Do you have these symptoms?? Going crazy...lol

[Brittan]

Hello All,

I am new here but I have been scanning the forum for years. I am currently in the mist of being diagnosed w/ ms just waiting on the insurance to approve the mri ... sigh.

The past 2 weeks I have been in hell putting it nicely. I hade a flare up that started with the inability to move my neck (cervical dystonia) I had to go to the hospital because it was sooo bad that the flexeril and otc pain pills were not helping. So the gave me a muscle relaxer, anti-inflammatory and vicodin after 2 days I was able to move my head again.

Then within a day I started getting a crushing feeling around my ribs (assuming the ms hug ... I've had this for years) but this time was different I could feel it in the sternum and the whole ribcage up to under the armpits. The crushing pain in the sternum realing scared me thinking it was a heart attack but my bp and hr was slightly elevated so I ruled that out. But just in case I did take a betablocker and an aspirin but it did not help. A few hours later I was searching and discovered MSworld (so glad I did). I took flexeril, put an ice pack on the back and chest & drank a tall glass of very cold water quickly and within an hour the pain was relieved.

Ofcourse that night I woke up with my hands burning and itching ... they were bright red. There was no bumps or sores ... nothing just red, slightly swollen and itchy in the palms so I put ice packs on them and went to bed. The next day I noticed my ears were red and my hands still itched and burned plus I felt a similar sensation on the bottom of my right foot...yippee. More ice packs wrapped around the hands and just rested. 2 days of this then it finally subsided then...

I woke early the next morning w/ the hug so I got the ice packs, took a flexeril ... I am still struggling with trying to stay on top of these symptoms so they do not get completely out of hand and I end up at the ER.

What I find funny, is that prior to a flare up my upper back starts to itch? Does anyone have that happen...lol? Then next thing I know I am taking nose dive into the walls. I actually removed my picture frames from my hallway because pin balling off the walls...lol. Better safe than sorry.

I supposed to see my neuro in 1 month.

Does anyone else get the above symptoms? Thanks in advance and I am so very glad to be here.

[Dsdickinson]

Cervical dystonia

Brittan

Hi how are you? I have a question, the cervical dystonia, did they say that was an ms symptom? I am just curious, I had 3 level cervical surgery June of last year, I have had neck problems for years but nothing like the sudden flair I had one day. Of course that led to MRI of neck to see pinched nerves blah blah that lead to surgery but, in the meantime I also experienced neurological symptoms that led to MRI of brain to find the lesions. I am thinking that the surgery was not warranted and the pain I experienced was an MS signal.

[hunterd]

Brittan, WELCOME TO MS WORLD! I AM GLAD YOU FOUND US! I am sorry you had to find us. You can gain much knowledge here,, as the members readily answer questions that you may have. Take a look around and familiarize yourself, and I look forward to seeing more of you. Good luck.

[Brittan]

I read dystonia/spasticity is a symptom of MS but I am not sure if it is for a specific part of the body. I would assume that that if a lesion is on part of the spine or more specifically the cervical spine or on the mri of the brain (???) that it would be more than likely. Correct me if I'm wrong.

When the ER doc saw the CT scan he said it was the worst he ever saw. He was going to give me a slip to be off of work for 8 weeks it was so bad. That was 3 years ago. I have had minor flares with this but two weeks ago it was so bad it hurt to swollen and breath thus I went to the ER. It flared up so fast within 12 hours. The pain was from the base of my neck up into the right side of my head.

I noticed my right side seems to be more apt to have spasticity problems.

Has anyone else had this problem with their neck?

[SNOOPY]

Hello Brittan and Dsdickinson.

I would like to address the issue of cervical dystonia, which is also known as spasmodic torticollis. This condition can be a stand alone diagnosis and not necessarily related to any health condition.

My daughter was diagnosed with spasmodic torticollis and she can and does have "flare-ups." She was born with it, she does not have MS.

She is now 21 and through physical therapy she knows how best to handle a "flare-up" of Torticollis. She also uses heat (cold/ice should not be used) on her neck (heating pad/electric blanket) and sometimes, though rarely she will use flexeril.

Information about spasmodic torticollis (cervical dystonia):
http://www.dystonia-foundation.org/p...icollis/46.php

[Dsdickinson]

dystonia

Thank you Snoopy
After reading it, I am not sure that pertains in my case? Initial flare I experienced was severe pain in my neck that gradually started for no reason so I did the usual of visiting chiro but nobody could treat because I was in so much pain. what followed, including 3 level cervical surgery I had, was, hearing loss in my left ear and paralysis of my left forehead, I have a chainsaw sounding tinnitus and, that is when I started experiencing significant cognitive issues. Lesions were found on brain MRI while looking for acoustic neuroma which was not found. I can't help but wonder if I went through an unnecessary surgery and it all was related to a nasty hidden lesion.

[Brittan]

Snoopy, glad your daughter is managing the symptoms well.

I know when my neck starts to flare up I have no choice but to take the flexeril but it didn't help last time the ER doc gave me methocarbamol 500mg, percocet and naproxin 500mg for the last bad flare up. He instructed me to put ice on it for a couple days then start with the heat...it worked for me.

Before going to the ER I was already putting heat on it, taking flexeril 3x that day but it was not helping. I can actually feel the spasticity and the tightness from my neck up to the middle of my head...bad. I even needed to resort to a straw to drink my coffee...lol.

From what I have read cervical dystonia can be a secondary dx/symptom to ms and cervical dystonia is first manifestation of multiple sclerosis.

All I know is that when the ER doc said 'Good Luck' it made me extremely nervous...it sounded like I was walking to my death. I was wondering what else did he see in the ct because he gave off such a bad vibe about it. If I wasn't in such a fog and pain I would've questioned him if he saw anything else.

So I truly cannot wait when I get the mri of my c-spine hopefully it will uncover something.
** Moderator's note - Post broken into paragraphs for easier reading. Many people with MS have visual difficulties that prevent them from reading large blocks of print. **

[MarkLavelle]

Brittan,

You've got a lot going on, there! In fact, you could easily have 3 or more different things going on...

1. Did your ER doc 3 years ago say what was the "worst he ever saw?" A 'sick note' is not a likely response to MS, and I have a sneaking suspicion that what he really saw/meant was that your spine bones were bad, not your spinal column (nerves). Even if he used the word "lesion" it wouldn't necessarily be the MS kind (lesion just means injury). In your shoes I would definitely be asking for a c-spine MRI.

2. While your skin pain sounds familiar, redness and swelling do not. I'm not aware of any MS mechanism to cause swelling. Time for a dermatologist?

3. Assuming all the rest of your symptoms are related, they could be caused by MS. But never forget that every symptom of MS can occur for other reasons.

I have both spine (skeletal) problems and MS, and some of the symptoms kind of overlap. That's why I usually see my physiatrist first when I have new physical symptoms -- he's really good at getting me to tell him enough to help him figure out the cause...

Physiatrist info: http://www.aapmr.org/patients/aboutp...ysiatrist.aspx

Good luck on your diagnostic journey!

[Brittan]

I know the symptoms I listed are just a few that I experienced with the last two weeks. I have read on this forum and others that some do get red hands, itchy hand but not concurrently unless it's erythromelalgia which is another 2ary sm/dx to ms. See pics here at erythromelalgia org That is what my hands and ears looked like.

Tell you the truth these symptoms all together threw me for a loop also because up until these symptoms happened my neuro was looking at ms and parkinson's only now he is looking at ms, parkinson's, lupus and RA ... what fun.

I have been previously dx with scoliosis, arthritis, gout, mthfr, fvl, cebv w/ cfs, endometriosis, ibs, my heart can slow down, speed up, and throw in an extra beat, skip a beat...it does what ever it wants... just to name a few. My gall bladder and uterus has been removed.

My newest symptoms actually made me worse which I didn't think could happen w/ the cebv.

I became extremely fatigued more so which is bad to begin with, visual disturbances, pain behind eyes, walking problems, tripping a lot, leg gets frozen in place, bump into things when I believe I gave enough clearance, vertigo, pins / needles in hands, feet, legs. Tingling/twitching on side of face and eye lids. Memory problems .... can't remember other sym right now lol.

I know many dx's overlap but having new ones which include a positive romberg sign is slightly disturbing. I can't even walk a straight line (heal toe test).

But I'm going to take it one day at a time because after having the cebv which has been life altering not too much can surprise me at this point.

[SNOOPY]

Thank you Snoopy
After reading it, I am not sure that pertains in my case? .

I don't know, Dsdickinson.

This link will show you what Torticollis (cervical Dystonia) "looks" like. http://www.torticollis.org/spasmodic...-symptoms.html