I'm so confused

New diagnosis and before diagnosis
1

I’m at a weird sort of crossroads right now and I know no one here can do much except maybe give me their experiences. Which I think might give me some real insight.

I’m having to wait for a few months to see a neurologist, but the possibility for MS was floated about by my GP. And I won’t go into the long story of it all, but I know some of my symptoms match MS, but they also match Functional Neurological Disorder (although the page that I was sent to for that by my GP, that would also match IBS, it’s a very confusing condition as well)

Everything right now is all a vague mess that I just have to wait months in a purgatory to find out what’s going on.

And it’s hard to find experiences that really define the differences between the two. LIke MS Hug, is what this feels like actually MS hug (I have a severe pain on the right side of my chest, like it’s pressing in on my right breast and chest plate all day long) or is it just fibro pain that has suddenly got worse? Not to get too much into it, but they suggested the neuropathic pain in my legs and hands was a lack of B12, but I take B12 every day and it has only gotten worse. So is this the same as MS? Or do patients with MS feel something different than FND? And do you also have an uptick in shooting pains before a muscle spasm (at night I can feel them coming on, I know they’re going to start, I get more severe stabbing/shooting pains and then my leg will start jumping, and then the pain will come, quick succession, like the muscle is twisting, then it stiffens up horribly even as it’s spasming, but it’s always proceeded by that uptick in shooting pains).

If anyone could just give me some of their experiences with things like the MS Hug, leg spasms or stiffness, neuropathic pain, weakness (for me it’s like walking through thick oatmeal), trouble swallowing (sometimes food just dribbles out of my mouth, or it gets stuck in my throat and I have to make myself throw up so I can get it out), anything really…I would be forever grateful. I feel like I’m going crazy here and the doctors are trying their hardest, I know, but I feel so alone in this.

And I know I’m not technically diagnosed, it’s hanging over my head as a possibility right now. I just hope to go in more educated about the differences between the two conditions and whether my symptoms fits FND or MS better.

2

MS and FND can have very similar symptoms as can so many other illnesses/ diseases so no one on here will be able to say for sure what is going on.

It may help to do a timeline for when you see the neurologist to try and put your symptoms into some kind of context

good luck

3

Hi like Flaran said it is confusing as lots of illnesses share the same symptoms as ms. Also we are all different. For instance my main problem at the moment is my balance but someone else may not have issues with their balance but more issues with pain. Only your doctor can actually diagnose you.

4

Yes I agree Flaran. A time line is important as there could be a reason why this started like a flu, or virus.

FND is a real disease. It can present symptoms exactly the same as MS. but you need to understand the difference.

this is an excellent article on FND.

https://fndhope.org/fnd-guide/diagnosis/

with MS there are issues with our wiring.

The symptoms themselves resemble those that are seen in structural or degenerative neurological disease, but have a fundamentally different mechanism. Structural damage or degeneration causes a “wiring problem” in the brain/nerves and results in neurological symptoms this way.

In FND however, the basic wiring of the nervous system is ok, and instead it is the control of the body that has gone wrong.

Hence test for MS would show lesion, if its FND nothing.

so i would do a timeline.

It is all confusing as so many diseases overlap. x