Dizziness, how does it feel in MS? Undiagnosed...

[Earth]

Hello everybody,

I was wondering how does dizziness commonly present itself in MS? Could it last only a few seconds, and feel like a feeling of being on the verge to... maybe faint... or feeling a bit lightheaded but without having the world spinning around you? I had that feeling about five days ago, and again today, and both times it lasted for about 10 seconds... I have to say that both times it is followed by a feeling a panic, which may increase/inflate the sensation...



For those who followed my previous posts, I have had a history of sensory symptoms for a couple of months, which all resolved (pretty much) now. I also had a month ago one brain MRI, one full spine MRI, and two evoked potentials, which all came back clear. So I am a bit confused at the moment... My near said no to MS, but I can't stop thinking that it may be the early stages for me still, and therefore nothing appeared on my MRIs for this reason... I am a male in his mid-twentities.



Wishing everyone a good day, and thank you in advance for those who gently take the time to answer me.

[Zyklon]

Hello Earth,

When I am dizzy I feel like I don't have any muscle and something pulls me down from my shoulders.

Low blood sugar and low blood pressure are common reasons for dizziness. When you feel dizzy, try to check that levels.

Cheers

[Earth]

Hey Ziklon, thanks for your message. When this happen to you, how long does it generally last? Seconds, minutes, hours, days? Thanks

[ElliotB]

it would likely be a different experience depending on who you ask.

The good news is that it will get better in time and there are things you can do to possibly improve a bit faster and cope better.

[Zyklon]

Hey Ziklon, thanks for your message. When this happen to you, how long does it generally last? Seconds, minutes, hours, days? Thanks

Seconds, minutes. Low blood sugar makes dizziness for me and my blood sugar fluctuates alot. If I miss a meal, dizziness comes.

[centenarian100]

My near said no to MS, but I can't stop thinking that it may be the early stages for me still, and therefore nothing appeared on my MRIs for this reason... I am a male in his mid-twentities.

If you don't have lesions in your cerebellum or brain stem which explain your dizziness, then the symptom is almost certainly due to something else. In MS, the MRI generally shows clear lesions at the time of initial symptoms (and often many years before this).

[Earth]

Hey centenarian100, thanks for your answer.

[jimmylegs]

what might you be comfortable sharing about diet and lifestyle? could be some pointers in there.

[Earth]

Hey jimmylegs, thank for your answer.

Well, honestly there isn't much to say, apart from the fact that I never eat fast food, I eat a lot of pasta, bred, cheese, vegs, some fruits, salmon (hot), meat, take Vitamin D supplements since 19 weeks now (I was at 13 when I did my first blood test in February), I exercise everyday (i.e. bicycle and regular gym), and study as well. I am quite a regular person in that sense I guess

I don't have much symptoms anymore, and this sensation of dizziness only appeared twice and was really short, so it may have been due to the weather, who knows... I am keeping an eye on it. My legs can walk fine, but feel nonetheless a difference in them some days, especially in the right since my first "sensory attack", its there and alive, but there is at leat (perceptively) some difference on most days, even though it tend comes and go (hard to explain).

Anyway, that's my lifestyle in a nutshell for you

Wishing you a good day.

[jimmylegs]

no problem. follow up questions, if you are comfortable sharing:
how many servings per day of bread and/or pasta?
what specific kinds of grain-based products do you eat most often?
how much cheese per day?
which are your top 5 most frequently consumed veg?
same for fruit?
how many servings salmon per week?
any other seafood?
how many servings of meat per week?
what kinds and what source?
what is your d3 regimen?
do you follow any kind of supplement regimen other than d3?
how much time do you spend biking and working out daily?

[Earth]

how many servings per day of bread and/or pasta? I eat approximatively one bred (i.e. equivalent in terms of volume to a french baguette).
what specific kinds of grain-based products do you eat most often? I don't really know, just bred I guess.
how much cheese per day? I put about one full and a half hand of cheddar on my pasta, a fifth of roquefort on them, and sometime I eat other type of cheese as well on the side.
which are your top 5 most frequently consumed veg? Celeries, onions, mushroom (if that's even a veg), garlic, and sometime peppers.
same for fruit? Bananas, mandarine, grasps. I don't eat all of them on a daily basis, it shifts. Bananas is definitively the one I eat the most.
how many servings salmon per week? At least two rectangular slices of 5cmx4cmx15cm.
any other seafood? I use to eat prawns quite a lot, but not much anymore (i.e. I use to eat them until about one month ago).
how many servings of meat per week? 4 maybe? Sporadically during the day sometime, but most often in my pasta (i.e. bacon or minced meat/beef).
what kinds and what source? UK origins.
what is your d3 regimen?
do you follow any kind of supplement regimen other than d3? So its d3, 25,000 per week.
how much time do you spend biking and working out daily? 150 push up or abs, some relatively light weight, and about 25 minutes+ of bicycle.

If that's not a sane diet, hopefully there aren't too many people working for insurances around here

So what is that milkshake of information telling you about me, if anything ?

Thanks

[jimmylegs]

ok so plain white bread? any multigrain? any with nuts and/or seeds? any gluten management approaches, such as sourdough or sprouted flour breads?

re veg celery is great for fibre among other things http://www.whfoods.com/genpage.php?tnam ... ce&dbid=14

mushrooms can be put in the sunshine to increase vitamin d3 (and d4). still, your veg sources appear somewhat thin in the nutrient density dept.

public health messaging is always hammering on dark leafy greens with good reason. look for ways to insert at least three 1.5 cup servings per week of cooked dark leafy green veg. mix them up - none have identical nutrient profiles. dandelion. chard. spinach. kale. spring greens (although we don't tend to see spring greens in north american nutrient dbs, i know they are at least cruciferous with all the excellence that implies https://www.eatthismuch.com/food/view/s ... ns,153295/ too bad there aren't any resources which include detailed micronutrient info). for spinach chard kale and similar, there are instructions online for how to prepare each to maximize micronutrient retention. eg 3 min boil for chard. http://www.whfoods.com/genpage.php?tnam ... e&dbid=100

try to choose fruits (and foods in general) to balance pro and anti inflammatory qualities.
if using IF rating system, http://inflammationfactor.com/look-up-if-ratings/ aim for a +100 score each day.
a serving of banana scores -38 while a serving of strawberries is +14. so you'd need three servings of strawberries just to make up for one serving of bananas in a day and then you'd still have the rest of the way to go to get to at least 100.

couple servings of salmon is good (strongly anti-inflammatory). preferably from cleanest possible ecosystem. certain shellfish are extremely nutrient dense. oysters for example are rich in zinc while clams are great for iron. whfoods recommends one weekly serving of this chowder: http://www.whfoods.com/genpage.php?tname=recipe&dbid=32 i have not personally been doing enough with seafood lately! need to get my act together.

ok re bacon and minced beef, store or local farm? i go straight to my local farmer for tamworth pork and galloway beef. this past week's visit was a chicken visit however! gotta mix it up. including veg protein sources like brown rice, lentils and beans.

what form is the 25K d3 in? tablets? drops? other? my doc would tell you to spread it out and take a daily amount not weekly. i consider taking straight d3 with no other co-factor supplementation a major no-no.

if d3 is the start and end of your supplement regimen, consider a multivit/min. look for one targeted to active lifestyle. among uk vendors if memory serves http://www.revital.co.uk/ carries higher quality brands. saw one across street from victoria stn in london a few yrs back and looked into their stuff.

if you do all you can to pursue optimal daily essential nutrient consumption, you will be much less likely find yourself in the typically subpar nutritional condition characteristic of ms patients.

i know serum nutrient testing in the uk is generally prohibitively expensive, so diet analysis/revision can be a more practical and actionable way forward if you keep a detailed diet diary for a few days and take it to a dietitian, they can provide some more specific advice.

[Zyklon]

Hey jimmylegs, thank for your answer.

Well, honestly there isn't much to say, apart from the fact that I never eat fast food, I eat a lot of pasta, bred, cheese, vegs, some fruits, salmon (hot), meat, take Vitamin D supplements since 19 weeks now (I was at 13 when I did my first blood test in February), I exercise everyday (i.e. bicycle and regular gym), and study as well. I am quite a regular person in that sense I guess

I don't have much symptoms anymore, and this sensation of dizziness only appeared twice and was really short, so it may have been due to the weather, who knows... I am keeping an eye on it. My legs can walk fine, but feel nonetheless a difference in them some days, especially in the right since my first "sensory attack", its there and alive, but there is at leat (perceptively) some difference on most days, even though it tend comes and go (hard to explain).

Anyway, that's my lifestyle in a nutshell for you

Wishing you a good day.

I smell massive magnesium deficiency. High physical activity, D3 intake without magnesium supplement. Please get tested for serum magnesium.

[jimmylegs]

weird i fully replied to this earlier today. to restate.
obviously am right there with ya on the mag idea zyklon. however, your own access to testing is unusual. testing is pricey in the uk. kinda working around it a bit for user Earth's benefit.
how's your own progress on the serum mag front, z? any new results?

[Zyklon]

Update on the relationship between magnesium and exercise.
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/17172008

Tests and weekly update tomorrow.