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Do I have Multiple Sclerosis?
Hi I am a 22 year old College basketball player and I am a new member to this site I joined because I am very concerned I might have Multiple Sclerosis I have very few people I can talk about this to in my life if anyone on this site reading or has knowledge about this or feed back please help me as I am worried sick please here me out! Here is my story..
It all started just this past summer (July 2011) when I noticed my hands were having slight tremors not shaking but just twitching when holding them up (just for the record I do worry about my health allot I have had this problem my whole life when something is out of the norm i worry allot) anyways I brought this twitching/ little hand shaking up to my parents they thought i was just my usual self worrying about nothing and they thought nothing of it. I also went to my family doctor i brought it up to him and he did not seem to show much concern. So I just left it alone and stopped worrying about it. Months pass and September rolls around and my training camp starts up for basketball, in the middle of September i began feeling these muscle twitches in random parts of my body they would come and go and they would be felt in all different parts of my body legs, feet, butt cheeks, face, back, arms, chest everywhere. They wouldn't be painful but i could feel my muscle twitch sometimes even see it like in my chest when it would happen. This really began to scare me I started googling it on the computer and knowing how i get worried all the time I started thinking I had parkinson's or brain cancer or god forbid M.S I was starting to lose my mind because my aunt on my moms side was diagnosed with M.S 20 some years ago. So I thought I would phone my parents and tell them what was going on they did not seem concerned but I told them this was a big worry for me, I told them to fly me home so I could see my family doctor for some piece of mind they flew me out the next day when i went to see my doctor I burst out in tears convinced I had it when i was explaining it to him, but he said he did not think in any way it was M.S he said he could put me threw to see a neurologist but it would take up to 7 months and I told him I cant wait that long he checked my eyes and my reflex and sent me on my way he said if I was really worried I could go to the hospital and maybe they can run some more test or speed up the process if they think it something. So I go to the ER I finally see a doctor and explain him my story and without him doing any examination on me he tells me that I am going CRAZY and that I should talk to a therapist he says not to worry about the twitches and to stop reading on the internet. So i fly back to my college my parents and now doctors thinking i have gone crazy, fast forward a month and now I have had a couple other problems about a week ago i had a very slim barley noticeable very dence dence vibration in my right foot it would come and go 4 or 5 times during the day it got me worried again then about 2 days ago i had this slight tingling sensation in the middle of my left leg that would come and go every 6 second in different parts of the day. That has now stopped, but with all these things happening to me the vibrations the tinggling the twitches i have convinced myself again I have M.S I am so scared because I cant tell anyone without people thinking I am crazy is this normal??? I just cant stop worrying about the fact that I might have M.S it just seems impossible to think I have anything else! Could it just be stress could it be low blood sugar please if anyone is still reading this post or if anyone has the same symptoms as I have please let me know what I should do if their is anyone I can talk to or go to please let me know as I am worried sick and am losing my mind as each day goes by please please help me!
It all started just this past summer (July 2011) when I noticed my hands were having slight tremors not shaking but just twitching when holding them up (just for the record I do worry about my health allot I have had this problem my whole life when something is out of the norm i worry allot) anyways I brought this twitching/ little hand shaking up to my parents they thought i was just my usual self worrying about nothing and they thought nothing of it. I also went to my family doctor i brought it up to him and he did not seem to show much concern. So I just left it alone and stopped worrying about it. Months pass and September rolls around and my training camp starts up for basketball, in the middle of September i began feeling these muscle twitches in random parts of my body they would come and go and they would be felt in all different parts of my body legs, feet, butt cheeks, face, back, arms, chest everywhere. They wouldn't be painful but i could feel my muscle twitch sometimes even see it like in my chest when it would happen. This really began to scare me I started googling it on the computer and knowing how i get worried all the time I started thinking I had parkinson's or brain cancer or god forbid M.S I was starting to lose my mind because my aunt on my moms side was diagnosed with M.S 20 some years ago. So I thought I would phone my parents and tell them what was going on they did not seem concerned but I told them this was a big worry for me, I told them to fly me home so I could see my family doctor for some piece of mind they flew me out the next day when i went to see my doctor I burst out in tears convinced I had it when i was explaining it to him, but he said he did not think in any way it was M.S he said he could put me threw to see a neurologist but it would take up to 7 months and I told him I cant wait that long he checked my eyes and my reflex and sent me on my way he said if I was really worried I could go to the hospital and maybe they can run some more test or speed up the process if they think it something. So I go to the ER I finally see a doctor and explain him my story and without him doing any examination on me he tells me that I am going CRAZY and that I should talk to a therapist he says not to worry about the twitches and to stop reading on the internet. So i fly back to my college my parents and now doctors thinking i have gone crazy, fast forward a month and now I have had a couple other problems about a week ago i had a very slim barley noticeable very dence dence vibration in my right foot it would come and go 4 or 5 times during the day it got me worried again then about 2 days ago i had this slight tingling sensation in the middle of my left leg that would come and go every 6 second in different parts of the day. That has now stopped, but with all these things happening to me the vibrations the tinggling the twitches i have convinced myself again I have M.S I am so scared because I cant tell anyone without people thinking I am crazy is this normal??? I just cant stop worrying about the fact that I might have M.S it just seems impossible to think I have anything else! Could it just be stress could it be low blood sugar please if anyone is still reading this post or if anyone has the same symptoms as I have please let me know what I should do if their is anyone I can talk to or go to please let me know as I am worried sick and am losing my mind as each day goes by please please help me!
Hi Andymag,
I was reading your post and all the replies and thought that you had received great answers and there was absolutely no reason to give you more words of reassurance. What you are describing doesn't really sound like MS - the tingling all over doesn't happen that way usually. It appears the more you think about this, the more intensified your symptoms become. You acknowledge that and know that you are capable of fueling your concerns with your anxiety.
But then you threw in the stuff about Dr Zamboni and I have to comment. Why don't we all go get this treatment from him? 1) His government stopped him from doing anymore of the "liberation" treatments because there is no proof that it works. 2) there is nothing but anecdotal evidence that the people claiming a cure are really so much better. 3) Zamoboni
s wife is still on drug therapy for her MS even though he did the liberation on her. It doesn't sound like she is cured - and I really get concerned when that word is used. To date, we don't have a proven cure to MS.
What he has found is suspect by most medical authorities and even Zamboni says at this point people should wait until more controlled studies are done to prove or disprove his ideas. There are studies being performed at leading centers and we are waiting for those results. In the meantime, people are spending lots of money that many of them don't really have, to try this treatment. Twenty years ago people were spending lots of money for bee sting therapy to treat MS.
In my opinion, and I am no expert but just someone living with MS, you would be best served by stopping the internet searches to match your symptoms and get on with enjoying your college years.
The body is an incredibly noisy machine and the closer we listen for signals that something is wrong, the more we hear. I know it can be worrisome and hard to block out the noise, but please give it a try.
Be sure to check back here in a while and let us know how you are doing.
be well,
Lulu
I was reading your post and all the replies and thought that you had received great answers and there was absolutely no reason to give you more words of reassurance. What you are describing doesn't really sound like MS - the tingling all over doesn't happen that way usually. It appears the more you think about this, the more intensified your symptoms become. You acknowledge that and know that you are capable of fueling your concerns with your anxiety.
But then you threw in the stuff about Dr Zamboni and I have to comment. Why don't we all go get this treatment from him? 1) His government stopped him from doing anymore of the "liberation" treatments because there is no proof that it works. 2) there is nothing but anecdotal evidence that the people claiming a cure are really so much better. 3) Zamoboni
s wife is still on drug therapy for her MS even though he did the liberation on her. It doesn't sound like she is cured - and I really get concerned when that word is used. To date, we don't have a proven cure to MS.
What he has found is suspect by most medical authorities and even Zamboni says at this point people should wait until more controlled studies are done to prove or disprove his ideas. There are studies being performed at leading centers and we are waiting for those results. In the meantime, people are spending lots of money that many of them don't really have, to try this treatment. Twenty years ago people were spending lots of money for bee sting therapy to treat MS.
In my opinion, and I am no expert but just someone living with MS, you would be best served by stopping the internet searches to match your symptoms and get on with enjoying your college years.
The body is an incredibly noisy machine and the closer we listen for signals that something is wrong, the more we hear. I know it can be worrisome and hard to block out the noise, but please give it a try.
Be sure to check back here in a while and let us know how you are doing.
be well,
Lulu
Wow Lisa, Dagun and Ku111 thanks you so much for reading my long rant you guys have all been helpful and I thanks all of you guys for getting back to me so soon and for taking the time to do so as well.
I guess you guys are right i guess I will just have to wait this out. I forgot to add when my dad picked me up from the airport when I flew home to get looked at he did mention this place called the Mayo Clinic and if worst came to worse he said he would take me there if thats what it took but since the doctors back home said there was nothing wrong with me he dismissed the idea all together. But now with these new symptoms happening to me maybe I should tell him and maybe I should just go to the Mayo Clinic because in all honesty I don't know if i can mentally wait 7 months for an MRI here, (Im from Canada and are health care system is good but for some reason if your top priority you get in faster then others for MRI's and stuff.) At the time I had no clue what the Mayo Clinic was but I have read its an amazing place apparently its real expensive but money is not a problem for my family and at the end of the day they would do whatever is best for my health so I don't know if I should tell them my latest problems? maybe mayo clinic would be the best option or should I just wait it out a bit longer.....
On one last side note Like i said I am praying to god its not M.S it has destroyed my moms relationship with her sister and her sister suffers so much (she has had it for more then 20 plus years) it just scares me for anyone who has to live with it but how come I have read all this stuff on this Italian Doctor guy his name is Dr. Paolo Zamboni and what it looks like from reading all his patients story's he really has found the cure or something close to it how come none of these people are going to him to get this simple surgery done I was just amazed from what i read about this guy I just don't know why everyone that has M.S is not flying over to italy and getting this done I am sorry this is all off topic but from what my readings found this guy is a true hero and he might have just found the cure for M.S like hundred of his patients have found out. Anyways thank you all and I will keep you updated wether i go to Mayo or wait it out for 7 months i will keep you all posted. God Bless and read up on this doctor it truly is amazing!
I can almost say (although I am not a doctor) that your symptoms are not of MS, so please stop worrying. Relax and take a deep breath. I can understand that someone in your family as MS but normally it is the intermediate family and not cousins, Aunts or distant relatives that would raise a possible concern.
At someone your age, these symptoms can be explained by low B12 levels (if you party/drink alcohol with your buddies), electrolyte imbalance do to dietary intake causing muscle fasciculations, cramping, spasms, etc.
From what you write you appear to be a high anxiety person (you stated that you worry about your health "a lot") that needs to learn effective ways to cope with it whether it would be through psychological therapy or a combination of this and anxiety medication (if it is thought that it would help rather than hinder).
I realize a lot of people who come to this forum expect people who are not of the medical profession or who may be a medical professional to diagnose over the internet and that is something we can not do. Most that come here thinking they have symptoms of MS do not come out with a diagnosis of MS. Some who do get a diagnosis may be carrying around the wrong diagnosis because there are many diseases that can mimic MS.
It's not an easy diagnosis to get if you're not in the "typical" or "classic" presentation in all aspects (MRI/Evoked Potential testing/Lumbar puncture). Although, there are people here that have a diagnosis of MS without a t2 hyperintensity (lesion) on the brain.
If you have muscle twitches and paresthesias it would be prudent for your primary doctor to do some blood tests to rule out simple and fixable health issues that could cause these symptoms you are experiencing (if they have not done so already).
It's not that you're crazy, you're concerned that these abnormal sensations are happening to you and I can understand. But there is a point when it takes over your life and fills you with so much anxiety it incapacitates you. That you need to nip in the bud before it blooms into something that is harder to get a handle on.
Let us know how you're doing.
Lisa
At someone your age, these symptoms can be explained by low B12 levels (if you party/drink alcohol with your buddies), electrolyte imbalance do to dietary intake causing muscle fasciculations, cramping, spasms, etc.
From what you write you appear to be a high anxiety person (you stated that you worry about your health "a lot") that needs to learn effective ways to cope with it whether it would be through psychological therapy or a combination of this and anxiety medication (if it is thought that it would help rather than hinder).
I realize a lot of people who come to this forum expect people who are not of the medical profession or who may be a medical professional to diagnose over the internet and that is something we can not do. Most that come here thinking they have symptoms of MS do not come out with a diagnosis of MS. Some who do get a diagnosis may be carrying around the wrong diagnosis because there are many diseases that can mimic MS.
It's not an easy diagnosis to get if you're not in the "typical" or "classic" presentation in all aspects (MRI/Evoked Potential testing/Lumbar puncture). Although, there are people here that have a diagnosis of MS without a t2 hyperintensity (lesion) on the brain.
If you have muscle twitches and paresthesias it would be prudent for your primary doctor to do some blood tests to rule out simple and fixable health issues that could cause these symptoms you are experiencing (if they have not done so already).
It's not that you're crazy, you're concerned that these abnormal sensations are happening to you and I can understand. But there is a point when it takes over your life and fills you with so much anxiety it incapacitates you. That you need to nip in the bud before it blooms into something that is harder to get a handle on.
Let us know how you're doing.
Lisa
Ok. I am going to very honest with you. Just like a coach!lol I don't know what is wrong with you-honest. It might be something wrong but we have to look at this straight on. I have a 12 yr old son that MIGHT have MS. We have been waiting for a diagnosis for about a YEAR now. The one thing I have learned is this takes a long time to diagnose. When he was at his worst he could not talk, walk or urinate. He had NO reflexes and almost 3 months of rehabilitation. This had been coming on for several months prior but with really sore spots, severe headaches and extreme fatigue. Today, he has some ok days and many not so good days. Lots of pain, confusion some times, and difficulty with balance. Ok, now to you. You play basketball and are in college. You have to be really good to play basketball in college and I can't imagine the stress your mind and body are under. Only my opinion but you should keep your appointment in 7 months with Neurologist. If things are still bothering you (keep notes on your symptoms) and let them take a really good look at you. I don't think you are crazy! Your body goes through more than most and your muscles probably do twitch. Bottom line-Say it is MS. Like I tell my son. You cannot let this disease (if it is) rule your life. You need to have as much fun as you can, keep your body healthy and enjoy life. You can't sit back and just wait for this to show itself as it will soon enough if there is something wrong. It won't stay hidden forever. But, you can't not live your life waiting for it to show itself. You have a gift and a mark to leave. DO IT! Don't let anything stand in your way. Even if it is say MS. Ok. There are medicines and MANY people live pretty normal lives. There are people walking around that you don't even know have it. It isn't like 20 years ago. I understand you are scared but you are doing something many people only dream about. Keep doing what you love, make the appointment and just see what happens. If you ever need to talk, I am here. I am sure your parents are so proud. This is the time for you to leave YOUR mark and change the world. I tell my 18 yr old son (senior) this is your time to SHINE. Goodluck!
Dear Andymag, I think at first you really need to calm down, this is bad for you worrying so much. I have these symptoms and much much more, and I've had it for more than a year now without knowing or finding out what it is. I am in so called limboland, it's difficult not knowing but your symptoms might be there just because of all this anxiety, simble as that. It could also be because of you status in B12 and so so many more things.
But first of all, you have to calm down for now and try to live your live and do not let this stop you. I know that is difficult, but it is the best way to see if this is your frightened mind is controlling all of this. If you can not calm down and wait and see, then ofcourse you should get that apointment with neurologist, to ease your mind. But when you are worried, this is a good place to turn to because there are so many helpful peoble here that know so much, with or without MS. Good luck and take care.
Dagun
But first of all, you have to calm down for now and try to live your live and do not let this stop you. I know that is difficult, but it is the best way to see if this is your frightened mind is controlling all of this. If you can not calm down and wait and see, then ofcourse you should get that apointment with neurologist, to ease your mind. But when you are worried, this is a good place to turn to because there are so many helpful peoble here that know so much, with or without MS. Good luck and take care.
Dagun
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