MS?

[2ponder]

Hello all. First off I have gained knowledge off this sight for a few weeks. You all seem great and are fortunate to have an equally great leader.

I am in my mid thirties/female. In 96 had onset of tremors in hands that have always been with me(essential tremor) in 04 during a reg check up my gp said I had rigidity and sent me to a neuro. I did some tests and was asked if I thought I had PD, I said no was rescheduled..kids n life took over, I never returned.

Now to present a couple yrs ago in the fall, I went to my gp, summer had taken a whole new toll on my body, I was tired and couldn't shake this achy weakness in my legs, my night sweats were getting worse so I attributed that to my not feeling "right".. New gp in office decides I have anxiety, dismisses my complaints and gives me a script for Zoloft. I never filled it and was sad, I'm not a complainer and I sought help to be mocked. After 2 months goes by I suddenly start feeling dizzy.. Day by day it affects me more and more until it's constant. This lasted 11 wks. During these 11 wks Ent says its cns, opthamalogist (diplopia,and blurry vision) says cns, get mri and scheduled with a local neuro. MRI comes out normal.. Go to neuro 4 different times, 4th time she says I have the gait of an old lady and says I'm not diabetic (she thought I was I did very poorly on tuning fork test and other sensory tests I guess).. She could do nothing for me. The dizziness went away, I was so thankful and life went on. Last winter I wake up feeling like a need is stabbing my eye, the pain is odd to me and on day 2 I go back to opthamalogist he says I have optic disc cupping non glaucoma and muscle imbalance but he doesn't see the cause for pain.  My gp sees me for strep and unhappy tht I got no where with the neuro she sends me to another. This guy was a true jerk to me, he asked about my dizziness I explained it to him and told him it gone.. He says then why are you here. I tell him about my eyes he says he's not an eye doc.. No exam rather than looking at tremor in hands and says I also have an intention tremor and other.. Other is still unknown to me. 2nd visit he says I have spasticity in left arm n says he didn't see it last time.  I said because u did nothing more than have me hold hands out and finger to nose type of thing.. He orders tests I get referral and find out he left area. So nothing was done or tested.

During my yearly physical last month  I tell my new (again) gp at office about my legs and the numbness I get and
pins n needles, burn in my upper thigh, and feel like I'm walking on glass. He did a couple tests, put me on 600mg of neurontin 3xs a day.. This helps but not when I'm still, wish it helped when I get up from sitting, the stiffness could be worse but my god I can't imagine what oeople think while I take my first 5 steps. Any way when he prescribed he set me up with a new neuro. I go Friday. The anticipation of this appt has me wondering if these events coincide and all fit in one picture and I'm wondering what you all think.. I have had other silly but painful things but not last long, my big toe on right foot for days at a time feels like an unseen force is pushing it straight up, my left big toe has sores on it from it clenching in (like a fist) when I walk, and to write or paint my daughters nails I have had my forearm feel like it may literally crack, this doesn't happen every time I write but when it does it's extremely painful! Just little things I guess and I truly know things could be much worse but I am starting to wonder.. Also my left arm has is a give or take, that's the one with intentional tremor and spasticity and I feel it is getting worse

I feel you all should know, I am not some anxious person as the one doc thought nor a hypochondriac, I am worried not so much for me but about the future.. I would value any thoughts you would share.. Thank u all for your time.  Best wishes to all

[2ponder]

Thank you 3, so very much for your kindness. I am On the merry go round for sure:)!

The doctor I am going to see does have ms among other things under his belt for specialties and as problems he diagnoses and treats. I did have the normal mri about a week into the nonstop dizziness. I had a lot of blood work done, I'm not sure what they tested but I know vitamin d was a little low, b was good, no diabetes.. Those were brought to my attention because the one neuro was so sure I had uncontrolled diabetes. As for what else I am unsure. But my labs were reported as all normal. I'm of normal weight good cholesterol and bp.. Don't know if that makes a difference, then again probably with all the healthy bmi bologna and newer my plate and image criteria I guess I'm probably on the heavy normal,lol.. I don't know.

Thanks again to you guys and my best wishes are with you. I have to ask though, do any of you have trouble with up n down stairs? I pay for going on them for hours, the weakness and soreness is unreal, let alone the pins n needles and other weird zaps.. It has been a couple yrs that stairs have become my nemesis. Lol..and believe me I'm not a lazy person. Thanks again for you welcoming and sweetness

[kwarendorf]

Hi 2Ponder - Sorry you seem to be on the diagnosis merry go round.

Some of you symptoms could be related to MS, but could also be related to many other things. MS attacks the central nervous system and can therefore have many mimics. THe only way to rule MS in or out is to see a neurologist that specializes in MS.

I don'lt see any mention of tests on you post. There are many tests used to diagnose MS. There is no one single test that r]proves MS, som the combined results of many are used. These include MRI's of the brain, c-spine and t-spine done with and without contrast, blood tests to rule out things like Lyme disease, evoked potential tests, nerve conduction studies and lumbar punctures.

In addition to these tests, the most important part of the MS diagnosis is the clinical exam. THis exam should be conducted by a neuro that knows MS and the little things it can cause to happen. Have any of your neurologists been MS docs?

Kyle

[Cakebaker83]

Dear 2ponder,

Welcome to the forum, I am relatively new as well, but there are some really knowledgeable and friendly people here, so I hope you get some more information. It is really unbelievable that there are so many physicians out there without any semblance of a bedside manner, or manners in general, but there are still a good number who are willing to listen and provide helpful advice, I hope you find one of those soon. I once got told by an ENT Dr that my symptoms were too subtle for diagnosis. My response was: 'trust me, when the vertigo hits, it is anything but subtle!'

I know its extremely difficult and I'm sorry I have no other helpful advice to you other than to keep pushing forward for answers and try to use humour to get through the really tough days. I tell myself  'it could be worse...I could be on fire' :)

Good luck

Cakebaker

[Artanis12]

2ponder - I'm almost as new here as you but holy sweet good grief, what a dreadful tale!  My situation with docs sounds tons better than yours,and I have plenty of complaints, believe me.  I have little true advice for you: I'm sure some of the other stellar people here can help you navigate better than me, but one thing I'm sure of, you do NOT deserve to be treated dismissively with that list of symptoms, "clean" MRI or not. In fact, you don't deserve that kind of attitude period.  When doctors are good they can be awesome, but some of them are just genuine pricks and should never have gone into a field having to deal with suffering people, because some of them seem to get harder instead of more compassionate.

I hope this new doc is better than the last and that some of the great people here can give you some good pointers for navigating the sharks that frequently infest the medical waters.  Best of luck to you dear!