MS or anxiety

[naner956]

About 3 weeks ago, I noticed my speech was slurring.  That had never happened before and as it continued for several days.  I went to a NP…she did a ton of bloodwork, all normal.  She told me she though anxiety was playing a part in it.    Over the weekend, I felt like I was going to faint and had what I would call my first panic attack.  I was nauseous, hot, cold, clammy and it took hours to call down.  That week I had some tingling here and there as well.  By Monday (so a week after the speech issue started) I was in the ER.  They did CT, EKG, CXR, urine and more bloodwork.  All was normal…they had me meet with a counselor.  But since then I have had headaches  daily(I rarely get headaches) that are more like sharp pains, I have had what I would describe as numbness in my left calf and left arm.  It feels SO cold.  The calf being cold lasted all day last Wednesday so I went to another PCP.  He did a neuro exam and he said it was normal.    I continue to have this tingling and coldness…this time in my left arm.    Been lasting most of the afternoon.   I have a pain in my cheek almost everyday for the past 3 weeks as well.  I had a lot of confusion that first week but not so much now.  My right eye is blurrier that it did last week….I use reading glasses and I can still see fine with them but when I cover my left eye, the right is blurry.  I also have had some stomach discomfort.    My left leg also felt really heavy on Saturday and my fatigue is great.  Also left hand tremors.   I am going back to see the doc on Monday and will ask for more tests.  But I am terrified this is MS.  Help.  I am a 43 year of mom of two who recently moved into a new house with my boyfriend, have been going through the horrible process of selling a house..so many good and upsetting life changes.   .

[naner956]

Saw opthamologist today…they did regular vision test, field vision test and optic nerve scan as well plus he looked at the shape and size of my optic nerve through dilated pupils and everything looked healthy.  Need to get some prescription glasses but I will do that glady.    This is of course good news but I still need to find the cause of my other symptoms.  

[naner956]

The neuro appt is not til November! I am going to try to get into an opthamologist this week...PCP on Monday.  I am not good with not having definitive answers so I will push on and seek them.  

[HVAC]

Stress is real and can cause all kinds of things. That said it is not always stress alone. Stress makes any medical condition worse. It is easy for Doctors to say all that is not clear is stree or anxiety.

The bottom line is to know yourself and advocate for yourself.

When I was being diagnosed with MS my Doctor, who started the whole MS process said "It is probably just depression". I said "Okay how could depression only effect the left side of my body?" She went out and made me an appointment with a MS Specialist.

Later she said she was sorry she started the whole MS diagnosing because I got really freaked out about it. I was ignorant and happy. It was not until she started looking for a Neurological problem I started getting stressed out.

In the end I am glad I found out I had MS and now that I know how to live with MS I am not anxious or depressed.

There are many things besides MS which can cause the symptoms you describe. It might take awhile to find out what is going on. The main thing is you know your body and know if it is simple stress or an underlying thing. Keep advocating for yourself until you get an answer you are satisfied with.

Alex

[Corriel]

Please keep us posted and be well.

Corrie

[naner956]

Thank you both...I have made an appt with a neurologist and am seeing my PCP soon and I will tell him I want an MRI of my brain and cspine.  I have to know.

[supermum_ms]

Hi and welcome to our little MS community,

If anxiety is causing sx's it's typically more random, all over, both arms and or both feet etc but your experiencing sx's in isolated areas and on only one side of the body, and that usually would indicate that there is a physical causation, rather than a psychological one.

That doesn't mean that it is MS, there are still mimics to rule out that require a brain or spinal MRI eg migraine, degenerative disc etc. I would think you do have enough to be suspect and because of that, i would recommend you get evaluated by a neurologist and or neuro-opthalmologist.

Let us know how you get on!

Cheers............JJ

[Corriel]

Hi there, I am sorry that you are suffering during such a stressful time.

Did anyone mention a CT scan? That might be a good place to start or maybe an ophthalmologist for your vision? Someone other than an optometrist could do some visual testing (field vision, OCT), that may give you a place to start.

It is easy to assume the issue is anxiety and although it could be with ecerything else you have going on  ut if you feel it is something else please persist with your doctor. No one knows your body better than you.

Corrie