Just a Question

[SeekingAnswers]

Hello everyone!
I am a 27 year old female with no history of any medical conditions except the occasional migraine, but the last 2 or 3 months I have had some troubling things going on and after doing a web search (which was the worst idea I've ever had) I am worried I could have MS. I was hoping to maybe post how I've been feeling and get some feedback on what others who have been diagnosed noticed in the beginning of their MS journey. Here I go.

Terrible, awful night sweats - having to change clothes once or twice or just resorting to the birthday suit
Numbness in my feet
An odd almost tingling but not painful sensation in my arms and legs when moving (usually walking or standing)
Tiredness (needing to sleep 8 or 9 hours and then still feeling tired or falling asleep later in the day - too tired to make dinner, etc) but other days where I feel like I can take on the world and am active
Constantly vacillating between hot and cold when I'm awake. (At work I will go from being covered in a blanket with hands so cold they're bright white to taking off the blanket and my sweatshirt in a matter of 15 minutes)
A warm feeling like warm water rushing over me
A red and warm to the touch face all the time
Brain farts (last night I put the peanut butter in the broom closet and not the pantry and a few days before I put a bag of frozen chicken in the cupboard and not the freezer)
Lightheadedness
Constant itching so bad that I look like a tiger attacked me when I'm finally done scratching
Pain with intercourse and inability to orgasm

All of these come and go and never are with me for too long but have been present constantly over the last few months. I have no family history of MS. I'm afraid if I go to the doctor with my concerns they will be treated as unimportant because any blood tests (thyroid, CBC, and BMP) have been normal as has a recent head CT unrelated to the symptoms that was done about 6 months ago for a lump under my chin found by my dentist that turned out to be a part of my bone structure.

I'm just confused and looking for answers, not necessarily reassurance. If I do have MS or something else, I will take it in stride and continue to do the best to care for myself, I just want to know if there is any chance anyone else had these symptoms in the early days of their diagnosis.

Thanks all!

[Snoopy]

Hello SeekingAnswers,

Your symptoms of hot/cold, night sweats, painful intercourse/inability to orgasm, fatigue/tiredness and some others could be related to a hormone imbalance. If you have not had a recent workup with a Gynecologist it might be time to do so. Blood work to check you B-12 and D levels would also be a good idea.

It's a little too soon to jump to an assumption of MS being the cause to your symptoms. There are numerous conditions, vitamin/mineral deficiencies, some medications, and mental health disorders that can cause all of the same type of symptoms as seen in Multiple Sclerosis. As part of the diagnostic criteria for MS all of those other possibilities would need to be ruled out.

[lyndacarol]

Welcome to ThisIsMS, SeekingAnswers.

To Snoopy's very good suggestions of testing the vitamin D and vitamin B12 levels, I would add a magnesium test. A magnesium deficiency is very common (Dr. Carolyn Dean estimates 80% of people are deficient.) and could cause many of your symptoms.

Your symptoms of hot/cold, night sweats, painful intercourse/inability to orgasm, fatigue/tiredness and some others could be related to a hormone imbalance. If you have not had a recent workup with a Gynecologist it might be time to do so. Blood work to check you B-12 and D levels would also be a good idea.

It's a little too soon to jump to an assumption of MS being the cause to your symptoms. There are numerous conditions, vitamin/mineral deficiencies, some medications, and mental health disorders that can cause all of the same type of symptoms as seen in Multiple Sclerosis. As part of the diagnostic criteria for MS all of those other possibilities would need to be ruled out.

Why all migraine patients should be treated with magnesium. (2012)
A. Mauskop, J Varughese
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/22426836

Abstract
Magnesium, the second most abundant intracellular cation, is essential in many intracellular processes and appears to play an important role in migraine pathogenesis. Routine blood tests do not reflect true body magnesium stores since <2% is in the measurable, extracellular space, 67% is in the bone and 31% is located intracellularly. Lack of magnesium may promote cortical spreading depression, hyperaggregation of platelets, affect serotonin receptor function, and influence synthesis and release of a variety of neurotransmitters. Migraine sufferers may develop magnesium deficiency due to genetic inability to absorb magnesium, inherited renal magnesium wasting, excretion of excessive amounts of magnesium due to stress, low nutritional intake, and several other reasons. There is strong evidence that magnesium deficiency is much more prevalent in migraine sufferers than in healthy controls. Double-blind, placebo-controlled trials have produced mixed results, most likely because both magnesium deficient and non-deficient patients were included in these trials. This is akin to giving cyanocobalamine in a blinded fashion to a group of people with peripheral neuropathy without regard to their cyanocobalamine levels. Both oral and intravenous magnesium are widely available, extremely safe, very inexpensive and for patients who are magnesium deficient can be highly effective. Considering these features of magnesium, the fact that magnesium deficiency may be present in up to half of migraine patients, and that routine blood tests are not indicative of magnesium status, empiric treatment with at least oral magnesium is warranted in all migraine sufferers.



I would recommend the RBC (red blood cell) magnesium test rather than the serum magnesium test, in light of the following:

The underestimated problem of using serum magnesium measurements to exclude magnesium deficiency in adults; a health warning is needed for "normal" results. (2010)
Y Ismail, AA Ismail, AA Ismail
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/20170394

Conclusions: The perception that "normal" serum magnesium excludes deficiency is common among clinicians. This perception is probably enforced by the common laboratory practice of highlighting only abnormal results. A health warning is therefore warranted regarding potential misuse of "normal" serum magnesium because restoration of magnesium stores in deficient patients is simple, tolerable, inexpensive and can be clinically beneficial.