Worried that I have MS

[jumptheline]

Hello fellow members! I am new to this community and the reason for my coming here is that I have started noticing some strange stuff happening to my body lately. About two weeks ago, I got a strong pain in my head. It was nothing like any headache I had experienced before. It felt like the pain was emanating from inside my brain and traveling outwards and was concentrated in the middle-left part of my brain. I went to the doctor and he told me it's nothing but stress (I had been reading up on eye floaters and dry eyes for a long time before that as I had an increase in floaters about a month ago). Anyway, the pain went away on its own that night. But two or three days later, I started to notice some light-headedness and dizziness which kept on increasing in intensity for the next two days. It felt as if I was sitting in a boat on water. This dizziness is still there but has reduced somewhat in intensity. It does come back in full swing though when I think more about it. Another thing I have noticed is some stiffness in the left part of my neck, however it is not very serious. Whenever I lay down or try to stand on one foot, the dizziness (vertigo?) comes back. I also feel a slight tension in the calf of my right leg when I wake up but it goes away as soon as I get up from bed. Moreover, my pulse rate has been a little higher than usual for the past week with occasional heart palpitations.

I would like to know your opinion on whether the symptoms that I have described above mean that I have or am developing MS and if so, what do you recommend as the next step. I should mention here that I am a hypochondriac and tend to apply all the stuff that I read about any condition on myself. Looking forward to your opinions and comments.

[CaliReader]

Hi Jump,

It's tough to know how to answer your question. I'm not a doctor.

If you want to follow up this theory that it might be MS, one route might be to complain about those 'floaters' to an Opthalmologist.

That's really all I have. The last time I complained about dizziness to a doctor, I was diagnosed with dehydration.

I hope that your doctor is right, that you really are well, and stay that way.

Best,

[jumptheline]

Thanks a lot for your reply. I did go to two ophthalmologists, both specialists, and they did a complete dilated eye checkup. They found that my myopia was reduced from -5.0 to -4.75 but told me it's perfectly normal. Regarding the floaters, they are just due to normal aging of the eye and also are nothing serious. Moreover, from the research that I have done on the internet, I couldn't find any medical studies or findings relating floaters and MS. My leg pain is now gone and the only true symptom of MS that I am left with now is dizziness. My heart palpitations and flutterings are still there but I don't think they are related to MS. I do feel a slight heaviness in my left ear (also felt it when the first headache came on about two weeks ago) and am thinking that maybe my symptoms are due to a middle-ear infection or an overactive thyroid as I have always had an excessive sweating problem and also have noticeable hair-loss. Anyway I thank you for your help and support and will update when I visit the doctor. Cheers and take care!