Long history of symptoms MS? Your thoughts please

[Strangefamiliar]

Hello everyone,

I have scheduled an app with my internist next week I am just getting really worn out.  If you have a minute please read my short summery below and offer your input please if this sounds MS probable?

As I begin, typing I am hitting wrong keys and having a hard time with cognitive function, it's very frustrating.
10 years ago after the birth of my child I started noticing maybe 10 months later a burning searing pain in my scalp.  This continued and I also was shedding tons of hair.  this pain was more like a neuropathy.  A burning, stinging sensation that was excrutiating.  After living with this pain without diagnosis for 6 years it slowly faded and dissapeared as strangely as it came on it faded away.no diagnosis.   It was a life changer for me.

After this passed I developed far sightedness.  And basically my vision is going with age.  The problem that I am having is there are good days of vision, and not so good days.  In other words some days my contact lenses nor glasses are able to give me clarity.  I just had an eye exam and not much has changed in my RX.  I am extremely light sensitive and have developed multiple floaters.  Eye exam showed vitreal detatchment.   Nothing needed to fix this.    But like today and like many other days my vision is very "off"  and it is making me quite dizzy.

Speaking of dizzy that is the next problem.  Vertigo.  A Spinning sensation and off balance.  Along with this vertigo that comes and goes is an extreme pressure sensation in my head.  There are times I feel like I could pass out from the pressure.  I also get nausea from the vertigo and head pressure.  It just feels as though my head might explode or stroke out.  I have had this for one year the pressure.

Extreme fatigue.  Absolutely no energy.  And my cognitive function is a mess.  Scrambling words when I type, typing backwards, I also feel clumsy but I am not falling down.   The most concerning thing is the vision issues and the diziness sensation and head pressure.

I am female 46 years of age.  All autoimmune and thyroid panels are clear and in good numbers.  I did have one test about 6 years ago a C3? marker that came back high and in the notes said could be suggestive of MS.

I would love your input.  I have had a CT no contrast scan that was normal.  All blood work seems normal.  Eye exam showing farsightedness and presbiopia from aging yet can't explain to me why glasses work sometimes and sometimes not.  Thank you for reading!

[Strangefamiliar]

Thank you so much both of you for taking the time to respond to my concerns.  It means allot that you took the time to spend writing me back.

It makes me feel somewhat better what you say not screaming MS.  I can tell you the scalp pain was like searing burning and at times would go numb.  I was told it was a nerve issue in the scalp and they ran a whole gang of other tests for autoimmune issues.  All came back normal with the exception of this C3 marker.   It's been a strange medical mystery but fortunately that part has passed.  It was like a shingles pain for 6 years!!!

I see my internist next week and will certainly keep an open mind.   I surely do not want to go through unecessary testing if it's not warranted.  The head pressure, headache and vision thing is really beginning to wear on me.  I just wish it would go away.

I will let you all know what I find out in the upcoming week.
Thank you again!

[karryon55]

The C3 is actually Complement C3 in a form of a blood test. Low Complement C3 but normal Complement C4 (usually both done at the same time) indicates activation of the alternative pathway which bypasses C4. It is seen in many inflammatory conditions such as septicaemia, burns, coeliac disease, Sjögren's syndrome, rheumatoid arthritis, MS, malnutrition (including anorexia, Vit b12 or folate deficiency) autoimmune haemolytic anaemia & paroxysmal nocturnal haemoglobinaemia. ( Friedman and Young 1997)

If you have low C3 & low C4 it indicates things like SLE / Lupus. I have low C3 but have several of the listed conditions. This is generally found in autoimmune disease in general & basically means your inflammation has burnt out one of it's pathways.

I would recommend you see a Neurologist but try to remain open minded on what may be suggested to you as there could be many possibilities. I would have thought possibly migraine from what you've mentioned but I am not a doctor. I just don't get MS screaming at me from what you've written. If the Complement C3 was done 6 years ago it may have been relavent to something back then & should be redone.

I'm sorry I didn't have any brilliant answers to your question.

Take Care,

Karry.

[supermum_ms]

Hi and welcome,

The first thing you mentioned 'scalp pain and hair shedding' wouldn't typically be related to MS, thankfully thats been resolved for 4 years already but i would of definitely recommended you see a dermatologist and possibly even see a pain clinic for some pain relief tailored to your specific needs.

The visual issues you mention are not usually what's associated with a neurological causation or specifically MS. Visual sx's are statistically common in MS but a person with MS is more likely to be dx with Optic Neuritis (ON), Nystagmus, diplopia etc.........I will always recommend people consider getting a second optic opinion with an opthalmologist, who will also assess the health of your eyes and optic nerves, when ever someone has unexplained visual concerns....  

Fluctuating convergence issues 'could' potentially explain why you feel dizzy and nauseous but when you put it all together [dizzy, nauseous, head pressure pain, fatigue, cognitive, fluctuating visual issues] it would seem a bit odd, possibly migraine but I really think you need to be assessed by a neurologist and have both brain and spinal MRI's to see if there is anything there to explain it all

The only thing i can think of regarding the meaning of "C3" would be spinal, if MS was suggested as a potential cause then that would have to mean a lesion was found in your spinal cord.............double check (!!) if you do have some structural damage or a cord lesion in your spine, it still wouldn't necessarily mean MS but it could be a possibly explanation but i really would double check every test result you've had before and those more recent, consider getting a referral to a neurologist and take the records with you.

I'm really sorry for what your going through but I honestly didn't read anything at all that sounded specifically MSish, there are many conditions that your sx's would fit into and I really think a neurologist may help work out whats going on.

Cheers.........JJ