New Symptoms

[UA08]

Long post warning:

I have a nueuro appt next month. Last year I was here discussing heat sensitivity that sent tons of pins and needles shocks down my spine/crawling up back of my head for a good bit. It happened for a few months and would come when I least expected it. Never really had any symptoms for a year -- at least that I noticed and said, "These are odd."

Then I was out to eat this past October and was with a friend. I had noticed my hands tingling a bit but it seemed to happen when I got flushed and hot and wouldn't go away until my body cooled. Well, I got done eating and took a step and my both legs tingled from my knees down. They tingled with every step -- like a crawl + shock. I got home and noticed when I sat down they were still tingling. Since then they've tingled almost 24/7 to this day. It started mainly in my feet -- and it still is -- but I can now feel it in my calves and occasionally upwards to my knees and in my thighs. The constant tingle is in my lower legs from the calves down, though. The tingling reaches a point of "numbness" later in the day. I will lay down for bed and they will be tingling and I know they are touching each other but I can't feel it. However, I move then and can feel them fine once I do that. I also feel off and on burning and prickling in my extremities (namely the legs).

I've also had chest pain. It's a pain that is sharp and on the left side of my chest. It comes and goes over the course of 15-30 minutes it seems, but it's painful and makes me grimace and take very short breaths so I don't breathe in too much and feel it.

Also had a lot of muscle twitches in my legs as well, as well as muscle and leg weakness when they are tingling heavily. Also, the tingling seems worse at certain points in the day.

These are just a few symptoms. I am 23, my grandmother had MS and my aunt has MS. You won't scare me with anything. What are your thoughts about my symptoms, etc. Can anyone relate to this type of tingling?

[jenphilly]

Well, if you combine the two of us, we would have tingling of all extremities :)  

I'm a newbie, was finally diagnosed in November and had been on what I called the diagnosis rollercoaster since early June.   But, now knowing what I know, we can go back close to 5 years when I would have moments or episodes.....  

Just because the numbness / tingling is happening all the time doesn't mean an active flare necessarily....  My left hand is that way all time, has been for well...  since June!   Some days better then others...  heat and cold affects things...  what I eat affects things....  and stress definitely affects things!  

Get yourself to a good neurologist with solid MS experience.  If you post where you are, sure someone in your area and share a doc they have good experiences with.   If you're anywhere in the SEPA area, I have a wonderful MS specialist I see that is in Allentown.  She's not only a great doctor, she's a sweetheart to deal with, great sense of humor too, so going in for a visit is never dreaded :)

In the meantime of finding a great doc, the only advice I will give you is to do what I did...  keep a daily journal of where you go, what you eat, what you do and the weather.  My bad days were so random that we knew something had to be making me feel that way, long before the MS was confirmed.  Turns out gluten is no longer my friend.  It doesn't cause any 'new' symptoms, just makes all the regular ones that much worse.   Keeping the journal it became really clear pretty quick that everytime I had bread or pasta, next day I was a mess!  

Good luck and keep posting...  lots of wonderful people here that will throw out lots of thoughts and suggestions from their experiences, but also be there just to listen, so vent away...  

And by the way, your long post was nothing to one of my long posts...  everyone encouraged me to share and post... so I did :)    

Sorry you're here and experiencing all this, but glad you found this place!

Hugs,

Jen  

[UA08]

The shock sensations didn't happen when tilting my head forward which is the odd part. It was just sudden. Happens now when I get hot/flushed.

[maxthecat43]

The shock sensations down your spine sure does sound like L'hermitte's sign.  The heat sensitivity is classic too.  I does sound like you are in a flare.  I don't think it is a bad idea to be seen by your doctor.  It wouldn't hurt to have everything assessed.  For your sake, we can all hope it's not MS.  

Best of luck to you.
Tammy