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Avatar universal

Is this just stress of possibly MS?

I am a grad. student(23). I have not been under any more stress than the usually grad student worries.

My symptoms are:Had totally blurry vision for about 5 mins 4 months ago then have been having short bouts of it more recently.  tingling in legs and arms (seems to happen mostly when I'm sitting) ,numbness in face, left leg and hands.
I also have pain in my hands and legs, tremor in head and hands, fingers, fatigue - ranges from mild "I'm just tired" to sever "I can't sit up and hold a pencil at the same time and just want to lie over the desk in class", transient sensation of popcorn popping under skin, some dizziness  when walking or first standing up. Also, sometimes my left leg causes me to walk with a slight limp - even when it's not numb and I can't figure out why.  I also had (for about 2 wks) the feeling of pressure on my ears accompanied by numbness that washed down my throat -went away by itself.

All of these things come and go but have been occuring in different combinations over the past month and a half.Will see a neurologist soon. My doctor seems to think it's stress since the brain MRI,b-12 and other bloodwork came back normal. Now have sore throat (past two days) and voice is gone.

Could this just be stress? - I certainly don't feel anxiety or depressed or overly stressed, at the same time I don't want to have anything wrong with me. I assumed if it was stress this would get worse in stressful situations - like writing exams - but no.. However the tingling etc does seem to become worse when I'm hot e.g. when the heat is on too high and will subside when I turn the temperature down. Help!
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Avatar universal
Did you ever figure out what it was?  I have very similar symptoms...getting brain MRI on the 19th, doing EMG testing on the 30th.  Please let me know!
Helpful - 0
Avatar universal
Thanks Alex,

I wasn't tested for mono but my lymph nodes were fine and the sore throat is gone now...wish I could say the same thing for the other stuff.

Jeanine
Helpful - 0
667078 tn?1316000935
Have you been checked for Mononucleosis? I got a bad case of it in Grad school. The sore throat may be that. Going to the Neurologist is a good idea to rule anything out. There are a lot of symptoms going on.

Alex
Helpful - 0
Avatar universal
Thanks for such a quick response.

Yup, my thyroid was checked, b-12 and folate, sed rate, brain MRI - all normal.

I'm seeing neuro at the end of the week. In the mean time my doctor put me on an antidepressent and recommended councelling- she seems to be convinced it's stress and that if it is, then my symptoms will go away. I've only been taking that for a few days (apparently it takes a week or two to work into your system) but I do not feel any difference except that now I'm having trouble sleeping. I think it might also be making me feel a little blah - but too soon to tell. I did not object to taking this since I'd rather it be stress than anything else but the fact that there is a history of undiagnosed MS-like symtpoms in my family means I'm still concerned.

Hope the neuro can figure this out. Thanks again for such a warm welcome!!!
Helpful - 0
198419 tn?1360242356
Oh my.

Well, stress can do so many things, but you don't sound stress'ish to me.

I'm very glad you are going to a neuro, but do you know if your MD ran labs to check your thyroid along w/the other bloodwork? It's should be a complete thyroid panel to include t-3 and t-4.

No wonder you landed her on our MS forum. Much of what you describe happens or is happening to a lot of us.

But, with that said, there are so many things that can cause this besides MS.  So, while you are here - hope we are able to get you through these next steps the doctors will send you through. If you would like to learn more about MS please peek at our health pages - they are educational.  

You are young, and I hope your problem is something that can be fixed so you can enjoy your time at school. And if it ends up being MS or somthing else, you'll find we support it all. We are a mixed bag of MSers, those w/differential diagnoses, and also those seeking diagnosis.

Hang tight, the rest will be along to say hello and offer thoughts.

Welcome! Welcome! Thanks for joining us!
-Shell
Helpful - 0
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