Worried about MS

[MegK]

24 yo F. 2.5 yrs ago string of traumatic events occurred in my life within a short period of time.Not sure if any connection with my physical symptoms.Also prior to these events I was happy,outgoing,excelled academically,and athletic.I am definitely a Type A personality.In the months following the traumatic events I began noticing a change in my vision.I had many more floaters in my eyes.I also began to experience double/blurred vision and extreme sensitivity to light.Other symptoms I noticed were lightheadedness,tingling extremeties, fatigue, extremeties "falling asleep" very fast,feeling uncoordinated and unbalanced,ringing in ears,severe headaches, difficulty concentrating,and trouble with thinking of words while speaking.When walking it felt difficult to pick up my legs.Almost like I was walking in slow motion.I began to get panicy and obsess about all of these symptoms and started researching them online.MS seemed to be a fit.My anxiety, panic, depression increased. It got so bad that I had to move home from college and couldn't function.After seeing my primary care doctor who prescribed xanax for me,2 opthamologists,1 neurologist,1 neuro-opthamologist,and an MRI I was assured I didn't have MS or an eye problem. I was told that everything I was experiencing was normal and I was extremely sensitive to my bodily sensations.I started Paxil and saw a therapist to help treat the anxiety and depression. The eye symptoms never improved, however the other symptoms did slightly. After about 1 1/2 years of being on the Paxil I weaned off. After about 3 months I started noticing my symptoms flare up again.The panic and severe anxiety over having MS started again.I switched doctors and my new doctor sent me for extensive MRI's of my brain & spinal cord w/ dye,complete bloodwork,and I saw 2 neuroopthamologists.The same symptoms were present as the first time plus tingly/numbness in tongue.No affect on speech.All the test results came back normal and the doctors told me again I was suffering from anxiety.My doctor switched me from Paxil to Lexapro.Started w/dizzy spells.Meds did help calm MS fears.Eye symptoms still present but others lessened.After 9 months of being on the Lexapro & seeing another therapist I dropped meds from 10 to 5mg.Dizziness got worse,w/ anxiety building over symptoms.I began feeling dizzy all the time and worried meds were to blame so I came off.One week w/out Lex & return to a full state of anxiety/panic!Symptoms more intense.In addition to all other symptoms my L leg felt weak w/ body chills.I'm constantly researching online & worry over ALS&MS.My PCP feels I'm ok and said no more MRIs.Complete bloodwork fine again.Back on the Lex 10mg for 1 month now& anxiety/panic slowly improving.L leg wekness,resistance when walking,& diziness improving.Eye probs still present.Obssess w/ finding new symptoms to lead docs to dx.Fr&fa think I'm crazy for not believing docs.Worry MS not present earlier on MRI,but would now.Could this all be anxi

[Roger Gould, M.D.]

Yes, absolutely, this could all be anxiety. Even your own account here substantiates this since you got symptom relief from medications and therapy, and symptom increase when you stopped.  That should prove it to you, but it probably won't because in your therapy you still have not gotten to the real source of your anxiety. I don't know what it is but I suggest you start by thinking about and talking about your fears of being an independent young adult, and what that means in terms of your dependency wishes, and your fears about your parents aging and health.

[dont]

Hi Meg,

I am 36 years old and in 1992 when I was your age 24 I had full blown panic attacks with exact same symptoms you are experiencing. I had and MRI of my brain at the time with contrast and it was normal. I had tingling, muscle twitching all over my body, buzzing sensations, felt like I was walking sideways and rubbery legs. I was diagnosed then with generalized anxiety disorder, panic disorder and depression. I was put on Prozac and Xanax and recovere fully.

This past January I had major attacks again with all of the exact same symptoms I had when I was your age. I have had an MRI of my brain and C spine with contrast and they are both normal. I have all kinds of blood work and it's all normal. I am now on Remeron and Xanax again. I am starting to feel better but when it first happened to me I looked up my Diagnosis on the net (this time not 12 years ago) I was convinced I had ALS because of the twiching and preceived weakness that I had. The neurologist said my strength was excellent and I had nothing neurological going on. I know how hard it is to accept what the docs say but try to. I don't have a lot of room to talk because I am still not totally convinced that I don't have something neurologically wrong but the docs keep telling me I am fine and that it is major anxiety and depression so I have two choices accept it and try to get better with the physchological angle or die. My one very huge piece of advice that I can give you is stay off of the disease websites because they will just scare you and make your anxiety symptoms worse. The damage is already done for me and that was my mistake. I truly feel that I would be perfectly fine by now 5 months later if I had stayed away from the MS and ALS websites and I didn't and it just fed my anxiety and made it worse. I am starting to obsess less about my health not that I am on a anti depressant but I'm still not there yet but you have to make a choice and make yourself believe your docs and stay off of those sites!! Good luck to you.

[cgeronimo]

I went through and am still going through the same exact thing you are going through.  I am a 24 year old male and this started for me in Dec of 2003.  I am doing much better.  Please read my post.  It is not in the mental health forum anymore because it was posted in Feb.  If you go to the search filed and type in "much needed opinion" you will see it.  I can't tell you how exact our situation is!  I think I can help you.  If you would like to talk let me know and we can exchange email addresses.  I really think I can help you because I am doing much better.  Please check out my post and let me know.

Chris

[dont]

Hey there CJ,

So is it still being considered anxiety, depression, and GAD? Please let me know, I would be interested in knowing what you did to feel so well. You can e mail me at ***@****.

Also Meg you can e mail there too if you ever want to talk.

I went thru three anti dep. until I found one that I could at least take. It's not the greatest but it's better than the other three. Please let me know if anything else was discovered and what you are taking.

Thanks.

[cgeronimo]

Hello,

I have been diagnosed with GAD with panic.  I have been on 25mg of zoloft every morning.  1mg of ativan throughout the day, and 100mg of neurontin 3 times a day.  As of today I take the Zoloft every morning.  1 neurontin in the morning, and 1 or 2 ativan throughout the day.  It took me a long time to learn how to start feeling better.  The very first step is to accept you have an anxiety disorder and it not anything else.  It took me about 4 months to do this.  If you do not complete that step the rest is very difficult.  You have to remember that if you're telling your brain all day and night that there is something medically wrong with you then will not start to feel better.  The reason for this is because when I was on the web all day trying to find out what disease I have.  MS was the one I convinced myself that I had.  I actually changed the benchmark of anxiety and brain chemicals that pump through your body all day from constant worrying.  Then comes all the physical symptoms.  If you can convince yourself that it is just a treatable anxiety disorder and you can pretty much recover from this or at least partially. You must stay away from the web or anything that has to do with self diagnosis then you can start to fell better.  You benchmark will slowly start to change to the normal amount.  It really is very basic when you think about it.  I'm am slowly getting much better, but I still tingle here and there and I still get heart palpatations, light sensativity and my eye floaters (that didn't bother me before) are extremely annoying and add to my anxiousness.  I know you probably know most of this but basically the key is even when you don't feel good and get all these physical symptoms you must work through them or will not feel better.  One this that really helped was going to the gym and lifting weights.  By doing this I was telling my brain that I am strong and If I had MS I would not be able to do this.  The more you can give your brain signal that everything is ok, everything is all clear the better you will feel.  The main problem here unfortunately is that when you have an axiety disorder and you worry all the time, it so difficult to do that.

[MegK]

Thanks everyone for all the postings. It really helps me feel a little better to see that other people are having the same experiences. I guess there's comfort in numbers. I read something funny on the internet about people who suffer from Health Anxiety. It said that we are usually the healthiest people alive b/c we investigate each slight body symptom to the extreme. Interesting!

[cgeronimo]

That is funny.  Health anxiety is so frustrating!  Besides expanding your knowledge on anxiety, stay off the web for anything that has to do with medical or illness stuff.  In the last 6 months I've diagnosed myself with MS, diabetes, arthritis, and autoimmune disorders!  Stay off the web.  I only come here know to try to help people and like you said it's comforting.

[merie]

I am a 36 year old female.  I had very similar symptoms following a string of stressful events also...my mom died of a brain tumor at 56,I moved twice, built a new home, a good
friend moved away, the holidays were approaching, etc.  I experienced tingling in extremities and face, ear ringing, rashes, night sweats, hands falling asleep at night and I lost 10 pounds (I'm usually about 115 and was at 105)  This was such a vicious cycle.  I was positive I had MS or a brain tumor like my mom.  I had a brain MRI which was normal, but I was still convinced.  I agree with the other posters about the internet.  At the peak I was spending 2 or 3 hours a day "researching my condition"!  I went to several doctors and finally one I trusted and had delivered my babies told me there was nothing wrong with me and that I should probably go talk to someone.  I did that about 5 months after symptoms began and the symptoms are almost completely gone now.  I needed someone to help me with my perceptions of bodily sensations.  Stress can cause all manner of symptoms and when we have health anxiety we don't know how to interpret these correctly.  If I had believed my symptoms were stress at the beginning, this cycle would not have begun.  Please
stop researching conditions on the internet.  I now "check in" with only this site and have limited myself to 10 minutes per day.  The less I focused on this, the faster it went away. God Bless.

[Makaveli]

I had a very extreme case. I did it without medication though. Don't worry one of those many doctors you saw were more than skilled enough to diagnose you without MS (a disease easily discovered when they know thats what they are looking for). Seriously try to relax and have faith that you are alright. You might has well have MS living life in fear the way you are.. You need to be happy there is nothing wrong why you are still young and healthy. Trust, it will come in due time.

By the way I am only 17.

[Raiderette]

Sometimes it is nice just to hear the "voices" of non-medical people say you are just fine.  What you've all outlined here in some shape or form is exactly what I've gone through over the past 9 months.  Thought I was this super strong person who could deal with anything and then I got a reality check.  In 2002 my infant son died.  I thought I had coped so well and life was somewhat normal until I had an incidental finding on an ultrasound.  Dr's couldn't rule out cancer and for 6 weeks I was in limbo getting all sorts of test done.  Finally diagnosed as a benign issue however,  Since then I've had increased floaters, headaches, shoulder pain, intermittent diarreha, nausea, heartburn, heart palpitations, light headedness, forgetfulness breathing difficulty etc...etc.. Family dr. has been so wonderful and patient, have had ultrasound, kidney testing, CT, holter, echo etc....all fine.  I've spent hours looking online to see what all these symptoms could be and yes, just like you all have diagnosed myself with cancer, ms, alzheimers, brain tumor, aneurysm, heart problems etc... Reading your posts has truly helped me today.  I understand that stress can manifest itself in many ways and that what I'm going through is not unique to me but that many people have to cope with these problems as well. Thank you all for being so honest.  It is truly so helpful.

[mome43]

I think this is so weird. To actually read about someone that has experienced the same type of things that I have in the past is......well soothing really. I too thought that I had MS. I was having tingling in my arm and burning in my legs. I couldn't see right and I all of a sudden was depressed ( never before in my life). I got on the internet to research my symptoms and there it was....MS. So i went to my chiropractor/family MD and he thought that it might be as well. Went to the neurologist and .......he laughed at me basically and told me to get off the computer. I finally had to face that this was something mental instead of physical which was hard to do. I did have anxiety problems. Once I did though and started on Paxil, I felt so much better and all the symptoms dissapeared. It gave me great respect for the power of the mind and what part it can play in your mental health too. I am researching more about it because if the mind can make your body sick, then it must also make your body well. I also believe in the power of prayer. I am a believer of Hope and Joy only found thru Jesus Christ and that has played a lot in my health also. It is helpful to know others have gone thru it too.
I hope you are doing much better now.

[apolon]

Of yaaaaaaaaa, I tought that im reading my posts!!! I cant beleive.I have just same problems, same symptoms.....everywhere i find symptoms of MS in me. offffff,  I went to doctor and he said that i have problems with anxiety phobias. He gave me some medecins but i didnt take them yet. I guess its true that we re reading and searching too much in internet about this things and then we re making our psyche ill!!!

[apolon]

One more thing, you were talking about double vision, i probably have same symptom of it. I have found out that this is actualy "physiological dilpopia" and its normal phenomenon, but we re extremly awareing of it.

[BigMan16]

I am 16 years old, and I had a really bad anxiety attack about 2 months ago and ever since I have been a nervous wreck. I missed a bunch of days in school and my marks dropped almost 10 percent in some classes in the last 2 weeks of school. My anxiety only worsed and I myself would go out on the net and check my symptoms out and I thought I had a brain tumor because I had a severe headache for a few days straight, in fact the day I had my anxiety attack I had a severe headache. I constantly go and check my symptoms out, I myself now worry about having MS. I have went to the doctor and he had blood work done and everything came back fine. I never had symptoms of tingly hands, dizziness, forgetfullness, etc before all of this happened. I have had a few anxiety attacks after my 1st severe one, I had a really bad one last night and I thought I was having a heart attack. The internet has become my worst enemy :(, I just want to get back to normal. I also tend to be perfectionist, so I worry about the little details if everything is not perfect. What do you suggest I do?

[platinum]

I'm sorry that you are going thru this but you are already ahead of the game in that you realize what you are experiencing.  The internet IS your worst enemy when you are experiencing anxiety attacks because it seems that no matter what the disease is-you have the symptoms-so you have to stop doing that.  Also TRY to stay as calm as possible when you feel an attack beginning.  If you know its coming, tell yourself to just hurry up and come on with it so it will get over it and I believe that it will work and you will not have an attack.  When I feel it coming on that is what I do and I have yet to have another one.  You are no longer fearing the attack.  You are asking for more and you are not afraid of it and your mind sees this so the thought of an attack coming on no longer bothers you so you won't panic.  I hopes this works for you and I hopes this helps you a least a little bit.  Best of luck to you.

[Demre]

I had the exact same symptoms and knew something was very wrong with me.  I refused to accept a script for prozac and to see a psychiatrist as my primary care physician wanted.  I found a neurologist that was not under contract with my HMO who ruled out MS with a negative MRI.. she did; however believe that my symptoms where physical and not mental and referred me to a doctor who specialized in Chronic Fatigue Syndrome.  Lab test confirmed that that is the condition I suffered from.  I have now (7 years later) been diagnosed with bi-polar disorder... Also, two different neurologist have told me that aspartame consumption can cause the exact same signs and symptoms as MS... apparently it is a neuro-toxin... I researched aspartame and now read the labels of every food product I consume in order to avoid the stuff... the tingling impulses are now gone and I have regained some muscular strength.  I hope this information is of some assisstance to you.  Good Luck!

[Jani34]

I have gone through the same thing..last 12 months have not been the greatest time of my life.. ;-) First I thought I had brain tumour ( because I had headache ), then it was MS, then ALS, then Parkinsons.. Symptoms are very physical in nature: shoulder ache, muscle ache in legs, tingling, tremor in hands.. But I've seen 2 neurologists, done EMG, CBC several times, MRI of brain etc.. Everything normal. I'm slowly accepting it is anxiety that is causing all the symptoms and not the symptoms causing anxiety.. Actually, it is anxiety causing physical symptoms snd the symptoms then make the anxiety worse...!
My advice to anyone going thorugh the same thing is:
1) Do NOT search the internet for explanation! This is rule no.1

2) Go see a neurologist and take the necessary tests like EMG. Even if it costs money..it is worth every penny. Clean EMG result after weeks of fear of having ALS. It felt good ;-)

3) Try to do as much exercise as possible. They say 30 mins of jogging every day equals the power of regular anti-depressant. And after trying it I have to say it really is true. Once you realize you CAN go jogging, you CAN walk for 30 mins. and you think could I really do this if I had ALS,MS etc. you start feeling better already.

4) Try to concentrate on positive thoughts at least every now and then. Don't look for possible signs of disease.. You know, EVERYONE has twitching and tingling in legs every now and then. It is only once you start to think about ALS or MS they become a problem..

5) see rule number 1...

[zox]

This is me...I am reading all of these posts and feel like I am reading the story of my life!  I am still convinced that I have MS.  I have seen a neurologist twice, had an MRI of the brain done which was normal, and have been to my GP about 10 times in the last two months.  Everyone is saying that I am fine but I have such anxiety over my symptoms that I don't believe anyone.  The thing is, when I am told that I am ok...my symptoms almost go away for a while.  When the results of my MRI were normal, I felt a lot better for a while.  THEN...more strange things happen to me!! Just when I think that I have got this anxiety under control, I have vision problems, or I feel tingling, or numbness.  I am on 50 mg of zoloft a day and have been for a month but I don't think it is helping.  Also, I am seeing a therapist but again...I don't know if it is helping.  I am constantly in fear for my health and need some help.  Does anyone know if zoloft could cause vision problems?  I need to find answers.

[Jani34]

Hi Jodene,

I know what you are going through. Last January I started getting these scary symptoms and after Googling the net for explanations I was certain I had MS. Weakness (perceived) in arms and legs, very tired legs, slight internal tremor in legs, tingling, fatigue etc. My neuro told me it is nothing to worry about, nothing neurological going on. Big relief..for a week.. Finally I went and had MRI of the brain and EMG-test taken. Everything normal. The vicious thing about this circle is once you are convinced enough you do NOT have say MS..you start looking for other diseases..such as ALS..and there you are. It really is a vicious circle.
You are scared of MS and maybe I can help at least a little bit by telling you two things:

1) My neurologist told me MS almost always leaves marks in your brain ( 95 % of cases he said ). So if your MRI of brain is normal that is a VERY very good sign.

2) The reason doctors usually start to look for MS is COMPLETE, total weakness of leg or legs. Not perceived weakness = your legs FEEL weak. It is total, real weakness we are talking about. My friend has MS and the way it began for her was she suddenly lost all power, ALL POWER in her right leg for hours. She could not walk. She could not stand. It was not perceived weakness. And I heard this is very common, very often MS starts like this.

I had huge anxiety and fear for ALS for months last spring. I know what it is like. Important thing for you now is once you get rid of the MS scare and I'm sure you will..leave Internet alone..no Googling for diseases..otherwise you will end up being scared for another disease. And IT is a vicious circle if anything. All the best to you in your recovery :-)

[zox]

Wow...have you ever made me feel better.  I am so glad that I found this forum when I did.  I actually thought that I had ALS at one point last spring as well.  As soon as the neurologist said that he didn't see anything wrong with me, I surfed the net and (like you said) found another disease that seemed to match my symptoms - or perceived symptoms.  I even had myself believing that I was HIV positive!!!  Why do we do this to ourselves??  It is torture and the fear of it is worse then actually having the disease.  I think in my case I REALLY want to be in control of my life and if something is wrong with my health that I cannot control, I freak out.  I am seeing a therapist, trying to deal with these obsessive negative thoughts and anxiety over my health and it is helping a bit.  I am also on Zoloft but don't really want to be as I feel like the medication may be causing side effects which in turn causes me MORE anxiety.  Anyway, thanks for your reply, I really appreciate your support.  As I said before, it is good to know that I am not alone.

Jodene

[South Australian]

Hey All I am 25 year M. Iused to be the most interpersonal social butterfly (of course in a Male butterfly way!) and just woke up with a weird, anxious feeling accompanied by a weird heart beat, i tried to breath and relax but couldn't get myself to sleep. it has now been six months and I haven't been able to work, for this whole period. I was actually OS in london at the time I experienced it, and tried to ride it out, thinking I was mentally solid, and ended up having to come back home. I was convinced i had a heart disorder of some kind and had Holters and echos done by some of Londons' finest cardiologists. All came up healthy. I was convinced that, something wasn't showing and have now developed GAD generalised anxiety disorder and would like to say to all of you that it is great to not be the only one!!!! I really beleive that once we identify our fears, identify what we want to achieve in life and trust specialists - we will come out of this 100 times stronger, knowing who we really are and knowing what we want without straying of course for the sake of being concerned about how we are perceived by individuals and society.

[loohoo]

I almost want to cry when I read all the posts about hypochondria. For the last year I have had tingling in my upper left back. It started 3 months postpartum. Had mri of brain and spine and everything was normal. I was still convinced I had ms. It consumed me for a year. I went on Paxil Cr finally for a few months and hated the way I felt while on it so went off of it. That was two weeks ago, and I feel so strange the last few days. It's hard to explain, but when I move my this zap like wave of nervousness and like something in my head isn't quite right. This sounds ridiculous but it's the only way I can describe. I am so sick of worrying about my health. Over the last few years, I have had breast cancer, leukemia, ms, aneurysm, brain tumor, had the beginning of several heart attacks, lupus, bone cancer, and many more. So I have thought.
I want this to stop. I have an 11 month old daughter and wonderful husband and really am so very happy other than these insane thoughts I have about my health. I'm still so worried about something being wrong with me because of the tingling. I also check my lymph nodes several times a day, freak when I am bruised more than usual, it goes on and on. I just want to enjoy my life and my precious baby. I'm so terrified of the thought of not seeing her grow up and I know by doing this I am missing out on so much happiness. I'm sorry this is so long but I'm just typing everything as it comes to my Paxil withdrawal such as the symptom I mentioned. It would make me feel alot better if someone has. Thanks so much.

[GeoLeo]

I have been worried for two months that I have MS.  I had MRI, VEP and BAER tests.  All results were normal.  I am still convinced that I have MS.  I have been to thousands of websites researching.  I bet I spend 4 hours per day.  I know that there is a chance that you can have a normal MRI and still have MS.  Believe me, I have looked at all of the statistics.

As far as symptoms, I literally developed all but two of my symptoms after I read about MS.  I had some dizziness/imbalance and achy legs.  But then when I found the MS symptom list, I developed tingling, twitching, muscle spasms, eye pain etc.  

The thing that convinces me that I do have MS is 1) I had tingling in hands 8 years ago for a few weeks.  I chalked that up as an MS episode. 2) had a weird spasm in trachea a few years ago ...chalked that up to ms, and 3) have had a few visual problems and some brief eye pain in the past....transient.  All of these symptoms happened before I read about MS.

Even though I acknowledge that most symptoms occurred after reading about them, I still believe it is a coincidence and that I would have developed them anyway.

My left foot has been tingling for a week.  I'm going to see my neuro again this week and hope to get a second MRI.  I might also get a lumbar puncture.  

Oh, depression is my other symptom.

My wife and neuro both think I'm crazy.  I'm convinced that I have MS.

[GeoLeo]

I have been worried for two months that I have MS.  I had MRI, VEP and BAER tests.  All results were normal.  I have been to thousands of websites researching.  I bet I spend 4 hours per day.  
As far as symptoms, I literally developed all but two of my symptoms after I read about MS.  I had some dizziness/imbalance and achy legs.  But then when I found the MS symptom list, I developed tingling, twitching, muscle spasms, eye pain etc.  

I have had a few ms symptoms in past (tingling 8 years ago, trachea spasm 4 years ago, brief eye pain)

Even though I acknowledge that most symptoms occurred after reading about them, I still believe it is a coincidence and that I would have developed them anyway.

My left foot has been tingling for a week.  I'm going to see my neuro again this week and hope to get a second MRI.  I might also get a lumbar puncture.  

Oh, depression is my other symptom.

My wife and neuro both think I'm crazy.  I'm convinced that I have MS.