I think I might have MS

[Drew967]

Hi,

I started having extremely strange symptoms about a month ago - started with wrist pain in both wrists, then after a few weeks my forearms were also affected. The pain is hard to describe - seems to be concentrated in the muscle. I started seeing a chiropractor because I thought it could be a sports injury. However, I couldn't really tell if my symptoms were responding directly to the treatment. He ordered a cervical MRI which showed no abnormalities, and ruled out a sports injury.

About a month after my symptoms first appeared, they started improving and I was pain and symptom free for about 3 days. This week however, I had another episode of symptoms. I've been feeling exhausted at work during the middle of the day, and it tends to improve later in the afternoon. I've also noticed my cognition seems a bit slower - I have trouble problem solving efficiently. I've also been very thirsty these past couple days, and have been urinating a lot! Last night, the symptoms peaked with calf spasms in both of my legs. This time, I kept waking up every couple hours or so. I also had weird flu like chills - not too bad, but noticeable. I'm feeling better today though.

So far, I haven't had any visions problems, bowel problems, or coordination/walking problems.

I'm very worried - I'm only 23 years old and just started my career :( I won't get to see a neurologist until early November, but I'm wondering if anyone has any advice? Should I go see a doctor about the muscle spasms? Is there anything I can do to see a neurologist sooner?

[Drew967]

Thanks everyone! A couple new thoughts:

I just talked to my mom, and she mentioined Lyme disease. I do recall a large, and really weird red bump on the back of my upper leg that stuck around for a week or so before disappearing (about 1.5 - 2 months ago). It was kind of hard to get a good look at it, so I just ignored it until it went away. My symptoms also seem to line up with the disease as well. I'm going in to see my doctor, hopefully on Monday, to ask to be tested for it.

As for the out of range blood results:

High Calcium, Albumin, SGPT/ALT, and Bilirubin.

Urinalysis:

UA Turbidity = Hazy
UA Leukocyte = Trace
Esterase = Present
UA Amorphous = Few

Thank you for the responses - it definitely helps me sort things out!

[PastorDan]

I would second what you've just read, and add a couple of thoughts.  Blood sugar can fluctuate dramatically throughout your day; talk to your doc about this.  Log breakfast, too.

Also, B12 deficiency can, indeed, produce neurological symptoms, but I'm not so sure that's what you're experiencing, since you said it seems to be focused in the muscles.

Lastly, unless you live near the equator, you could probably benefit from some Vitamin D as well as B12.

Praying for complete and permanent recovery, no matter what!

[aspen2]

I'm not a doctor, obviously ... I would do the bloodwork, for sure.  Do you recall what the out-of-range results were?  B12 out of whack can cause neuro symptoms so that's something to check in to.  I believe there is a health page here that talks about a bunch of the mimics.

Re: the pain in your wrists -- did he rule out carpal tunnel syndrome?  I imagine he did.  (Although I can't imagine why it would be affecting both your wrists). I think that GENERALLY ms presents with one-sided symptoms, or if both sides, not the exact same thing, whereas peripheral nervous system damage is more likely to be symmetrical.  Please, someone, correct me if I'm wrong.

If it's a blood sugar thing -- log what you're eating at work for lunch.  If lunch involves a soda or double double xl coffee and other sugar laden stuff, it would affect you if you were pre-diabetic or diabetic.  I'd probably try a really healthy lunch to see if anything changed up.  Then also pursue further tests with your pcp.  Thyroid abnormalities can also cause strange events.

Sorry I'm not much help -- but there are many things that this could be at this point.  Which is good! Welcome to the forum :-).

[Drew967]

Hey, yeah I saw my doctor about a month ago - We had some bloodwork done, and a few things were slightly out of range. My doctor wasn't concerned, but ordered follow up blood tests to make sure. I haven't taken them yet, but plan to this coming week. Does diabetes have remission like phases? There were about 3 days during this past month where my symptoms went away - other than that, they've been pretty steady and not painful enough to interfere with my life (except for these last few days).

[aspen2]

Have you seen your pcp?  That's the first step -- there's a lot of bloodwork that should be done first, and given the thirst, you need blood sugar assessed.  Diabetes can cause peripheral neuropathy and other ms-like things.