Worried about symptoms--could it be MS?

[mjmnole]

Hi everyone. I just stumbled upon your site and I have to say that there seems to be a lot of very knowledgable and helpful people here. I've been trying to find some answers regarding some of the symptoms I've been having. I'm a 49 year old male, have always been in good health, no major issues (no high blood pressure, no chronic illnesses, low cholesterol, eat a healthy diet, am at a good weight for my height, etc).

It all started in February. I was walking my dog one morning and I noticed a tingling sensation in my big toe on my left foot. It was sporadic and would just sort of do a quick tingle occasionally when my foot came down as I was walking. During a mile walk, I probably noticed it twice. My initial reaction was that it was related to the heart issues I had had back in January. With that, my heart would start to race when I laid down to go to sleep. It would just accelerate for no reason and I even felt like my breathing was out of whack. Anyway, after a thyroid test, EKG, echocardiogram and other tests, they found nothing to explain it. Eventually it just went away. But when I felt the tingling in my toe, I wondered if it was related somehow. The toe tingling lasted for a couple weeks but it was off and on, some days I didn't noticed it at all and when I did notice it, it was very short so it was easy to just forget about it. But then I woke up one night and my arm was asleep. I shook it out and it went away in a matter of seconds. So I didn't think much about that either and I am a very restless sleeper in general. Well, several days later I started to noticed some slight, transient tingling in my hands and feet, both sides--not all at the same time, though; sometimes I'd noticed it in one foot or hand, sometimes the others. It was all very subtle and didn't last very long so I only worried about it when I noticed it. There would be days that went by where I didn't notice it at all. So I figured it was just temporary and would go away.

To make a long story less long, It's been a couple months and I have occasional, subtle tingling at times in my feet and hands. Sometimes I feel a tingly sort of "buzz" maybe somewhere in one of my legs, close to the knee. Usually the tingling only lasts a few minutes at the most. I have also started to notice some joint pain (more like discomfort) in my hands (what I would imagine a minor case of arthritis feels like) but it's pretty subtle and not anything that prevents me from doing what I need to do. And there is some soreness at the base of my left thumb, in my left shoulder and I also have a sore neck (I do have some arthritis in my neck so it may be unrelated, but it does seem like I notice the tingling/pain when my neck is hurting the most).

That's pretty much it for my symptoms. They are sometimes gone pretty much completely for a couple days then I may notice something like a prickling in my hand or something but it will go away in a few minutes. I sometimes notice it at night. One of my arms will still go to sleep at times at night but maybe once a week or every two weeks, so not very often. And once I wake up and shake it out it feels better.

Oh, one other odd symptom. About a month ago, I was watching a movie at home and my left cheek started to twitch. I have had eyelid twitching off and on for years and everything I've read about it leads me to believe it's stress related. But this was the first time my cheek twitched. It lasted for hours and I could watch it twitch in the mirror.

I keep seeing diabetes as a cause for tingling but I recently had my annual checkup and bloodwork and nothing unusual showed up. And I don't have any of the other diabetes symptoms. I know I'm a bit older to be diagnosed with MS but I also know it can happen. I've heard thyroid issues can cause tingling as well, but they did a thyroid test when I was having my mysterious heart issues and said it was normal. I recently read about Sjorgen's Syndrome and I have had dry eyes for a couple of years now. My mouth also tends to be dry a lot so I drink a ton of water.

I have an appt with my doctor on Tuesday to discuss all this. Not sure what to expect and am pretty nervous. But I'm trying to get as informed as possible. After the "no diagnosis" regarding my heart issue I want to have an idea what I'm up against.

Sorry this post is so long. Was wondering if any of you had any insight?

Thanks,
Mike

[Snoopy]

Hello mjmnole

I woke up one night and my arm was asleep. I shook it out and it went away in a matter of seconds

One of my arms will still go to sleep at times at night but maybe once a week or every two weeks, so not very often. And once I wake up and shake it out it feels better.

If this was due to MS you would not be able to shake it out nor would shaking it out make it feel better. MS doesn't work like that.

I have also started to notice some joint pain

Multiple Sclerosis isn't a disease of joints

there is some soreness at the base of my left thumb

That sounds like arthritis.

Stress and anxiety can cause the symptoms you are having.

When you see your Dr. I would suggest having you vitamin/mineral levels checked. Deficiencies in these areas can cause symptoms such as tingling. If you are taking any medications you should research side effects as many medications could cause what you are experiencing.

Multiple Sclerosis has a diagnostic criteria, part of the criteria requires all other possible causes for a person's symptoms must be ruled out. The other possibilities are numerous and all have similar symptoms and overlap one another.

[mjmnole]

Thanks. I wondered that about being able to "shake out" the feeling of my arm being asleep. When I notice it I will usually raise my arm straight up (while lying down) and it usually goes away pretty quickly. That's when my arms fall asleep at night.

But when I feel some tingling in my foot or hand it's much more subtle. More of a dull feeling. And in that case I can't shake it out but it doesn't have that "my foot fell asleep feeling". It's more of a tingling or "prickly" feeling. I did a lot of reading about neuropathy and that's where I started reading about MS. But I don't really have the symptoms for most of the other things that can cause neuropathy so none of it really stood out. Thyroid issues come up a lot and because of my heart thing I wondered if maybe I needed to have my doc run additional tests to rule that out. The other thing that came up was infection, like mono or Lyme Disease, but I don't have any signs of infection or any symptoms that would point to those either. I guess that's part of the problem with trying to be a Web Doctor--you have everything and nothing all at once:)

And regarding the arthritis, I wondered that too. It's just weird that I have tingling in all extremities and then joint soreness/stiffness in some areas. It seems like I have several different things going on at once. From what I've read arthritis doesn't usually cause tingling. And if it does, it's more localized. Then there was the cheek twitching, which I'm not sure what that is. Maybe, like you suggest, that has something to do with vitamin/mineral levels being off. Which could also have something to do with the heart issues I was having.

One final thought: does it seem like when you go to the doctor they have a really short list of things your symptoms could be related to and if it turns it's not one of those things they sort of give up? It was like that with my heart issue. The tests I had ruled out several things and then they were like, "Ok, have a nice day." Luckily, those symptoms just stopped on their own. But it was odd while it lasted.

[ebrownkirkland]

Guessing you've had your visit with the doctor by now... What'd he/she say?