unusual symptoms..possible MS?

[mommajuju3]

Hello,
I will try to be as brief as possible.
I am a 40 yr old female who has had no health problems (until now!) I will list my symptoms:
*Oct. 05- woke to a swollen right hand, unable to use, painful. xray, blood work normal.
*Jan 06- woke to a swollen Left hand, unable to use, painful. no xray, no blood work.
*A few months later, can't recall specific date....woke to same problem with my shoulder. can't move it, lift it...x-ray shows mind calcification/tendonitis. Have not had any problems or pain with it since, nor my hands.
*I did experience some "arthritis" like pain in w/ my right middle finger in between the problems with the hand swelling where I had difficulty opening things, grasping things and it was hard to bend the finger.
(did not see a dr about this)
Fall 06-Jan07  On and Off tingling of hands and feet. Especially notice my toes tingling when in the shower. This lasted at least three months. Blood work for thyroid, lyme, lupus, diabetes and B-12 all normal.
Feb 24, 07 Woke to feeling as if I had burned my tongue. By day 3, I had full blown facial numbness, all on the left side, from chin to top of head, including the inner ear and for a few weeks, part of the back of my head. It created some intense itching of my eye at times. Eye evalulation by opthomologist was normal (he was actually the first one who mentioned MS) An MRI revealed one lesion in the cerebellar peduncle. The numbness greatly improved by May.
I still have some tingling in my face, although it is minor it does vary in severity.
Lumbar puncture is normal. All labs are normal.
Since then, I have had an extreme/ violent bout of vertigo. A second MRI showed "improvement".  (it wasn't enhanced anyway....)  I have had a third MRI with a MS specialist and it showed a second lesion...it was not enhanced but it was in the deep left frontal white matter.  My neurological exam was normal, but he did say I had a bit of a hyper relex on one leg.  
I have had other unusual things happen that are strange. When I drive, sometimes I get a sensation that my fingers are huge and that the steering wheel is as small as a piece of spaghetti. It doesn't happen often...couple times a month at the most, but it is so odd.
On my first MRI report it was norted that I had a C5-6 disc protrusion displacing the cervical cord and producing mild spinal stnosis at this level. PRIOR FRACTURE OF THE C5 IS NOT EXCLUDED.
I have never fractured my neck to my knowledge!! ha! I did have a car accident in which I rear-ended someone and totalled my car, but never saw a doctor. Had terrible whiplash and have always had tingling in the middle left of my back off and on since. (at least 15 years)
I am on Topamax, which  know can cause tingling of hands and feet, but I do have it noted as a symptom when I was off the med for at least 6 months.
I am due to have some Evoked potentials done and another MRI in July. At this point the MS specialist feels that the frontal lesion could be from migraines and the deep cerebellar peduncle one is possibly viral related.
If this is all viral related, isn't there some test that would show a virus? Would an infection have shown in the spinal fluid when I had the LP when the facial numbness was full blown?
I keep going back in my mind to little things where my husband and friends keep telling me it's just an "age" thing (cognitive stuff...word finding, attentivness, zoning out, stepping over my words) and even back to the car accident when I don't even remember the whole block that I drove prior to hitting that car! (no folks, I was drinking or anything!!!)
If anyone can help on what to do next....I can't sleep, becoming depressed and slightly obsessed with trying to figure this out.  
Thanks,
Julie

Some other things I didn't mention in my post on the neurology community forum:  (forgot!)
Sometimes it feels like my ankles and feet are swollen, but they aren't
My right hand lately has a tendency to feel very cold (no color change of skin)
both of these things are not a constant symptom.....they both come and go
Don't know if any of this is at all valuable!

[shellywil]

I have had some of your symptoms. I am 41, female, and I have just had an MRI that came back normal. I have experienced tingling in my arms, legs, fingers, toes and in my lips. Numbness in my lips and different parts of my body such as my pinky finger on my right hand, which now feels as if it is not my own. I sometimes notice that I drag my right foot when I am walking I try to concentrate so that I make it stop but it does not work. I often feel that my hands are swollen but they do not look any different. My doctor only just started looking at MS on my 41 birthday March 28th of this year. When I found out that my MRI was normal I was not relieved at the slightest even though my mother was. I feel as if I must be crazy if the MRI is normal even if these symptoms (at least some of them) happened 11 years ago. I wish that I could tell you something to make you feel better but honestly just reading your story has made me feel that I am not alone.
shellywil

[santana8]

Hi, I am not dx with MS yet so I cannot comment with certainty about some of your symptoms. But the question about the LP showing up viruses and infection I can comment on from personal experience. I asked my neuro if he had checked my spinal fluid for some certain viruses. He said no. You see, I was under the false impression that they automatically check for all viruses, but he informed me that they don't. I even had a polyomerce chain reaction test ran on my spinal fluid which is an extensive test for viruses, but only the ones that my neuro ordered to be checked. Apparentally they only check for things that the neuro thinks need to be ruled out. Therefore, if he does not specify a test it is not checked. Hope this helps answer at least this question for you.Some of the ones who are dx with MS will join in here I am sure and answer the other questions about your other symptoms. Sorry I couldn't be more help but I am only learning myself!

Santana8