Initial symptoms that drive to diagnosis

[dolphin8808]

Hi everyone! I guess I'm looking for a bit of guidance here. I'm going to see my neurologist next week, and I'm rather anxious about it. I herniated disc in my back about a year and a half ago and immediately started with severe twitching and muscle spasms mostly in the affected leg but also and my other leg. Fast forward to now a year later and I still have those issues, but I've   Also been having spastic calf muscles in that affected leg. The twitching can feel like ants running under my skin at times and is so uncomfortable. The spastic leg is only in my calf and when I am sleeping. I wake up and stand in my foot releasing the muscle and it is fine again but then it will have severe twitching. When I get up to use the bathroom and lay back down the twitching in my legs continues.... I do have nerve damage to that side due to the pinched nerve and had an EMG a year ago. It was pretty bad and the pain was horrific - then the twitching started.

Of course I look up MS and the symptoms are so general and I personally could have a number of them! Other then the vision problems which seem a bit more specific. I do not have vision issues though.

Any insight is greatly appreciated. I suffer with severe anxiety so the waiting game to see my doctor is the hardest part.

[HVAC]

Actually MS not always but often starts with optic neuritis and eye condition affecting one eye at a time. Otherwise MS can start in many different ways. It all has to do  with where you have neurological damage. O.N. is common because the optic nerve is in the brain and that is often where MS starts. If you are worried about MS all you need is a neurological exam. Any doctor can do one. That is reflexes and such. That is how my MS was found. I was not getting signals to the left side of my brain. My PCP thought I had MS and sent me to a neurologist.

Alex

[supermum_ms]

Hi there,

One of the main problems with googling when you have anxiety issues that spikes with any health concerns, is that you can inadvertently start to unnecessarily worry about medical conditions that you don't have........from what i understand, your saying these symptoms started and were caused by a herniated disc, and the EMG found you to have some peripheral nerve damage from the pinched nerve.  

It is most likely relating to what you already know about, than an unlikely situation of these same symptoms worsening because of an unrelated but  additional neurological condition like MS. Peripheral nerve issues do cause some of the same or similar symptoms, so It would be in your best interest to not let any ideas about MS get into your anxiety head space, as anxiety can definitely make anything seem worse.

When you see your neuro next week explain to him/her the symptoms which are now worse and any that are of particular concern and ask for any advice on what you can pro-actively be doing to improve your situation.  

Cheers......JJ

btw Statistically the most common symptoms that leads to a diagnosis of MS, are actually the visual ones, eg Optic Neuritis, Nystagmus, diplopia etc