Lack of feeling and confusion

[Rocktobot]

ok this may be sort of strange because my symptoms are sorta vague which is why ive had problems having it diagnosed...alright so im 24 year old male, never been sick a day in my life sorta guy, reletively active (until recently) i dont eat great but not any worse than the next person my age lol...and over the past year ive developed strange symptoms the most prominent of which are a sort of mental and physical disconnection from...the world...i suppose...like if i were to touch my arm or hands i feel it but it seems distant or, foreign almost or if say im walking i have trouble feeling the floor underneath my feet, or if im floating or they dont belong to me...i guess is the best way to describe it....it was at first thought to be possible MS but a brain MRI came back fine...ive had nerve testing done in my right arm and right leg, which also came back fine (but im not sure if that would tell nerve problems within the spine or elsewhere). ive also had alot of strangeness in my lower abdomen, pains focused more near and around, above my tailbone just inside my pelvic region but also in lower abdomen..i also have trouble swallowing solid foods. liquids are just fine but i usually need something to drink when i eat something solid because i cant swallow it...the biggest problem is an all around distant, disconnected feeling alsmost as if i was fading or vanishing...as wierd as that sounds =/ which is constant ever day in an out for the past 9 months or so without relief....ive had a brain MRI, blood tests, nerve test in my right arm and right leg, x-ray and CT scan in lower abdomen which all came back fine...im sort of running out of ideas here and im about at wits end so if anyone can maybe give some opinion, shed some light, anything is welcome and helpful, thank you .

[tmmontgomery]

Hey buddy. I hope this isn't too much... But I felt like i needed to share. I hope you don't think I'm rambling. I just want to tell you that I am SO glad I saw your post. I am feeling the EXACT same things you are. :) not that that deserves a smiley, but it's so reassuring, for both of us. The disconnected feeling is probably the most prominent symptoms I'm having, just like you. I've been off work close to a month now. I am also at my wits end. I feel like I can't function and preform basic tasks. I have the sensation that my mind is changing, almost like I don't really know myself anymore. I've had this rubbery feeling on my left side, predominantly in my left foot, but I've also had fatigue in my left leg (feels like I've ran alot, but only in my left leg.) I'm generally tired and fatiuged, when I get up in the morning I feel like I'm in a foreign world. When I walk I feel like the floor is floating almost. Even when I walk outside I feel like the ground is floating. I have no trouble keeping balance or walking though, it all seems normal. I have had a weird feeling in my left side, almost as if it's fuller than the other. Had some eye pain, but no double vision really, no color loss or change of contrast...which are some of the things that they look for in MS. I wanted to give you some reassurance about MS, I just went to a neurologist this past week, and he did a thorough physical exam. He said in about 95% of the patients, he can tell immediately, even without brain imaging, if there is something wrong. And he said my physical exam was perfect. I even mentioned that my eyes have been blood shot and feel tired (thinking that it might be Optic Neuritis) but he was very confident that I didn't have it. He did go ahead and schedule an MRI which I should go in for some time this week. He said the fact that I was having no loss of balance is a very good sign that I don't have MS, also the chance of you having MS is lower because you're a male. The constant feeling of not being yourself though is so frustrating... I promise you I know what you're feeling. This actually all started in 2006... when I started having this feeling that I was in a dream. Like I wasn't really here. I did so much testing, went to SO many specialists, including TWO neurologists who said nothing was wrong (although I didn't have a closed MRI, only an open one.) The feeling debilitated me, I couldn't do anything. Riding in a car was even a big challenge. Finally I saw a psychiatrist who said that I could have some anxiety, so he prescribed Lexapro which seemed to help. For some reason though, I was still worried that it could be something physical. But, I started feeling a little bit better, so I just basically lived with it. Things felt different, not like they used to... I would also get these bouts that I thought I was going to pass out almost, almost like a panic attack, but I don't know if that's what I was really having or if it was being caused by something else. It has been going on and off since then, until about a month ago when I got the pass out feeling while I was out to eat with a friend. I just felt very strange. I had to leave, and went home. The drive home was awful, the weirdest I've felt in a really long time. When I got home I was shaking, chills, couldn't sit still, starting to feel the "funny feeling" as I like to call it. So I came home from college to mom, and we went to the doctor. They tested me for stuff in my blood and said I had mycoplasma pneumonia. Fine. I took the medicine, and started to feel weirder and weirder. Stopped taking the medicine, went back to the doctor. Told him I wasn't feeling myself, like i'm in a dream, etc and he said it could be the medicine. So I tried a different medicine. No luck. Kept getting worse and worse. Then the feeling in the foot started happening. I was also having trouble talking. nothing bad, just felt like I couldn't come up with the right word sometimes. I also felt like my train of thought wasn't right. I couldn't concentrate as well. I just didn't feel like my normal sharp self, because I'm always on it. you know? So he said to definitely see a neurologist. Waiting to see the nuero felt like the longest wait of my life. They told me it could be two weeks or more before I could get in with this really good one. But thank God he had a cancellation and I was able to go in. I was so worried. But he said it's very very highly unlikely that I have MS. He said one thing that it might be is dysautonomia. Look that up, it's quite interesting some of the symptoms that it can cause. Also look up depersonalization disorder. Quite interesting what the symptoms are for that too... although it doesn't solve the mystery of our physical symptoms. I've been feeling so weird that I'm scared to drive a car... I haven't driven in at least two weeks. Probably more.

But just wanted to share that with you, and let you know that you're not the only one... I was so glad to read your post. It makes me feel alot better. Have you been off work? Is this a major problem?

Keep in touch, maybe message me and we could talk. Praying and thinking of ya bud!

-taylor

[Rocktobot]

thank your for your reply, it was very informative. i will definitely contact a neurologist to try and further investigate MS. i was wondering though if any of these symptoms could be brought on by some sort of nerve damage or problems in my lower spine around the tail bone on the Sacrum on the inside (sorry if my terms are off im not exactly anatomically literate lol) is there a large grouping of nerves there or anything, because i definately feel a problem there..almost a pain or pressure..as if theres something there...or lack there of which i almost feel is connected throughout my body if that  makes any sense =/  ...like i said i had an x-ray and a CT scan done of that region and there was nothing there to take any notice of "largely unremarkable" is what i was told.but there is definitely a strange feeling there....and also another question i have is i had an EMG done on my right arm from my bicep to my wrist and on my right leg from my knee to my toes which also came back fine, would that detect a nerve problem say in the spine to my brain or anything like that?  again thank you for your help =)

[Dr Sharma]

Hi there. You need to consult a gastroenterologist for an upper gastrointestinal endoscopy to visualize lesions in upper GI tract or esophagus causing dysphagia to solids. Anxiety and depression need to be evaluated as these can cause subjective symptoms of dissociation and inability to eat as in your case. MS needs to be investigated again in your scenario. It has multiple symptoms and signs and is a diagnosis of exclusion. The symptoms of multiple sclerosis are loss of balance, muscle spasms, numbness in any area, problems with walking and coordination, tremors in one or more arms and legs. Bowel and bladder symptoms include frequency of micturition, urine leakage, eye symptoms like double vision uncontrollable rapid eye movements, facial pain, painful muscle spasms, tingling, burning in arms or legs, depression, dizziness, hearing loss, fatigue etc. The treatment is essentially limited to symptomatic therapy so the course of action would not change much whether MS has been diagnosed or not. Apart from clinical neurological examination, MRI shows MS as paler areas of demyelination, two different episodes of demyelination separated by one month in at least two different brain locations. Spinal tap is done and CSF electrophoresis reveals oligoclonal bands suggestive of immune activity, which is suggestive but not diagnostic of MS. Demyelinating neurons, transmit nerve signals slower than non-demyelinated ones and can be detected with EP tests. These are visual evoked potentials, brain stem auditory evoked response, and somatosensory evoked potential. Slower nerve responses in any one of these is not confirmatory of MS but can be used to complement diagnosis along with a neurological examination, medical history and an MRI in addition, a spinal tap. Therefore, it would be prudent to consult your neurologist with these concerns. you need to rule out vitamin B12 deficiency, hypothyroidism, nerve entrapment etc. Hope this helps. Take care.