Doc thinks MS sending me to Neuro.... so confused

[J9orange]

I've been reading online about MS and reading so many of your posts and responses. My symptoms we thought started in January 2012 but now think they may have actually started last summer. I'm 43 and have 3 daughters and 2 step-daughters and while I'm heavy... I'm active and with 5 daughters and being a Spec Educ teacher I have no choice. I apologize ahead of time if this is long.

Last summer my MIL was diagnosed with terminal cancer and within 4 days of diagnosis was living with us on hospice. After 6 heart wrenching weeks she passed. During that time I had bad legs pains but we chalked it up to stress, exhaustion, weight issues...etc..!!! I drank a lot of water and tried to rest when I could.

I went back to work in Sept... all was OK, I was just very tired and still had sore legs that just chalked up to weight issues. Around end of Setp my doc started me on Sertraline (Zoloft) for depression. We figured the summer and caring for my dying MIL had caused depression. Went about busy life as normal... still had leg pain, muscle aches and left knee ache.

In January i had a bad dizzy spell and went in hospital for 3 days. They said I had vertigo. They did MRI and MRA of brain and they said it was fine. Dizziness did nto go away and I spen next 2 weeks in bed b/c when I would get out and move around I would get very dizzy and vomit. Doc sent me to Balance Center and they said... Vestibular Neuritis.

Now... 4 motnhs later i have still not been back to work. While the dizziness / vomiting is better I'm still very lightheaded and when I do a lot either physically or cognitivelly I get dizzy. I havne't driven a car since January... I tried 2X and afterwards I felt like my brain was really pissed off at me and if was so out of whack. My legs ache bad... both of them. Had knee exrays and they said arthritis and bone spurs... that makes sense. But would it cause bad muscle aches in thighs and waking up with pains in my calves that feel liek I had charlie horses all night...?? I can't concentrate on more then 2 things at a time. When my girls start talking at the same tiem I feel like my brain is going to burst. I use to be able to make dinner, lunches for the next day, help with homework and talk to my husband all at the same time. Now... cooking dinner wipes me out and helping with homework takes so much concentration I get a headache.

Two weeks ago my tongue started going numb... last week my lower right lip started going numb. My doc said he wants me tested for MS. Luckily... he's a great man adn doc. He knows I'm very concerned... he knows I just want to get back to owrk and my normal life. I've been doing water walking and yoga but nothing is helping. 2 days the numbing in my tongue and left side of lip started mvoing around to my ear/cheek. I have bad pain in my cartoid artery on left side that goes down my neck, shoulder and arm to my elbow.

I just don't think this is MS. I went to bed last night and my legs hurt so bad. I woke up this morning adn I feel good. Legs are still achey and when i walk it feel like my knees are so tight they won't bend.. but I feel OK. Don't know how I will feel later today.

Does any of this sound familiar???? I just want them to tell me what this is so maybe some meds will help. All I've taken the past few months is a few rounds of steroids and Motrin. But... the past week my doc siad NO meds and I feel worse.

Thanks so much for taking the time to read this. I apprecite it more then you know.

[MarkLavelle]

I just don't think this is MS. I went to bed last night and my legs hurt so bad. I woke up this morning adn I feel good. Legs are still achey and when i walk it feel like my knees are so tight they won't bend.. but I feel OK. Don't know how I will feel later today.

Does any of this sound familiar???? I just want them to tell me what this is so maybe some meds will help. All I've taken the past few months is a few rounds of steroids and Motrin. But... the past week my doc siad NO meds and I feel worse.

Welcome to the forum, but hopefully not to the world of endless diagnosis...

I'm no doctor, but most of what you describe doesn't sound much like MS to me (and the rest I really couldn't say). No meds may be a drag, but it may also help remove side effects that are decoys to a proper dx.

Everything you've described below the neck could be caused by arthritis or anything else that 'mechanically' interferes with your nerves & muscles. I've had years of leg issues that were directly attributable to a herniated disc, and then later a cyst inside my spinal column. For me, the key doc has been my physiatrist and I think one might help unravel your situation. It was my physiatrist who sent me to a neurologist, because some of my sx didn't have a good mechanical explanation.

Unfortunately (or not), I have no experience with vertigo.

Best of luck,
Mark

[rdmc]

Were your numb tongue/lip and facial problems on one side only. If so, that could be MSy, a cranial nerve problem. Achy hard to bend legs, could be arthritis (but that'd be more joint aches)...could be spasticity pain. If it is caused by arthritis, there might be the possibility that you're altering your gait due to pain in your joints, thus causing the pain in the other parts of your legs. And vertigo, well that could be MS.

I, personally, have left sided tongue numbness, vertigo from time to time, and had really achy legs from spasticity. So yes, they could be MS symptoms....BUT

If I was having left sided face, carotid artery, and arm pain, I'd also want someone to check out my heart. Achy legs can also be a circulation problem too.

Truth is, symptoms of MS overlap with so many other diseases, and there are so many mimics, but an MRI should tell the story.

[J9orange]

Were your numb tongue/lip and facial problems on one side only. If so, that could be MSy, a cranial nerve problem. Achy hard to bend legs, could be arthritis (but that'd be more joint aches)...could be spasticity pain. If it is caused by arthritis, there might be the possibility that you're altering your gait due to pain in your joints, thus causing the pain in the other parts of your legs. And vertigo, well that could be MS.

I, personally, have left sided tongue numbness, vertigo from time to time, and had really achy legs from spasticity. So yes, they could be MS symptoms....BUT

If I was having left sided face, carotid artery, and arm pain, I'd also want someone to check out my heart. Achy legs can also be a circulation problem too.

Truth is, symptoms of MS overlap with so many other diseases, and there are so many mimics, but an MRI should tell the story.

Hi... my tongue, lip, facial numbness is all on left side. My heart and BP are good. Even with weight issues they are good. When i was in hospital in January all the found was that my potassium was low and they gave me a shot and at that time my BP was very low adn they kept me an extra day until is was normal.

Today my legs are still achy but I have not had much numbness except for in my tongue. I also have a tight feeling around ribs under chest.

My GP siad if it comes on again to go to ER and the MRI should so something. I'm just confused.... if MRI was fine in January when this all started why would it show somethign now.

And Mark.... I have a psych that I see 2X a month.... and i'm glad that her and my GP know me well enough to know that I'm tough and not looking for something to be wrong. I tried to go back to work but hte doctor for the school dist I worked for refused to let me back for fear that my lightheadness and trouble concentrating would cause em to get hurt at work.

[JayEm]

I don't know what I've got, so I'm definitely no expert on whether or not something is MS!

But I'll say that a lot of the symptoms you describe are similar to things that I've dealt with when I'm really anemic--particularly the vertigo/spinning and concentration problems. It's not that I don't have those things even when my iron levels are ok, it's just that they're different... hard to describe, because there are only so many words we have for these issues!

If you haven't had your iron levels checked, that's worth doing since it's such a simple test (my doctors office can do it in less than five minutes).

One funny way I can tell if I am needing more iron than I'm getting is that I start craving ice--I'll sit there crunching it for hours. Not sure what my body thinks I'll get from it!

[J9orange]

Ice

JayEm...

I had to laugh about the ice cravings. When I was pregneant with my twins I craved ice.. coulnd't get enough. And my iron was low. I tend to have low Iron so I take a vitamin supplemtn and I eat a lot of leafy green veggies. It was checked during all this and was normal.

I don't kwno why we crave ice when Iron is low... but its def a sign of low iron.

[MyGirlsMom]

Hi J9!
Sorry that you are going through all of this...it is not fun being in the unknown and not feeling well. Couple of things to share:

My psych doc, that I had seen for many years, totally missed my MS. It sounds like your medical team is taking you seriously, and that is truly a great start.

I understand the challenge of concentration with kids. Just a few short years ago, I too could carry on multiple kid conversations, make a meal, change out the laundry, confirm schedules. It is frustrating, as especially as Moms, we feel others expect us to juggle. My DH says that I am the only one with those expectations....and, he is probably right. (sigh!)

I have leg pain and it is a recent thing...just the past two years. Sometimes it has been really bad and other times more manageable. I feel for you. There is nothing like waking up in the morning with your legs feeling like you hiked a mountain and all you did was sleep!

Hang in there...trust your intuition and never give up hope! Brighter days are ahead!!

[JerryD]

Hi J9,
Sorry for your confusion but this MonSter does this to many of us and our PCP's. There is no one here that can make a dx from your post. We all have had a smattering of your symptoms.

I think you need to get all of the tests that can be had. Vitamin D, all hormones, brain and spine MRI, vitamin B's. Then you should get yourself on a meal plan that is vegatble and fruit heavy and low on meat protien. There could be something going on between your recent stressors and your diet. Please read the stuff on line and on this site that possibly connects vitamin D to MS. Good luck

[woodstock]

Just another suggestion for your dizziness. I have a friend who experienced those types of symptoms for two years with no relief. A new doctor suggested that she go to physical therapy and within two sessions with the physical therapist, her dizziness went away and she's been free of it for over a year now. It may be something to consider for a few of your symptoms.

[J9orange]

Had levels checked and did PT

I had all my levels checked and the only thing that was low was potassium. I take a multi-vitamin, B complex and Vitamin D supplement every morning.

I did PT - Vestibular Therapy for 4 weeks 3X a week. I am now able to walk without getting dizzy and falling. I just get lightheaded now from time to time.

Going to Neuro and hope to get some answers.