this is my first post here. I’m not diagnosed with MS, but the last year has been quite difficult with lots of things going on. I’ll list the most important ones below (in bold those that are neuro related):
May 2011, had kidney stones and urinary infection.
June 2011, after a heavy drinking night, woke up with some chest tightness and a feeling of breathlessness. A few days later, woke up in the middle of night with palpitations, sweating, shortness of breath…though I was having a heart attack.
- July 2011, started having tingling in my left forearm always in the same place. Also my left arm felt weaker. Lasted for about 2 months.
September 2011, urinary infection again.
October 2011, started having regularly sweating, palpitations and shortness of breath in the middle of the night or when waking up in the morning.
October 2011, had a pyelography to check the kidneys and urinary system. Everything was normal.
- February 2012, more issues coming on…lots of time feeling like fainting. Lost appetite. Started loosing weight. Tingling almost everywhere. Had lightheadness/dyziness. Was sure something very bad was happening.
April 2012, things got really bad…couldn’t sleep properly, lots of fatigue.
End of April 2012, had a full check-up (blood, urine, heart echo, ECG, abdominal echo, Chest X-ray). Couldn’t believe that everything came back normal.
May 2012, issues with heart, feeling of fainting, weak knees, etc continued. Continued loosing weight.
- June 2012, had an anxiety attack and my left leg felt very weak. I though it would not hold me. Also if felt like the leg wasn’t mine. I was able to walk back normally at home, but the weak feeling didn’t go away.
June 2012, diagnosed with anxiety, started meds (Escitalopram and Xanax)
July 2012, things started to improve…no more heart issues, appetite was back to normal, mood was much better. Weakness of my left leg improved, but still there.
August 2012, had heart holter monitor and tension holter monitor. Heart was back fine. Tension was OK (average 116/76, slightly high…was recommended physical activity). Also had another abdominal echo (mostly to check the adrenal glands) and it came back normal.
As you can see there are lots of issues, but most of them were caused by Health Anxiety. However the weakness on my left leg hasn’t gone away, although it changes in intensity. The last three days I’m starting to have the same thing on the right side (leg and arm). It’s not a strong feeling, just that it doesn’t seem to be the same as before. I can walk/run/jump normally, I can climb up the stairs, etc.
However as a hypochondriac, I have conviced myself that this neurological symptoms aren’t just anxiety and most probably are MS. Overall the issues include:
Tingling that I had in Aug 2011 in the left forearm and lasted for about 2 months.
A feeling of weakness in my left arm that comes and goes. I’m right handed, but still it seems the left arm is weaker than it should be.
Some bladder issues. Have to go a few times a day (4-5 times) and usually wake up arond 5AM to go to bathroom.
The feeling of weakness in my left leg that started after anxiety attack in June 2012 and it’s still there (but much better than in beginning)
A feeling of weakness in my leg leg and arm that started a few days ago.
I know that MS is very difficult to diagnose, but I wanted to ask if what I have described looks like MS?
I would say at this point, no, I do not think your symptoms sound like MS. As you know, health anxiety can lead to symptoms that you describe. If you concentrate on how your body feels, which of course is what happens with health anxiety, then it is easy to feel these symptoms that you are feeling.
Also there are a whole bunch of conditions that can cause these symptoms, some of them easily treated such as vitimin deficiency.
Going to the loo to pee 4 or 5 times a day is perfectly normal and healthy. In fact if you were going less I would say you were not having enough liquid. Getting up in early morning to pee is also perfectly normal.
The weakness and tingling could possibly be a sign of neurological condition (of which there are many) and perhaps you should see how it goes. It could also be a sign of a whole bunch of things that aren’t in any way neurological. If it worsens you should go back to GP.
I’m not making light of health anxiety. I know it is extremely distressing and takes time to get over. As you know with the feeling of heart attack… it really DOES feel like you are having a heart attack or about to have one, but the tests have shown there is nothing wrong with your heart. I think it is possible that some of the other feelings you have, like tingling in your arms, can be caused by the same anxiety. It really does feel real but there is nothing physical causing it.
You should stop going on internet and putting in symptoms. It doesn’t help at all… in fact makes things much worse.
Are you having any counselling to help you through this? I would think that would help a great deal. You can have it on the NHS and just need to ask the GP to refer you.
I hope I have put your mind at rest that it is very unlikely to be MS.
I hope you get some help for the health anxiety for it is itself an awful condition to have… but you can get over it… just maybe need a bit of help to do so.
Yes HA can do many strange things. I have already been “sure” of heart issues, liver failure, kidney failure and has turned out I was wrong. However the difference with the neuro symptoms is that it’s not going away. Most people with HA have similar issues but they tend to go away in a few days or they move from one place to another. In my case the weakness (don’t know if real or perceived) never goes completly away.
Regarding the Internet, I work all the time in front of a computer is so hard to stay away…but at least I’m trying to visit only a few sites and not google (still I have learned too much about different diseases).
When I started meds, I started counselling also, but after 1 month or so the meds started working and I was feeling much better in general (had only the issue of weak feeling in my left leg), so I stoped counselling (probably wrong thing to do). Three days ago HA returned strongly along with a weak feeling in my right side which started the HA cyclce of worrying about it and the feeling getting worse. Probably it’s a good idea to get back at counselling…
In a few days I’ll go for 2 weeks in vacations. Hopefully the rest will do me good, but after that if things don’t improve I’ll probably see a neurologist and in the same time go back to counselling…
