Anxious with weird symptoms

New diagnosis and before diagnosis
1

Hi All,

Long time reader first time poster.

I’m a 25 year old male. I’ve been experiencing some fairly weird symptoms for one month now and thought I’d see what you all thought, and whether its worth further pursuing. Its been a bit of a rollercoaster of a time for me, as I’m now feeling pretty anxious about it all. My girlfriend and I have been planning an overseas holiday to South East Asia, and have plans to move overseas within the next year or so, and this experience has really been affecting how I feel about these plans. The combination of uncertainty and fear of the unknown (yet, fear of finding out!) has gotten me fairly down.

As follows, I’ve been experiencing:

17th December - 19th December

Noticed skin sensitivity in left buttock

Began noticing a sensation as if there was a pebble in my shoe in front of my heel. I removed the shoe and no pebble was there.

19th December

Skin sensitivity felt close to anus and was unsure if I had atypical sensation there. Decided to go to ED as a precaution.

20th December

Admitted to ED and had Thoracic Spine Xray / Complete Blood Count and Lower Lumbar MRI due to caution as to whether I had Cauda Equina. All tests came back clear. Due to sensations, was referred to Neurology as urgent.

20th December - 28th December

Sensitive skin feeling spread to arm and possibly face (though felt like face sensitivity wasn’t that noticeable), and then reduced to being barely noticeable.

30th December

Saw neurologist who ran through physical tests. Passed them with flying colours. Due to symptoms reducing and how mild they were, he spoke to his supervisor and both felt an MRI was not necessary at this stage, but to re-refer through if need be. He said MS could not be ruled out, but that he would have expected me to come through with more severe symptoms, and that my symptoms did not quite add up.

31st December

Again, still minor leg sensitivity just below buttock, but not that noticeable.

3rd Jan

Pins and needles in feet and hands after sitting for approx 30min - lasted for 3 or so minutes, then disappeared.

5th Jan

Slight skin sensitivity on left side, which then reduced over the following 2 days

8th Jan - current

Left leg below knee feels as if its cool, right leg to a certain extent but not as much. Fairly distracting though.

Pebble in heel feeling disappeared completely.

I do wake up with pins and needles occasionally, but just in my arm if I’ve been sleeping on it.

I haven’t experienced any pain. Occasional pin prick pain, but I might normally experience this and I’m being sensitive/aware to it at the moment.

I’d note that my symptoms have all been predominantly on my left side. Skin sensitivity etc.

Any advice is much appreciated. Do these sound like MS symptoms or not really? At this stage I can’t tell if I’m being paranoid or not :frowning:

Cheer

2

I would say don’t worry, but keep tracking your symptoms and follow up with your doctor as they continue or increase. Yes, these could be MS symptoms, but they could also be symptoms of many other illnesses.

Over the last few years, have you noticed a sensitivity to heat? Needing to take cooler showers, stay out of summer sunlight, a heaviness in your legs on hot days? Have you been through periods when you can’t find the right words to say and have to describe what you mean, like “animal with wings” for a bird or “plant with a trunk” for a tree? Do you start to do a habitual activity and then pause because you can’t remember the steps to take? These were all problems I had long before there were issues with my skin.

3

As your symptoms are not specific I would go for a lets wait and see approach. it took me 16 years. I knew if it was MS it would show itself and it did. I was finally in 2016 given a diagnosis of progressive MS (ppms).

so go enjoy your holiday.

I was told by my neuro when i saw him, he thought I did have MS but my symptoms were not specific for ms but he was only dealing with RRMS patients at the time, PPMS presents differently, he told me quite honestly at the end that he had to rethink about his diagnostic tools for MS, because of me. I did research it would seem only about 15% of people have PPMS and it usually shows in older patients).

MS symptoms are different for everyone.

for now like i said go enjoy your life and if it is MS it will show itself in the meantime, have a lovely holiday in asia its an amazing place to visit. x

4

Hi. Like the others have said don’t worry about it you will just make things worse!

5

Unfortunately, I feel as if my symptoms have been developing a little further since my post. For the last week or so, I’ve been experiencing a feeling of ‘twitching’ muscles in my calves. This would last for 5 or so seconds, abate, then come back throughout the day intermittently. This seems to have subsided yesterday and occurs with far less frequency. More distressing is a potential general feeling of weakness in my limbs on my left side for the last few days. When I outstretch my arm, I notice a slight pain as my elbow joint fully extends. My calf seems as if it’s not quite as strong on my left side compared to my right. I haven’t lost any function, it just feels as if it’s slightly weaker. Really frustrating as after a while you begin to question if it’s in your head or not! Still experiencing skin sensitivity on the left side too. Really hoping this all settles down in the next few days. Approx 6 weeks since the onset of my initial symptoms until now. Cheers