Feeling confused.

[Mellyjoe]

Hey guys, new here. And needing some advice from fellow people whom have dealt with similar issues.
I'm a 26 year old female dealing with daily Dr side facial numbness and intermittent left arm numbness/weakness and charley horse pains.
I awoke one night with a dark spot in my vision clearly in my right eye only. But was gone by morning very unusual for optic nueritis.
Anyways the following week I experienced extreme dizziness/facial numbness and had ct, clear. This persisted for about 6 weeks. I became very emotional and upset was super moody and during an extremmely dizzy day i had cognitive issues.
They have lasted, my short term memory feels foggy. And lately been having issues with words.
referred to nuero but had a clean MRI no contrast.
After explaining to my nuero he stated he would suspect ms but my mri had him thrown off and tested me for MANY things that mimic it in my blood work and in a spinal tap.
All negative.
Had a few weeks of no symptoms or at least less severe. Noticed a tightening in my neck and issue swallowing which leads me into an anxiety attack.
Lately, I had a few days the dizziness returned and facial/arm issues.
I see him again in Dec. My family practice Dr seems convinced it could be the start of ms just no lesions yet. Anyone had a similar experience. My gut tells me they are correct, but I have felt such anxiety over being undiagnosed.
The heavy head foggy feeling recently returned and I'm scared for a more serious attack with no answers.

[mia72797]

Hi Mellyjoe,
I gotta admit that the symptoms you are describing are on point with the experiences that I had when I was first diagnosed. At first I thought they were just migraines. I have suffered from them all of my life but then all of a sudden they would be getting worse. I started to experience numbness in my left arm. The pins and needles sensation would last at least 5 mins and I would lose all of my strength in that arm for a while. Then it started to get worse and my face would also partially get numb on my left side as well. That's when the neurologist decided to send me for a routine MRI with contrast and without. I asked for a copy and started to google pics of the MS brain. I started to see where the lesions are. The dr asked me to come in to her office and just said that she was very surprised that I had MS and that I was so young to have it. She went on to say there is no cure and no one knows where it comes from, and that the only thing that can be done is keep it at bay so that it doesn't get worse, then she asked me if I had any questions and sent me on my way. I was devastated. I took my MRI and went to see a specialist. I went to my first MS open house about a week after I was diagnosed. I was so shocked to see all of these patients coming in some with walkers others on wheelchairs and all I could do was look around the room and cry. I was the only teary eyed individual in the place. I went though all of the emotions and felt like no one was there to support me. I am still in shock and I think in your case I would take my results and go see a specialist. There are different MS clinics that are available and I found them to be so much more helpful.

Don't waste time with your family doctor- I would go see a specialist.

[HUD45]

Hi Melly....

Diagnoses is both a relief and a curse... However, you do indeed need to know what you are dealing with in order to start fighting back.

In my case it was symptoms over a period of years, which is so frustrating...... So, find a reputable neurologist and have faith in yourself. Eat very well, exercise, meditate.......anything to help you sleep well.

Hang in there, you are not alone....HUD

[Mellyjoe]

Thank you both for responding to my post. I see my nuero again in two weeks, I'm curious to see what he says as well. My GP luckily is very good and a fighter for me to fight this out she mentioned sending me to Seattle or a bigger city with a specialist instead of just nuero. We live in rural America so we have no one close. I feel like in June it was my first episode and some stuff has lingered since and other stuff has arisen. The swallowing issues and throat tightness is the newest Issue. I do get minor pins and needles before my left arm feels completely weak. I can use it, but it feels as though I'm trying way harder then usual and have less strength. The rt side facial numbness comes and goes... everyone says symptoms for them persist pretty steady so did anyone else have that come and go sensation at first?

[jimmylegs]

i had things which came and went. they were nutritional red flags and i didn't pay enough attention. i didn't understand how serious it was to have issues that would readily clear up after a b12 pill. i didn't understand that this one hint was the tip of an enormous iceberg :S eventually, issues were irreversible. i let it go on too long! my swallowing issues came later, and those were largely reversible also (whew!) not perfect though. but no longer feeling life-threatening at least!

[lyndacarol]

Hi, Mellyjoe.

On Nov 20, 2016, I responded to your post in the General Discussion forum: http://www.thisisms.com/forum/general-d ... ml#p244658

My suggestion is the same today: If you have not had the vitamin D blood test, call your GP and request one.

As jimmylegs has emphasized, nutrient levels are important.

[ArthurVR]

I agree you really need to pass that test

[Mellyjoe]

I have had vit d and b both checked multiple times always came out with good standings. My vit d is actually usually very good.

[jimmylegs]

good news! although normal ranges can be / often are misleading.
how is your serum magnesium, serum zinc, serum uric acid and so on?

quick story: having learned ms patients had low serum uric acid i asked my doc for a test and i was reassured by my early se UA results, with numbers in the 190s while the bottom end of the normal range was 140.
l learned later that my UA results exactly matched typical ms patients while healthy controls had levels closer to 300. (and i edited the wikipedia page for uric acid accordingly lol)
i tried to work on my uric acid level with diet forever, knowing it was linked to gout and which foods were culprits. no luck.
finally made the connection to zinc, had that tested, was deficient (8.6 umol/l). corrected that, and then at last my serum UA bounced out of the ms patient range and into the healthy ballpark. one brief chapter in a long and detailed ms nutrition learning curve!