This Is MS Multiple Sclerosis Knowledge & Support Community

Hi All,

The last month or so Ive been having some strange things happen. Ive had constant pins and needles in my arms and legs which in the last week has not subsided. Im usually fine in the morning and by th time I get home from work its a constant tingling. It seems most severe in my feet and hands. Ive also been having charlie horse type feelings in my legs and arms, but they dont last long and they jump around. Its like it leaves my arm and goes to my leg and then leaves there and goes to my foot. Also last week while out to dinner I had this frightening tightening in my chest.....I thought maybe I was having a panic attack....which is weird for me bc Im very laid back and have no history of them. I let it run its course and within half an hour I felt better. It happened again the other day at work. I thought nothing of of it, at least in relation to the tingling until I went to the Dr. Ive also had a few episodes where I get very weak and kind of heavy and feel "out of body" then Im fine within half an hour.

I called my Dr and went in and he is sending me for an MRI. He said it could be a million things, and he is looking into other possile diagnosis. Im trying not think the worst but of all the things he mentioned MS has scared me the most. Im a 30 year old otherwise healthy woman with a 2 year old son and wonderful husband. Any advice? How did your MS first present?

Melvin,
Welcome to TIMS though I'm sorry you find yourself here. It's important to note that MS presents in so many different ways. For me, it was the pain in my right foot that first sent me to seek medical help in 2004. The pain was a burning, pins & needles type feeling but with numbness on the surface. I was mis-diagnosed with Peripheral Neuropathy and it didn't seem there was any cure or viable treatment so I accepted it and went on with life. Then in January of this year, I lost about half of my vision (quite literally). It was at that time that I was diagnosed with MS. Reading your post, I can totally relate to the fear you're going through, I felt it too. My neurologist assured me that the myelin sheath surrounding my optical nerve would heal and I would see clearly again, his words did absolutely nothing to ease my fears but, turns out, he was right.
Hmmm, I guess the point I'm trying to make is that even if you do have MS, it's not the end of the world. I'm just now starting to realize this. Here's an analogy that makes sense for me. You know that feeling (from when you were a kid), you're riding your bike along, having a blast, then you crash. You're stunned, you know you're hurt and you assume the worst, then slowly you start examining yourself and realize you're okay, maybe a skinned knee or sprained ankle but you're okay, you get up and low and behold, you can still walk, you're okay.
That's where I'm at now, my bike wreck was my loss of vision and diagnosis in January and I'm just now starting to realize that I'm okay, maybe limping a bit but okay. I don't quite know why I felt compelled to share all this. What you have may not be MS at all but just know that even if it is, you'll be okay.
Wishing you the best, Kara

Kara--Your comment about what your neurologist said surprised me:

My neurologist assured me that the myelin sheath surrounding my optical nerve would heal...

because I thought I had read that the optic nerve was the one nerve in the body that had NO myelin around it and allowed the physician to look directly at the brain.

I am not a physician, not a scientist; I may be misinformed. I call on EyeDoc or someone else with expertise to correct the knowledge.

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Lyon -- thank you for your input.It was my understanding that the optic nerve is an extension of the brain; therefore, to see the optic nerve is to see into the brain. I do hope the experts here will clear up my understanding of this biology.

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Lynda,
My neuro explained to me the basics of MS, that it's a de-myelinating process. I certainly can't say I left his office that day with a complete understanding of the disease but within a couple of months, my vision returned to normal (or very near). The MRI report stated that an enhancing lesion was found at the expected location as per my symptoms, suggesting a de-myelinating process. I would imagine that my neuro tried to explain the situation to me in the most basic of terms and didn't go into the more technical aspects of MS and I would also imagine that there is a whole network of nerves that allow us to see things, then interpret what we see. Maybe it was my own assumption and not the doctor's words that led me to believe that the lesion was on the optic nerve specifically but it was clearly in an area of my brain that affects vision.
Kara