worried about ms

New diagnosis and before diagnosis
1

Hi everyone,

I am sorry if this is not the right place to ask and I understand I will not get a clear answer anyway. I am a bit of a hypochondriac since the last 8-9 years. Recently I got worried that I have MS because I started to have weird things happening to my body.

I am used to have sore muscles and be stiff from time to time. I have always been very active and pushed my body the limits on occasion with long ultra runs or hikes. So the last few years I just wrote all those pains and weird feelings off to being linked to that.

But lately things started to get weird. I am from Belgium but I moved to the arctic (North Norway) last november to work as a outdoor guide for northern lights tours. The first symptom that got me worried that something was wrong was numb toes. It started about 3 months ago gently on the big toe of my left foot and then on the big toe of the right foot. I thought it had to do with the cold so I didn’t really think much of it. But at some point at the end of januari I started noticing that my left foot would feel numb on a few toes and I stumbled from time to time and felt very weird putting on socks and pants. Like my toes were was not really there. The feeling on the right foot stayed about the same. I went to a doctor and she asked if I could stand on the toes of my left foot and it was actually quite difficult. I went through my ankle quite fast ( I tried again today and it seems to be ok to stand on my toes)

One day I woke up with a sharp pain in my left eye. The feeling like something is stuck in my eye. I went to the ER and the nurse said she saw a smalls scratch on my eye but nothing in it. The pain was almost gone by next day evening. But I do have problems with viewing things focused. I don’t have double vision but I have a hard time focusing on things. Strong light makes my sight a bit blurry or out of focus. I have difficulty reading my phonescreen in the dark.

Since a few days I have strange tinggling in my fingers and on my legs especialy after being exposed to cold or heat.

Only 1 time I had a electric shock feeling on the left side of my neck. I thought the person sitting next to me hit me on the head but soon I realised it was this electric shock.

Since last night I started noticing twitching in my right and eye and some kind of numb feeling around it spreading into my check a bit. It is slightly noticable. This got me worried and that’s why I decided to write this message!

I am not asking anyone to diagnose me but I am really worried that this is MS. Does anybody recognise these symptoms? I have an appointment with a neurologist on 3 april in Belgium.

Thanks for your help and all the best…

T.

2

Hello Tom

The big problem with MS (one of them anyway!) is that there are a very wide range of symptoms that are also associated with other conditions. This means that although some, or even all, of the symptoms you describe could be ascribed to MS, they could also indicate a different diagnosis.

If you look through this forum, you’ll see posts from people who are convinced they have MS, until eventually they have had every test available, all are negative and they find a way to either get something else diagnosed, or the symptoms improve and they recover.

That does not mean that you are wrong to worry. You clearly have something not right, and it appears to be neurological in origin.

It’s definitely a good thing that you have a neurology appointment soon. What I would expect to happen in that appointment is that the doctor will talk you through your medical history and discuss the symptoms you’ve had. It helps if you’ve written down some notes on your symptoms, a timeline of what has happened and when. Note whether symptoms have improved, and how long this took, and whether anything has not resolved. The neurologist should then do a physical examination, testing your reflexes, balance, sensory reactions, looking at the way your eyes track objects and your balance (among other tests).

Should the doctor consider that there is a neurological problem, s/he will refer you for tests. These could include MRI scans, lumbar puncture, nerve conduction tests, bloods, and evoked potentials (again, among others).

Once all the testing is complete, the neurologist should give you a repeat appointment. At this point, you may get a diagnosis, or be told that all the tests are negative, or that it’s a ‘watch and wait’ situation, to see what happens next.

Best of luck with your appointment. Let us know what happens.

Sue

3

Thanks for your reply and your time Sue. I will keep you posted on what’s happening. Will have to keep my mind in control and try to keep the active lifestyle up.

Thanks!