This Is MS Multiple Sclerosis Knowledge & Support Community

Hi. I would like to give you a history of what I have experienced over the past year and 2 months. (previously healthy, no medical conditions what so ever)
April 22 2012. I went to emerg because I was experiencing dizziness and my upper arms and upper legs were tingling. Multiple tests were done including blood work, ct scan, ekg for my heart, all of which came back normal. I was sent home with a diagnoses of anxiety.

OK I could live with that. A couple weeks later, I went to emerg again because the right side of my body (from my face, to my arm, to my leg) went tingly and slightly numb. I thought I was having a stroke. This doctor referred me for an mri, to rule out ms. My family dr said in her opinion the mri was normal (there was one unremarkable spot) nothing of which would cause any of my symtoms. Again, they said stress was the probably cause.

Over the next few weeks I experienced extreme weakness in my arms, mostly my right. I also had a lot of pain and a feeling of pressure in the back of my head and neck. I had a lot of headaches. May 2012, I continued these feelings of slight numbness in my face, felt lightheaded and dizzy all the time. June I started having difficulty swallowing and shortness of breath. I even had joint pain at which I was again sent for bloodwork to test for lyme disease and other deficiencies all of which came back normal. June 14 2012, I had chest pain, difficulty swallowing, my tongue felt weird and weak. When I would try and sleep I would wake up and it felt like I forgot how to swallow and had to force myself. In July I saw a chiropractor, I got xrays which showed cervical kyphosis (reverse of natural c curvature in neck)So we thought this could be the source of all my problems.

Eventually my tingling went away, but I would still have weakness, arms, legs, mostly my right side of my body. My tongue, throat. Its been over a year since regular chiro adjustments and I still have weakness. Feb of this year I was having shortness of breath, and the right side of my body felt weak and droopy. I even thought my eye and mouth looked droopy. This continued over the next couple months. I have been very anxious about what could be wrong with me. Currently I am experiencing weakness in my tongue and I find it hard to swallow. I feel like I am slurring my words even though no one has said anything to me. My hands and legs still feel weak (but I can still run, like I just ran 4 km yesterday) My hands feel weak, and sometimes hard to open. So tell me does this sound at all like ALS, MS, Fibro or Anxiety.

Currently I am experiencing lightheaded spells and sinus pressure, I think I have a compressed nerve because my pinky and ring fingers in both hands tingle and feel slightly numb sometimes. This has had an affect on my coordination, I feel clumsy and drop things. If anyone could help me with sifting through my symptoms I would appreciate any feedback. Thank you!

welcome to the forum

please consider reading this post on how to make sure you do not share any of the nutritional characteristics of an ms patient:
http://www.thisisms.com/forum/regimens- ... c2489.html

if you have any questions I will be happy to provide answers.

concernedcass wrote:Hi. I would like to give you a history of what I have experienced over the past year and 2 months. (previously healthy, no medical conditions what so ever)
April 22 2012. I went to emerg because I was experiencing dizziness and my upper arms and upper legs were tingling. Multiple tests were done including blood work, ct scan, ekg for my heart, all of which came back normal. I was sent home with a diagnoses of anxiety.

OK I could live with that. A couple weeks later, I went to emerg again because the right side of my body (from my face, to my arm, to my leg) went tingly and slightly numb. I thought I was having a stroke. This doctor referred me for an mri, to rule out ms. My family dr said in her opinion the mri was normal (there was one unremarkable spot) nothing of which would cause any of my symtoms. Again, they said stress was the probably cause.

Over the next few weeks I experienced extreme weakness in my arms, mostly my right. I also had a lot of pain and a feeling of pressure in the back of my head and neck. I had a lot of headaches. May 2012, I continued these feelings of slight numbness in my face, felt lightheaded and dizzy all the time. June I started having difficulty swallowing and shortness of breath. I even had joint pain at which I was again sent for bloodwork to test for lyme disease and other deficiencies all of which came back normal. June 14 2012, I had chest pain, difficulty swallowing, my tongue felt weird and weak. When I would try and sleep I would wake up and it felt like I forgot how to swallow and had to force myself. In July I saw a chiropractor, I got xrays which showed cervical kyphosis (reverse of natural c curvature in neck)So we thought this could be the source of all my problems.

Eventually my tingling went away, but I would still have weakness, arms, legs, mostly my right side of my body. My tongue, throat. Its been over a year since regular chiro adjustments and I still have weakness. Feb of this year I was having shortness of breath, and the right side of my body felt weak and droopy. I even thought my eye and mouth looked droopy. This continued over the next couple months. I have been very anxious about what could be wrong with me. Currently I am experiencing weakness in my tongue and I find it hard to swallow. I feel like I am slurring my words even though no one has said anything to me. My hands and legs still feel weak (but I can still run, like I just ran 4 km yesterday) My hands feel weak, and sometimes hard to open. So tell me does this sound at all like ALS, MS, Fibro or Anxiety.

Currently I am experiencing lightheaded spells and sinus pressure, I think I have a compressed nerve because my pinky and ring fingers in both hands tingle and feel slightly numb sometimes. This has had an affect on my coordination, I feel clumsy and drop things. If anyone could help me with sifting through my symptoms I would appreciate any feedback. Thank you!

Welcome to ThisIs MS, concernedcass. I offer you this feedback:

First, you may not have MS at all, but there is a possibility; it is a diagnosis of exclusion - made by ruling out other possibilities. Very often, it is not easy or quick to diagnose. Before expensive tests even existed to diagnose MS, doctors used to diagnose MS on the basis of symptoms and if they temporarily worsened when the patient sat in a hot bath for a while. I had "normal" test results initially (lesions were seen on my FOURTH MRI and the diagnosis was made then). IF you do have MS, you have found many supportive friends at this site. We come from diverse experiences and hold diverse ideas. We do not agree necessarily in our thoughts on MS - my personal suspicion is that excess insulin (and resulting insulin resistance) is responsible for many MS (or "neurological") symptoms.

Find a good GP or internist (maybe your family doctor?), one who is compassionate and enjoys being a "disease detective." I tend to believe that if you see a surgeon about a problem, he will find a solution in surgery; if you see a neuro, he will only see the problem/solution in neurology. I read an article that summed this up well: "doctors are experts in, and only test for, those parts of the body in which they specialize."

A GP can order the tests necessary to rule out some non-MS possibilities. If you and your physician have already started your investigation, I hope she has started with your symptoms list and with a thorough physical baseline examination including blood tests for (#1) cortisol level, which can be elevated with stress and cause blood sugar to rise; (#2)glucose AND (#3) insulin levels (these are two DIFFERENT tests - I think the "fasting blood insulin test" is the most important; it's one of the least expensive tests); the optimal result for the insulin test is 3 UU/ML or lower.; (#4) thyroid hormone levels (TSH, Free T4, Free T3, Total T3, Reserve T3, and antithyroid antibodies). The (#5) CRP (C-reactive protein) test (testing for inflammation) and (#6) liver tests are also a good idea. Ask for a copy of all your test results for your own file. I suspect insulin involvement in the symptoms of tingling; and insulin resistance in skeletal muscles in other symptoms (excess insulin is known to thicken and stiffen smooth muscles; skeletal muscles, too). Dropping things may be due to a loss of strength in the muscles of your hands.

If you like to read and if you do have MS, start your reading with two books: Multiple Sclerosis: The History of a Disease by T. Jock Murray, OC, MD, and The Multiple Sclerosis Diet Book by Roy Swank, MD, PhD and Barbara Dugan is a good second book to read or even have. You may be able to get these through your local library.

Since I believe insulin is a major player in my symptoms, I encourage you to eat a healthy diet (a good idea whether or not you have MS) - a diet that will not trigger insulin production. Many people find that diet can influence the symptoms of MS. In my opinion, this means a low-carb diet -- remove all sugar (including beer, wine, etc. which have sugar), remove all artificial sweeteners, including sugar alcohols like sorbitol, xylitol, erythritol, mannitol, maltitol, lactitol, etc. (These promote insulin production, too.), remove all trans fats (These also increase insulin.), and white flour, white bread, white potatoes, white rice (in fact, all carbs so far as possible – whole wheat raises blood sugar more than a candy bar in some people) from your diet.

My suspicion is that Fatty Liver Disease is also involved in MS, since visceral fat (belly fat) secretes cytokines (like poison to the internal organs), which lead to increased insulin, which leads to inflammation which leads to more visceral fat… And the cycle goes round and round. Diet is important in many conditions; in fact, you may find the account of Dr. Terry Wahls and her dramatic improvement in MS interesting (http://www.TerryWahls.com)

All the best to you. .

Thank you so much for your feedback. I thought I had gotten extensive blood work done but not sure what exactly was all checked, I will request a copy of my results and see if you can find anything. This would be very helpful. Also very interesting about the insulin. I will look into this as well.

My b12 level is 215. Is this normal?