what could my diagnosis be encephalitis, ms, tumour etc

[clare54127]

long term nausea
4 days sleeping more than usual
3 days falling
3 weeks poor balance
3 weeks slurred speech
inappropriate laughing swearing etc
lumbar puncture, ct scan , bloods, urine awaiting MRI
long term severe restless legs on  ropinerole
citalopram depressed son tried to comit suicide 3 times
meloxicalm for joints

do you think this is encephalitis or is there anything else, uncle had MS

[clare54127]

didn't add that my blood pressure was low when admitted to hospital
Clare

[clare54127]

Hello,
the initial symptoms have begun to resolve with no treatment, although i did develop more symptoms:
1 during this initial phase apparently i was complaining of my legs feeling odd
2 only a few windows of memory during acute phase  4weeks
3 although memory still not as good as it was before improved considerably - now ok
4 personality change- now ok although can have exagerated response to situations
5 poor spacial awareness - ok now
6 appearance of being drunk -  now stopped
7 stuttering ++ +, and difficulty finding correct word - now only occasional,
8 myoclonic jerks, sometimes during day but mainly evening and overnight, can happen every couple of minutes or occasionally
9 exagerated startle reflex - can be to a variety on tones, noises not always sudden or loud
10 numb emotions generally with breakthroughs of heightened emotions
11 daily low grade headache on wakening and other times

I am about to have a video EEG
TFT to be repeated

I work in a children's hospice as a nurse - although can be a stressful job, I didn't feel stressed before symptoms began. My life has the usual family stresses, although as stated originally my son suffers from depression and has attempted suicide in the past. His mood was manic pre symptoms commencing but I felt in control of mine. As you can see from original letter I am on citalopram.
the neurologist i saw originally has suggested stress related symptoms - but I didn't feel stressed, but I am open to this suggestion and would love to hear you opinion
thank you
Clare

[clare54127]

Just had result of MRI and it is clear. neurologist still to see it but GP thinks I may have Cerebellitis and will require high dose steroids


Clare

[clare54127]

Thank you very much for taking time to reply. I am still awaiting the results of my MRI.
I am a paediatric nurse and my gut feeling is that i have MS i'd rather know sooner than later then i can cope with whatever......... i will let you know how diagnosis goes

Thankyou

Clare

[Dr Sharma]

Hi there. Your neurologist needs to rule out multiple sclerosis, a chronic demyelinating disorder also. MS is a chronic demyelinating disorder where the disease phase is characterized by active phase and remissions. 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. Hope this helps. Take care.