eg hormonal related issues, which could also explain the swelling if causing fluid retention and or heat adema symptoms with your level of training. Possibly diet related, hypoglycemia, anemia, dehydration, or spinal or balance issues aggravated by this type activity. Your fitness levels and or muscle strength maybe effected by life style choices, interrupted or changed daily routine etc

One idea is related to mental health, health anxiety is commonly triggered after things like a serious car accident, health scares etc and 'if' you've been focused on your health ever since the accident, 'if' you are now more consciously focused or anxious about your performance abilities, falling, being injured etc it is 'possible' for there to be an underlying mental health issue effecting your performance and overall health. It's definitely worth discussing getting your mental health assessed if you are experiencing performance anxiety, better to check the possibility and get it under control before it effects your ability to perform even more, right?!        

Hmmmmm after reading your other posts it sounds like you were quite injured and if you sustained facial impact, it's possibly still whiplash related because even minor head and neck trauma could be exacerbated by the type of training routine your doing. If your vestibular system was damaged from a  head injury, it could potentially explain why you now have problems with balance.

As a gymnast your balance is beyond normal parameters (which i totally understand as an ex-gymnast my self) and any loss of prior abilities is often more noticeable to an athlete, so i would definitely also recommend considering having your vestibular system appropriately assessed to see if there is an explanation in this area happening.  

And that's all i've been able to think of, hopefully it gives you some food for thought....

Cheers........JJ      

  

[Katya4]

Does anyone have any ideas what else it could be? If any one has any thoughts please post. Thanks

[Katya4]

Mine was a 1.5, there are no 2 or 3 T anywhere near me, I live in a rural area. 4 years ago I had one done for my migraines and it was only 1.0T, that's the only MRI's I have had. I called the neurologist I saw back and asked if he could refer me elsewhere, he said he would refer me down state, so hopefully I will have some luck there.
actually I didn't know there was a 3T till today lol.

Should I have a full brain, neck and full spine?

[jensequitur]

At what strength was your MRI? Sometimes an MRI doesn't show everything, because of the low resolution of the scan. A 1.5T will show large problems, but not pick up the smaller lesions that can cause the symptoms you describe.

It sounds like you need a 3T MRI of your neck and spine. Neurological symptoms can be from simple spine damage (the spinal cord being impinged by the vertebrae, for example,) or from MS. I would recommend finding a different neurologist and asking for a 3T MRI. That would help eliminate some possibilities.

[Katya4]

These episodes happened over a course of 7 months, not counting the bit after the car accident. Each problem lasted about 3-4 weeks at a time. It wasn't a one day it is this, next day it is that, it took much a longer course. But perhaps that is considered fast? The vast majority of my problems still exist in my right arm and right leg.
What is strange to me is though I mostly regained normality, but the affected areas have never 'healed' I still have issues in those places. The discoordination in my hands seems to be worsening over time.

I have not been tested for Lyme disease. Does anyone know about that?

I have wondered if its not something to do with the car accident, but it seems rather belated for that to be an issue.

I have wondered if I should get my spine scanned also? I suppose there is a slim chance I have somehow damaged my spine and not known, but it doesn't explain my arm.

I'm at a loss.

[Katya4]

No he did not follow over time, a 15 minute visit only. My exam was normal with the exception of the left side of my face being numb and a difference in sensation between right and left leg. But other than that it was fine.

[HVAC]

I would find a new neurologist. Did he even plan to follow you over time? I have no idea what it is but you can't just ignore it. I was told that about my MS. Pretend we never started testing. I told my doctor "Are you kidding me, you started it and you want me to ignore it".

Was your neurological exam abnormal. That is reflexes and such. If that is normal it probably is not neurological. A GP could do a neurological exams.

Alex

[kwarendorf]

Hi Katya - Welcome to the group.

From what you describe, it does not sound like MS is the cause. MS symptoms tend not to move around to different parts of your body. MS symptoms are caused by damage to individual locations in the central nervous system. Only areas of the body that rely on information sent through the damage spot are impacted. If you have damave on the nerve pathway that sends info to your left foot you will have left foot symptoms. It would not be your left to one day and your right foot the next.

The moving around of your symptoms, clear MRI's and I assume a good clinical exam would make me look somwhere other than MS for answers. While heat and humidity do play a big part in MS, they also cause problems for other conditions.

Kyle