Having suggestive symptoms and very scared :(
Posted: Sat Jan 07, 2017 1:19 pm
Hi everyone,
I am a 20-year-old female and I've been having symptoms over the past few months that have left me terrified that I have MS. I've had joint pain that initially started in the right shoulder but has moved all over my body. My legs go to sleep very easily and I've had pins and needles, numbness, and hot/cold sensations in my hands and feet. One time, I got out of the shower and my entire right leg felt like someone had thrown ice water on it. I also had two bouts of vertigo when getting out of the shower.
I have icepick headaches and headaches that start in one temple and move to the next. Sometimes, I have mild migraines, pressure around the eyes and temples, and random pains in my head and face throughout the day. I've had prickly feelings in the back of my neck and pain in the neck and collarbones as well. These headaches are not severe and do not wake me up out of my sleep or anything like that.
The thing that is scaring me most is the widespread fasciculations that started in my calves and slowly moved everywhere. They went to my legs, buttocks, thighs, and arms and now I have them in my palms, fingers, arms, ribs, upper back, neck, eyelids, lips, cheeks, chin, and forehead. Following those symptoms, I had pressure and paresthesias in my face. A hot spot for the paresthesia is the area from my right cheek to my chin. It is a very weird feeling, it's almost like I have ants moving around under my skin and I feel like I can "wipe" the sensation away (if that makes sense) but it just comes back. Googling 'chin paresthesia' has left me terrified that I have a serious disease.
I went to my doctor and he diagnosed me with a pinched nerve in my neck by just feeling some pressure points in the area between my clavicle and my neck that hurt very badly when he did so. He did a CBC that came out normal but did not test for anything else. He gave me gabapentin and some ibuprofen and sent me on my way and told me to come back if my symptoms get worse and then he'll look into getting MRI's and things of that sort done. I feel like I have been misdiagnosed because I've read on the internet that pinched nerves in the neck do not cause some of the symptoms I am having.
I have not had any gait issues, vision loss (although I do get pressure and pain in my eyes sometimes), or tremors. I have had increased instances where I will forget what I am about to do but that's the only memory issue I've had. I am a full time student and my cognitive abilities seem fine.
I already have bad anxiety and it has only worsened with all of these symptoms. I am scheduling my followup appointment for next week and I am very anxious to see what is going on. I know that those of you who are dealing with MS are probably tired of people like me who run to this board and may be overreacting and jumping to conclusions (I will admit that I am a hypochondriac -_-), but I am just looking for some insight or reassurance from people who have had symptoms similar to mine.
I am a 20-year-old female and I've been having symptoms over the past few months that have left me terrified that I have MS. I've had joint pain that initially started in the right shoulder but has moved all over my body. My legs go to sleep very easily and I've had pins and needles, numbness, and hot/cold sensations in my hands and feet. One time, I got out of the shower and my entire right leg felt like someone had thrown ice water on it. I also had two bouts of vertigo when getting out of the shower.
I have icepick headaches and headaches that start in one temple and move to the next. Sometimes, I have mild migraines, pressure around the eyes and temples, and random pains in my head and face throughout the day. I've had prickly feelings in the back of my neck and pain in the neck and collarbones as well. These headaches are not severe and do not wake me up out of my sleep or anything like that.
The thing that is scaring me most is the widespread fasciculations that started in my calves and slowly moved everywhere. They went to my legs, buttocks, thighs, and arms and now I have them in my palms, fingers, arms, ribs, upper back, neck, eyelids, lips, cheeks, chin, and forehead. Following those symptoms, I had pressure and paresthesias in my face. A hot spot for the paresthesia is the area from my right cheek to my chin. It is a very weird feeling, it's almost like I have ants moving around under my skin and I feel like I can "wipe" the sensation away (if that makes sense) but it just comes back. Googling 'chin paresthesia' has left me terrified that I have a serious disease.
I went to my doctor and he diagnosed me with a pinched nerve in my neck by just feeling some pressure points in the area between my clavicle and my neck that hurt very badly when he did so. He did a CBC that came out normal but did not test for anything else. He gave me gabapentin and some ibuprofen and sent me on my way and told me to come back if my symptoms get worse and then he'll look into getting MRI's and things of that sort done. I feel like I have been misdiagnosed because I've read on the internet that pinched nerves in the neck do not cause some of the symptoms I am having.
I have not had any gait issues, vision loss (although I do get pressure and pain in my eyes sometimes), or tremors. I have had increased instances where I will forget what I am about to do but that's the only memory issue I've had. I am a full time student and my cognitive abilities seem fine.
I already have bad anxiety and it has only worsened with all of these symptoms. I am scheduling my followup appointment for next week and I am very anxious to see what is going on. I know that those of you who are dealing with MS are probably tired of people like me who run to this board and may be overreacting and jumping to conclusions (I will admit that I am a hypochondriac -_-), but I am just looking for some insight or reassurance from people who have had symptoms similar to mine.