Do I need to be really worried about MS or is this possibly spinal issue?

[deenie]

Thank you in advance for any information.

I am 42 y/o female. Since college I remember having muscle spasms/pain below my right shoulder blade. I was told in grade school that I had mild scoliosis. Since that time, it's gotten worse but is sporadic - sometimes it's every month - other times it's much less. When I felt stress, it would sometimes "buzz" or tingle before going into a spasm in the days following. Over the past few mos, I've felt it also under my left shoulder blade. Now, I've also had 2 children in the past 2 yrs so now I have a 30+lb 22 mo old and 20+ lb 6 mo old. Needless to say, my heavy lifting and stress level has gone up considerably. I feel the tingling and/or pain almost daily.

The newest occurrence is pins and needles in my right shin area that lasted several days. Also, I've noticed the underside of my left pinky toe is numb as well as a 2 inch patch on the front area of my right heel.

Went to a neuroligist on Mon. and she ordered bloodwork to rule out Lyme, chol., thyroid issues, etc. Also, 2 xrays- thoracic and lumbar areas. She's thinking it could be a disc issue. I asked about MS and she says that's always a consideration in a woman my age. That scares me to death. She said she's very conservative and that's why she's not sending me for an MRI.

The spinal things don't worry me as much but why would I get random numbness in areas of my feet and the pins and needles in my legs? I don't remember having a lower back injury to explain lower extremity problems except for sciatic with my preg.

How likely is MS? I'm starting to panic.

[CCF-Neuro-M.D.-CS]

Without examining you and reviewing your history I cannot make a clinical diagnosis. The scoliosis could cause early degenerative changes and disc disease. It appears that your doctor is beginning the initial evaluation. If this round of testing does not reveal an abnormality then perhaps a MRI of the spine would be useful to evaluate the spinal cord. Good luck.

[Valerie K]

Your symptoms sound similar to what I've been experiencing.  Mine began as tingling at the bra line beneath my right shoulder blase.  I've had sporadic pins and needles in my legs with occasional partial numbness in my toes.  

I was diagnosed with a herniated disk at T8-9 (I think?).  My neurologist (and later neurosurgeons) ordered MRIs to diagnose and track the disk.  There was never any question of MS in my case. I have NOT had back pain per se, and the herniation has caused the most discomfort in my legs/feet.

The neurologist did tell me that he would have to stretch the truth when ordering the original MRI and say there was definitely a possibility of the spinal cord being compressed.  (All I had was tingling at that point.)He said that insurance companies don't like to approve the tests for exploritory purposes.  Also, thoracic herniations are pretty rare, which could be why your doctor is holding out.  If it IS a thoracic herniation, there might not be much you can do until your symptoms get worse, as the surgery can be extrememly invasive.

[deenie]

Thanks for your post. I'm interested to hear what the Dr. here has to say because my neurologist didn't think my thoracic problem had anything to do with the symptoms in my legs/feet. I know the nerves in the lumbar and sacral regions are the ones that innervate the lower extremities so that makes sense but I wonder if there's some connection however.

[Valerie K]

Check out the thoracic page on this site (http://www.medhelp.org/HealthTopics/Thoracic.html).  Also, spinehealth and spineuniverse have information on thoracic herniations and scoliosis.  Of course, this is if your symptoms are caused by a spine problem.  FYI, my neurologist told me that my herniation could cause basically any symptom below the point of injury.

My only symptom prior to evaluation was the tingling in my back, and I only sought help when it wouldn't go away after four months.  Since then, I still have the tingling (which spreads attimes across my spine), but most of the trouble now is leg stiffness/tightness, toe tingling and random pains in my legs.

I wish you well with your diagnosis.