This Is MS Multiple Sclerosis Knowledge & Support Community

This last week has been a whirl wind! I started experiencing a tingly burning sensation along the left side of my spine about a year ago so my doc sent me to physio, but over the last few weeks I started developing migraines and they left me with pins and needles on the one side of my head and face. I went to my doctor and he said we should do some blood work to check for vitamin deficiencies' and check my thyroid. He said next step after that was to get an MRI done to rule out MS. Everyday my symptoms have gotten a little bit worse....the pins and needles has spread down the whole left side of my body and yesterday my hands went numb. I went to the emergency because it scared the crap out of me. The ER doc was able to tell me that my bloodwork was all good and that he would put the MRI request in as an emergency to check for MS. Nobody is offering any other options or suggestions. Has anyone had numb hands before? So symptoms fit with MS and some don't, but I know no two people are the same. Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

Krista

hey welcome and sorry to hear you are having a bad time. see if you can get your own copy of your vitamin and mineral bloodwork. mainstream interpretation of nutrient test results is notoriously inadequate. LOTS of useful info here, as long as you have your own info to compare

Is it true that people who have MS always have vision problems? I don't have a vision problem but my doctor says this is usually the first symptom. Also since the weather has dropped so drastically here (minus 21) I am having a lot of nerve pain, is this something that some people experience with MS? My doctor asked me if I was sensitive to temperatures but at the time I wasn't but now that's changed. Seeing a specialist in a week and a bit and have an MRI next month, just want some answers!

also in the process of ruling out celiac...asking for every test I can think of!

KristaM wrote:Is it true that people who have MS always have vision problems? I don't have a vision problem but my doctor says this is usually the first symptom. Also since the weather has dropped so drastically here (minus 21) I am having a lot of nerve pain, is this something that some people experience with MS? My doctor asked me if I was sensitive to temperatures but at the time I wasn't but now that's changed. Seeing a specialist in a week and a bit and have an MRI next month, just want some answers!

Vision problems are commonly a first symptom (not necessarily "usually" the first). Each person with MS has a unique set of symptoms which may be totally different from another person with MS; or we may share a few in common.

Personally, I have never had vision problems with my MS. I do become "a noodle" in the heat, but the cold affects me too. I have to maintain a fairly narrow temperature range.

I am glad you are testing for celiac disease, which is the extreme end of gluten sensitivity. But maybe you are not yet at that extreme – have your doctor consider gluten sensitivity:

on 12/2/2013 Dr. Amy Myers, M.D., appeared on The Dr. Oz Show and explained newly recognized warnings of gluten sensitivity (headaches, migraines, brain fog from inflammation, nutritional deficiencies - of zinc, iron, B vitamins, omega-3's, vitamin D -and skin rashes can be symptoms of gluten sensitivity). Please note her comment on the length of time it takes doctors to learn new ideas… http://www.doctoroz.com/episode/gluten- ... t-epidemic

I have seen a internal doc that specializes in Neuro and he didn't give me much advice but to have the MRI done, which is booked for Jan 21st. He wants to check for lesions obviously and if it comes back clear I will have a spinal done, has anyone had a spinal done before. I recognize this is another way of testing for MS but wondered if anyone has been diagnosed this way? Thanks for the help!

sounds like the doc is doing the status quo medical thing. there's lots of published nutrition science out there. the docs just aren't typically exposed to it and tend to have negligible nutrition training - it's pretty much every patient for him or herself in that regard.

KristaM wrote:I have seen a internal doc that specializes in Neuro and he didn't give me much advice but to have the MRI done, which is booked for Jan 21st. He wants to check for lesions obviously and if it comes back clear I will have a spinal done, has anyone had a spinal done before. I recognize this is another way of testing for MS but wondered if anyone has been diagnosed this way? Thanks for the help!

A spinal tap positive for oligoclonal bands is consistent with an MS diagnosis, but not exclusive to MS. There are other conditions which also show oligoclonal bands. A diagnosis of MS is a diagnosis of exclusion. The spinal tap helps to rule out other possibilities, but it's not a perfect diagnostic tool.

Got my MRI results back the other day and they were clear. Whew! But they only did an MRI of my brain, thinking I should have had my spine done too? So next step is the specialist and a possible Lumbar Puncture, wondering what else they might try...