Terrified it may be MS

Hi, I’m Ben and I’m 21. For the past 5 months I have been experiencing some troubling symptoms. It started as a strange sensitive sensation in my arm, an ache, an alien enough sensation that it caused me to have a panic attack. I went to the doctors that day and he just put it down to anxiety. Over the past few months it has spread across the left side of my body, chest, eye and most recently my leg. I get occasional stabbing pains or aches across the entire left side, that change place intermittently. Despite this, I have not actually lost any strength in my limbs, I am capable of cycling 20 miles with relative ease and I semi regularly help lift heavy objects (TVs etc) for my dad. I intend to go to the doctor again soon to ask for a referral to a neurologist. I guess my question is, does this sound at all like the opening stages of MS? My apologies, I’m not very educated on the subject, so I thought the best place to ask would be here.

Thanks

All I can say is that it is a wise idea to keep a symptom diary. If the GP and hopefully neurologist can have a summary of your symptoms,when they started, how long they lasted and anything that may have exacerbated them, it will support your enquiry. Good luck!

Hi Ben,

Another visit to your doc is probably best, particularly if your symptoms are getting worse. But keep in mind there are many other things which could be causing you to feel this way, many of which are easily treatable.

Unfortunately the added stress and anxiety of not knowing what’s going on tends to make us feel worse, and can exacerbate most symptoms regardless of their cause; so carrying on as normal (or as best as you can) is important, too. Distraction is a wonderful thing; it helps take the mind off our worries.

As Reikiblossom said, keeping a diary of your symptoms is a good idea and will help your GP (and neuro, if you are referred). Try to keep the diary brief but concise, and make sure you keep a copy for yourself, too. If you do end up going down the route of neurology, note that it may take some time before you have answers - it’s not an immediate thing, and will probably involve lots of tests etc.

Hope that helps (even a little bit!) Good luck with whatever you decide to do.

Debbie xx