Awaiting diagnosis first post

Hi

I started having pins and needed in my left arm in October 2017, and over a few weeks it spread to my legs and some of my toes. I saw my GP who was fantastic and did some neurological tests on me. She then referred me for a head MRI which I had within 4 days. A week later she called me back to say that that they had found multiple areas of hyper intensities and she would be giving me an urgent referral to an neurologist. By December I still hadn’t heard from the hospital about an appointment date so I went private. Saw a MS specialist and based on examination he feels like I have a further lesion or lesions on my cervical spine and has requested another MRI on both my spine and head, which i think I’m having next week. The consultant suggested if I had any issues over Christmas that I should go straight to A&E. We’ll over Christmas I had what I would call a migraine with nausea and extreme fatigue leaving me completely floored. The next day I felt better, but still slightly hungover, if that makes sense?! and I had severe pins and needles over both my legs and saddle area that lasted for a few hours and has been tapering off and I didn’t seek treatment. I have two little ones under the age of three and I didn’t was to spend to spend Christmas away from them!

My question or questions rather are:

  1. has anyone every experienced a relapse/episode after a migraine type thing? And is it something that I should report to the neurologist?

  2. I’ve been left with a painful arm and hand, and I think some weakness (I nearly dropped my 16 month old), in the arm that first presented with the pins and needles, does this pain go away with time?

Also I don’t presume to have MS, it’s just what the GP suggested to me and the consultant has said it’s way to early to suggest it although it’s a really possibility.

sorry for the long post. My girls are napping so I’m unleashing all my thoughts while I’m free!!!

thank you for reading

Hello

Well I haven’t experienced any migraine type events so can’t answer your first question.

But with regard to your second, as you’ve had improvements since your first symptoms appeared, assuming it is MS, it is likely to be the relapsing remitting type (RRMS). This would typically be the kind where you might experience relapses including such pins and needles, pain, etc which then remit either completely or partially. Relapses can have remission, ie improvement, over weeks if not months until one day, you just wake up and realise the feeling is better. Any symptoms that don’t entirely remit, will often lead your body to compensate for changes in feeling so it’s as if you’ve had more or less total remission.

And the good thing about RRMS, as opposed to progressive variants, is that there are many disease modifying drugs (DMDs) now available. These aim to reduce relapses and severity of relapses. So you might be diagnosed with MS, but start on a good DMD and you’ll hardly know you have MS. Or that’s the theory.

And of course, it may not be MS at all. It could be a Clinically Isolated Syndrome (CIS), so just one MS type event and no more. Or something different altogether.

Sue

Hi, some great knowledge from Sssue.

I would recommend you tell your Neuro about anything & everything that is affecting nerves or brain functions.

Should they NOT know, then they have no pattern to follow. MS is very difficult to diagnose but nowadays people are receiving the correct diagnosis a lot quicker.

Having had 2 migraine headaches, age 29 & age 41, it seems if I’d mentioned them 10 years before, I wouldn’t have gone from pillar to post in the hospital system: At age 51, MS symptoms began & I didn’t mention headaches or Migraine. It unnecessarily took over 8 years to see a Neuroligist, or have any MRIs! So I’m pleased for you to have such quick tests via your GP & Neuro.

Interestingly, I had seen various Consultants and it was a Stroke specialist who arranged the MRIs. He noticed the migraine(s) and asked me for more info. did more tests before referring me to my first Neuro. It appears the migraines had caused a mini stroke(s). No-one has said just 1 mini stroke & no-one has said how many.

Hopefully this answered your 2nd question.

Chrissie