Anxiety, MS, or what? Very worried!!

[Jenny Wren]

Back in 2000, I suffered what I believed to be a anxiety attack, it left me with 3 months of nausea, because of not eating and no appetite I would assume that is why it lasted so long. Spring of 2001, still a little nauseaded, looking up nausea on the internet, MS came up as one of the reasons.  This is where my life turned upside down, my gram had MS, diagnosed at age 60, as you can see from my previous posts, I'm concerned.  I had the migraines before the anxiety, but when googling nausea and MS, came across the facial tingling (MS), shortly I developed the little bug crawling sensations, and I so have muscle twitches, seems worse when its cold.  I have never experienced weakness, numbness, bladder or bowel problems, I can tolerate heat.  I tried Prozac for about 3 years, it never took these feelings away, just recently started xanax, this helps a good bit, but not completely.  I have had these feelings for 6 years, thats why the doc ordered the brain MRI, he wasn't convinced that it was MS, just anxiety.  So you see this is the reason for all my questions.  Can anxiety really cause these weird feelings?  I live everyday worrying about MS.  After 6 years with no worsening of symptoms (sometimes better), do you think it could be safe to say its "psychological?" Never had the cervical MRI, just brain, neuro exam-normal, no problem there,bloodwork fine, was tested for Lyme (ELISA), my fear now after reading all these posts from Lyme patients is that maybe this could be my problem.  Thanks for your time, patience, and thoughts, they are greatly appreciated. 3 previous posts!!

[Annie62]

I don't know how to start a new post, so I'm going to ask a question on this one.  I've been reading this board for more than a month now and I think it's unlikely I will ever get to ask a question of the doctor, especially since others have been trying for a year to post and haven't gotten through (though I plan to keep trying).

Has anybody on this board been diagnosed with GASTROPARESIS  (delayed stomach emptying)--especially severe gastroparesis-- (picked up on endoscopy and/or gastric emptying scan)?  It's usually caused by damage to the vagus nerve.  If so, what diseases (neuro or otherwise) have you been dxd with?  I mean, is there anyone on this board who has gastroparesis with MS, or gastroparesis with other autonomic neuropathy or gastroparesis with a connective tissue disease (lupus, scleroderma, vasculitis, etc.)?  I know it's associated with diabetic neuropathy quite often, but I'm not diabetic and have had other ongoing neurological symptoms (past Horner's syndrome (first symptom I had), tingling in left hand/foot, weakness in left leg/arm, blurred vision, mouth droop, difficulty swallowing, ongoing slowed breathing/chest pain/weakness after a viral infection), eye inflammation, etc., all triggered off or exacerbated by infections, heat and, strangely enough, ovulation.  

I was just dxd with gastroparesis two months ago and have read hundreds of articles on it since, and all of them say pretty much the same thing (main causes are diabetic neuropathy, damage to vagus nerve during gastric surgery, Parkinson's and thyroid disease, but also that it is associated with different neurologic diseases (including MS) and connective tissue disease).

I'd appreciate any anecdotal evidence of its being associated with other neuropathy/neurologic conditions.  Thanks in advance.

[lawl]

Your six years must've been very difficult, but I'm going to have to agree with zzzzzzzzzz.  You've had a lot of tests done, and all have come back negative.  The chances of you having MS are vanishingly small; sure, it's possible the tests missed something serious, but when the odds become one in a million, it's time to resort to the simplest theory: it's psychological.

All of your symptoms can definitely be caused by anxiety.  The brain is incredibly powerful.  I've had some frightening symptoms myself (constant nausea and dizziness, strange sensations in my head, etc.).  I also understand the doubt and suspicion you're feeling; I found many reasons to doubt the diagnoses of my doctors, the results of my tests, often with increasingly sophisticated lines of reasoning.  But after a long and hard examination of myself I concluded that I was a hypochondriac, that I had been a hypochondriac for the last few years of my life, that the symptoms could largely be explained by anxiety, that I was probably physically healthy.

Once I truly began to accept that my symptoms were largely psychological and likely harmless, they went away.  I've been feeling great for about three weeks.  Sometimes I sink back into worrying, but for the most part I'm sleeping well, eating well, and enjoying life.

[CCF-Neuro-M.D.-SH]

First of all, keep in mind that I am unable to diagnose you because I am unable to examine you, this forum is for educational purposes.
   From the symptoms and story you present this time and the previous 3 times, it is clear that you have a lot of anxiety.  Our job as neurologists is to identify possible organic disease that is surrounded by anxiety, or to demonstrate that no disease exists and that anxiety is the primary problem.  
   As I have shared in the past I do not think you have MS (multiple sclerosis), but I recommended completing your workup with a C-spine MRI and a lumbar puncture.  You should answer the questions and stop worrying about it.
  I also doubt that you have Lyme disease, from the symptoms that you have described.  A western blot and PCR for lyme, and a SPECT scan would complete your lyme workup.
  I have discussed the concepts of migraine headaches with you in the 3 previous posts (which you do have).  My advice remains the same, I would start a migraine preventative medication.  I would recommend that you find a neurologist that you can trust to put you mind at ease about these various conditions.
I hope this has been helpful.

[zzzzzzzzzz]

Patsy
The 'hypocondriacs' post is below under 'Muscle aches, pain, joint pain' question. Do read it - its grown into a very interesting debate.

I don't want to make Jenny feel bad, as I know shes having a hard time, and we have talked before, but I did feel quite upset when I saw she had another question posted. I have been trying to post for nearly a year now. People say you need to post around 10am Cleveland time. I live in NZ - thats around 4-5am here and I am ill - I can't stay up trying. They say the oppertunity is set at different times each day - to allow for those of us in different time zones to get a chance, but nine times out of ten, when I check in the morning, there are 2 new questions there. I have got a great deal out of this site, but I would love the oppertunity to ask my own unique question. I know that if Jenny had not posted, someone else would have.

I have read all of Jennys posts, here and on the undiagnosed forum and I'm sorry to say this, but I do believe the problem is mostly anxiety based.

[ladybiker]

I see a lot on the forums about "trial antibiotics".  What is that?  I'm allergic to so many antibiotics, though I can take Cipro.  Not sure about Tetracycline.  Do you just ask your doctor for a "trial" and he just gives to you?  Isn't it the same as a regular prescription of antibiotics?  

[lat67]

Hi Patsy,

Just wanted to say....I hope you are taking your advise!!!!!!!" LOL