MS???

[maydas2002]

Everything started in 2002 in the summer,with a huge migraine that woke me up at 3am feeling "hot liquid" in the top of my head flowing.  
Then again in summer of 2004 happened again, but this time a few days later i had paresthesia in the left side pf my face and left arm and hand, (tingling and humbness) for a couple of days and then it resolved by itself. That same year i went to another doctor because my right leg became "very heavy" and difficult to walk with but then it resolved.
Again in the summer of 2006, same migraine with later paresthesia in left side of my face and left arm and hands, but this time I had "Optic neuritis" also, my left eye was hurting as it moved. It resolved again. A few weeks after that I got something I called an earthquake in my eyes. It was a vertical movement in my eyes (I even thought it was a stroke or something) that lasted 30 seconds or so.
This year (2007)  I am always tired and sleepy and in the summer it was different, no paresthesias, no sensory problems, but MUSCULAR instead. It started with right feet burning on the dorsum of the feet for about 2 weeks (comes and go regularly still), , then my 3rd digit got sort of numb/pins & needles type for almost 1 month. Then I got spasm in my right calf for a few days then I also got cramps not only in the claf but also in the hamstrings and quadricps pf the same leg,  I wen to the hospital and then when I came back that same night i got cramps everywhere, horrible cramps, very painful for about 3 days or so.
After that episode I have kept little twichings in different muscles, quadricpes, biceps, etc, but not constant, but always one or two a day. 3 weeks ago though I started getting a twitch in the palm of my left hand that started very annoying. it augmented in size to cover my palm, hand and even flexors of forearm, at least 20 times in a day. And I still have them but in less ammount maybe 10 times a day in conjunction with sporadic twitchings in other muscles. This is the first time that I have kept somthing and has not resolved completely. Also my lips sometimes get pins and needles. What is this? I got a MRI without contrast that showed nothing. I had a VEP (visual evoke potential) that was positive with 146ms of conductivity instead of 100ms. My CK where elevated (208) at one point but back to normal. I am anemic, 9.7 of hemoglobin. I have positive rombar's and tamden gait. If I close my eyes I tend to fall down, i get very dizzy (vertigo ) all the time out of nowhere. I would love for a response. Thanks.

[Quixotic1]

You certainly are having a horrible set of symptoms.  And I can certainly see why you landed on an MS site to ask you question.  When was your MRI?  Was it just of the brain or did it include the spine?  Have you seen a neurologist?  I plan a longer answer for you, but I am a little behind right now.  Have you read the thread called, "MRIs, Lesions, and Symptoms?"  Also have you read the new thread by Johnny Utah about "Presenting Symptoms of MS"?  Both of these threads are on the first page of the forum if you have it by "Last Post" format.

If you will answer these questions I will try to get my answer to you in the next day or so.  I hope others witll join in also, becasue you have many of the same problems as people here.

Quix, MD

[maydas2002]

Thaks for answering so soon. My MRI was last summer, it was done w/o contrast and only for the brain and eyes (because of the optic neuritis) i am going to a Chiropractic Neurologist, who did a VEP, Somatosensory, exam, and other evoke potentials and many neurological testings, all of them have been positive, he will do a EMG (EDX) in two weeks to check for firing to muscles. VEP showed slower conduction and surely optic demyelination, I just got the somatosensory one done today and it showed delay conduction in the spine, he ordered the MRI for brain and spine (specially the neck area) and more bloood work done. I appear to have left cerbellum problems also and some mesencephalic and pontine nucleus delayed conduction. I appreciate your interest, I am a chiropractic student and understand everything that is going on with me. I have been to 3 neurologist before and they just did 4 muscle testing (we learn to do a 2 hr neurological testing in chiropractic school!) and said I was fine, which made me very dissapointed and depressed since I know i am not good and that there are more than 4 muscle testings to be done, they all told me "you are fine". After all this testing i went again to a neurologist and this time they think I could probably have some problem. Thanks again, I will wait for your answer.

[maydas2002]

I have been having a new symptom, my fingers are starting to move by themselves, at least 2 of them. It is not something constant but it happens 2 or 3 times a day. This is worrying me a bunch because since my last "thing" hat hit me this summer all the twitchings and spasms and tingling and now twitchings so hard that move my fingers do not semm to subside. I think that I need them to hurry up in diagnosing me so i can delay this a little bit.I am between chiropractic neurologists and neurologists MD doing all sort of testings, My Chiro Neuro ordered a MRI of brain, neck and spine. I will have it done in 2 weks. What are your thoughts? do symptoms get worse and worse withought meds or do they stop by themselves? I have not seen the light since late August!

[Heather3418]

Quix has alot of family issues going on right now and she may or may not be able to find the time to get to the forum to answer your question.

From an MS perspective, MS has relapses and remissions in the beginning course of the disease and for some, this course stays this way.  It's called Relapsing/Remitting MS.  For others, the flairs become less and less frequent and distinct.  No "new" symptoms but aggravation of the old from time to time.  Left with some permanent disability for the rest of their lives.  This is the way it is in my case, 12 years after diagnosis.    

But yes, the symptoms can stop on their own with or without treatment.  There is no treatment currently available that will stop a flair up in it's tracks, although some doctor's may claim that a course of IV steriods is the trick.  That is false.  Period end of sentence.

MS is a flakie disease with strange symptoms (and not so strange) and fleeting symptoms in some.

I am glad that you will be having an MRI of the spine. Hope that it is with and without contrast dye.  That's very important.

Hang in there.  We are all with you on this.

Heather

[maydas2002]

Thanks so much to respond to my message. I got an MRI without contrast a year ago with no lessions, I also did not have all the symptoms I have now, but they thought in the hospital that I did not needed one with contrast even when I asked them to. I am getting very depress lately, I do not know if it is because of the annoying muscle symptoms or just because. Well, thanks again.

[Heather3418]

You are going through alot.  I would be drepressed too.  It's hard to live with discomfort and pain.

If you feel that your depression is severe, it would be a good time to tell the doctor.  You don't have to suffer from depression as well as the other discomfort.  Sometimes just connecting with others that are going through some of the same things as you, can be a big help.  Talking about what is bothering you, will give you a sense of relief and you are doing just that.  Good for you.

We are here to listen anytime...I promise you are not alone.

Heather

[Quixotic1]

Hi, I'm sorry I have been so late in getting to the response I promised.  By now, you've been participating on the forum a lot and have had a lot of questions answered.  As you know I am a retired physician with MS and vertigo.  I can't diagnose anything online, but you are educated enough to know that you are having episodes which appear and mostly resolve of a variety a neurological symptoms.  As you have also noted the symptoms appear to be arrising from different parts of the central nervous system.  The combination of those two factors does suggest multiple sclerosis.

As you may know the episode of Optic Neuritis places you at much higher risk of developing MS.  Even without the other neurological symptoms and with the normal MRI you have about a 33% chance of developing MS within the next two + years.  Add in the symptoms, the repeated "attacks" and  the + EPs and your risk is higher than that.  The normal MRI will usually keep you from getting a diagnosis, but I'm glad you are having the MRI repeated.  It is also important to also have the spine (cervical and thoracic) done with and without contrast.

You expressed worry that the twitches in your hand (how annoying!) have been going on for a few weeks.  This is not unusual.  If this is MS (and I cannot say) a relapse lasts a minimum of 24 hours but may last months.  Also, it is not uncommon to have some symptoms that linger between acute episodes - especially showing up when you are fatigued or overheated.  Having the symptoms linger does not indicate that this would be a progressive form of MS.  Your description is far more like  the more common form of Relapsing Remitting.  From your description it sounds like you are in the same relapse that began in late August.

When you have an MRI without contrast, it will miss very new lesions which are inflamed and edematous, but not yet scarred.

Again, IF this is MS, depression is a primary part of the disease.  The brain dysfunction itself is felt to cause depression directly, not to mention the fear and worry about how all this will affect your life.  It is very hard to have all these things going wrong, no matter what the cause.  It does sound like your docs are doing the correct work up so far.

So, your MRI