Possible MS symptoms extremely worried

[ASAP971]

So I am 21 year old male. I have been worrying about ms for 2 years now. I have bad anxiety and especially about my health. Here are my symptoms some of which I have seen the doctor about and gotten explanations but not sure if I belivie.

Fatigue and tiredness all the time

Shocking feeling in chest and ribs when deep laughing or coughing (doc said due to muscle inflammation) anti inflamitories help this but gets worse when dehydrated or hungover.

I have impinged uldra nerves I'm both elbows. Obviously I get shocking feeling from my elbow to my pinky fingers but is it normal to get it in my upper arm shoulder as well? And in my forearm mostly when I'm dehydrated or hungover on again

Tight neck and back pain

Constant twitching in calves that I can see

And just recently this weird feeling in my neck and lower jaw like a buzzing feeling. I'm thinking it may be from stiff neck.

Thank you for reading my post. I'm really nervous and am trying to over come this fear. I just also wanted to let everyone know that I'm in very good shape and go to the gym almost every day. Sometimes my legs and arms get some what shaky. Like an example when my right arm is held on a computer mouse it is kinda shaky when it is extended. Almost like a quiver. Please let me know whah you guys think, I've talked to my doctor and they all said it is very unlikely for a male of my age to have ms. If you could please try and put my mind at rest it would be extremely appreciated! Thank you!!!!

[lyndacarol]

Welcome to ThisIsMS, ASAP971.

You have asked, "Please let me know what you guys think," and I think your symptoms are consistent with a vitamin B12 deficiency. Neurological symptoms usually appear before signs in the blood. A B12 deficiency is the first possibility your doctor should have thoroughly ruled out (A serum B12 test alone is not adequate to identify a deficiency; request a serum homocysteine test and a serum, or urinary, methylmalonic acid test as well.); MS is a diagnosis of exclusion, made when other more likely possibilities have been ruled out.

Any person at any age can develop a B12 deficiency. By the way, consuming alcoholic beverages depletes vitamin B12 - not good, if you are even borderline B12 deficient. If you are found to have a vitamin B 12 deficiency, it is easily and inexpensively treated; when it comes to MS, the cause is unknown and, in my opinion, the "experts" have no effective treatment for MS.

[jimmylegs]

hi and welcome

looks like another potential candidate for athletic nutrient depletion, which is hopefully a relief to you

this link points you to search on some relevant previous discussion here at TIMS:
http://www.thisisms.com/forum/search.ph ... mit=Search

and here are some results from a google scholar search on the terms: athletic nutrition depletion.

http://scholar.google.ca/scholar?q=athl ... as_sdt=0,5

excerpts:

http://europepmc.org/abstract/MED/15129928
"Iron depletion, defined by a ferritin level below 20 microg/L, was found among 22% of study participants (15% in males vs. 35% in females, p =.019). Anemia was found among 25% of athletes (18% in males vs. 38% in females, p =.028). Iron deficiency anemia, defined by the presence of anemia, ferritin levels below 12 microg/L, and transferrin saturation below 16%, was found among 7% of players (3% in males vs. 14% in females, p =.043). In summary, a high prevalence of iron depletion, anemia, and iron deficiency anemia was found among basketball players of both genders. We recommend screening ballgame players for blood count and iron store status, and providing nutritional counseling and iron supplementation when necessary."

http://link.springer.com/article/10.216 ... 6060-00004
"Athletes on low energy diets (> 2200 kcal/day) should have a diet of > 25% fat, and athletes with large energy needs should consume 30% fat in their diet. In general, fat intakes should be reduced and carbohydrate intakes increased. Athletes should also restrict alcohol intake during training and competition periods. ... Athletes with low calorie intakes should consume foods with high contents of iron, calcium, magnesium, zinc and vitamin B12. Athletes with high calorie intakes should consume foods that are naturally high in or fortified with B-group vitamins. Fluid, electrolyte and energy supplementation is desirable to support circulatory, metabolic and thermoregulatory functions."

iron depletion in athletes
http://paragraph.com.au/pdf/books/clin-sp-nutr.pdf
"Any athlete involved in regular high intensity physical activity has a higher requirement and turnover of iron and can quickly deplete iron..."

http://cinder.medicosenmerida.com.mx/Co ... tletas.pdf
"Clark and colleagues [9] examined the preseason and postseason intakes of macronutrients and micronutrients in division I female soccer players. They reported that despite meeting total energy requirements (carbohydrate needs were not met), vitamin E, folate, copper, and magnesium intakes were suboptimal (<75% of the DRI)."

i'd probably be looking pretty hard at iron if i were you. here are some iron deficiency symptoms (note you do NOT have to have them all to have an iron problem)
http://www.nhlbi.nih.gov/health/health- ... signs.html
and once you've checked out the potential iron issue, i'd consider having a look at your magnesium status too.

question: have you had serum ferritin tested lately?

also note:
athlete iron search results = 42,100
athlete magnesium search results = 10,600
athlete cobalamin (b12) search results = 1,290

last little footnote: i just ate some leftover lasagne brought home from last time i was at my mum's. it was very tasty, but not so great for iron. i added a small block of spinach (high in iron) from the freezer and chopped up about a sixth of a red pepper (high in vit C -way higher than oranges- to help absorb iron) into my serving as i heated it up for dinner.

hope that helps! also, you might enjoy chatting with TIMS member 'youarethecure'.

[centenarian100]

I've talked to my doctor and they all said it is very unlikely for a male of my age to have ms.

Well...it would not be unusual for a 21 year old male to develop multiple sclerosis, but I don't think that your symptoms are particularly suspicious for this diagnosis.

My advice-don't drink to the point of being hungover

improve your ergonomics to improve your ulnar neuropathies (low keyboard, wrists in neutral position, avoid excessive flexing at the elbows)

I tend to agree with jimmy/lynn that improving your diet and getting nutritional labs is probably a good idea

-c