This Is MS Multiple Sclerosis Knowledge & Support Community

Hey, everyone....

I'm worried my partner has a mild form of M/s.

My partner is in back pain 24/7. From is lower back all the way up to his neck. He is very fit and not overweight. We eat healthy (vegan) and very healthy contentious people.

We have to see a chiro 2-3 times a week. He experiences such bad pain that he vomits.

He often has one-sided eye twitching and muscle spasms, 24/7 hands shaking, restless legs, headaches dead center in his forehead,blurry vision, chronic fatigue and periods of time he says that he doesn't recall parts of his driving or how he got someplace. Weed is the only thing that has helped his pain.

His dad died of lung cancer however in his dad they found brain lesions before he died. So, there is some family history of possibility.

Most of our weeks is him going to work at 7am, getting off at 5pm, and us going to bed by 9pm, and weekends sleeping until 2-3pm to catch up on sleep. I have to make sure he has weed and ciro appts, if not, he gets very bad off.

I have an autoimmune issue myself, and something seems very off.. And he refuses to go to the doctors.

Should I be concerned? He doesn't have health insurance and so he's avoiding being checked out

And to be clear we are 100% sure it's not a vim deficiency. He takes a one-a-day male vim for men (for vegans) as well as a B12 iron pill, he also takes Vim D3 and flaxseed oil. We also make sure he gets enough sodium, calcium, magnum and vim A. He's also been having these issues on/off since the age of 14, and seem to get progressively worse.

100% sure is good news as far as normal ranges are concerned. if you are interested in sharing the bloodwork results to ensure levels are optimal within the more broad and generally problematic 'normal' range, feel free. we can help assess.

regards,
ex-vegan

WorriedGF wrote:I'm worried my partner has a mild form of M/s.

My partner is in back pain 24/7. From is lower back all the way up to his neck. He is very fit and not overweight. We eat healthy (vegan) and very healthy contentious people.

We have to see a chiro 2-3 times a week. He experiences such bad pain that he vomits.

He often has one-sided eye twitching and muscle spasms, 24/7 hands shaking, restless legs, headaches dead center in his forehead,blurry vision, chronic fatigue and periods of time he says that he doesn't recall parts of his driving or how he got someplace. Weed is the only thing that has helped his pain.

His dad died of lung cancer however in his dad they found brain lesions before he died. So, there is some family history of possibility.

Most of our weeks is him going to work at 7am, getting off at 5pm, and us going to bed by 9pm, and weekends sleeping until 2-3pm to catch up on sleep. I have to make sure he has weed and ciro appts, if not, he gets very bad off.

I have an autoimmune issue myself, and something seems very off.. And he refuses to go to the doctors.

Should I be concerned? He doesn't have health insurance and so he's avoiding being checked out

Welcome to ThisIsMS, WorriedGF.

The symptoms of MS are common to many conditions. I see no way that your partner can rule out the other more likely possible causes for his symptoms if "he refuses to go to the doctors."

You say, "there is some family history of possibility." Does this mean that his dad had an MS diagnosis? Lesions in the brain are not exclusive to MS; they are found in people with migraines, with magnesium deficiency, and also with B12 deficiency, and others. In fact, lesions have been found, upon autopsy, in people, who were perfectly healthy and had no symptoms at all when they were alive.

Vitamin/mineral deficiencies can only be identified conclusively with testing. (The body can often compensate for deficiencies for a while.) Individuals absorb these at different rates. If you feel comfortable sharing his nutrient testing results here, please do.

To your specific question, I would say that if he refuses to be checked out, concern will do nothing but give you sleepless nights and ulcers.

jimmylegs wrote:100% sure is good news as far as normal ranges are concerned. if you are interested in sharing the bloodwork results to ensure levels are optimal within the more broad and generally problematic 'normal' range, feel free. we can help assess.

regards,
ex-vegan

They are at optimal. I have deficiency in almost every vit due my autoimmune issues and have had the optimum spelled out to me. I've also had my endocrinologist look over his results who agreed they all looked very good. I make him 4 home made meals a day, 1 snack and than 2 protein shakes of goodness.

lyndacarol wrote:

WorriedGF wrote:I'm worried my partner has a mild form of M/s.

My partner is in back pain 24/7. From is lower back all the way up to his neck. He is very fit and not overweight. We eat healthy (vegan) and very healthy contentious people.

We have to see a chiro 2-3 times a week. He experiences such bad pain that he vomits.

He often has one-sided eye twitching and muscle spasms, 24/7 hands shaking, restless legs, headaches dead center in his forehead,blurry vision, chronic fatigue and periods of time he says that he doesn't recall parts of his driving or how he got someplace. Weed is the only thing that has helped his pain.

His dad died of lung cancer however in his dad they found brain lesions before he died. So, there is some family history of possibility.

Most of our weeks is him going to work at 7am, getting off at 5pm, and us going to bed by 9pm, and weekends sleeping until 2-3pm to catch up on sleep. I have to make sure he has weed and ciro appts, if not, he gets very bad off.

I have an autoimmune issue myself, and something seems very off.. And he refuses to go to the doctors.

Should I be concerned? He doesn't have health insurance and so he's avoiding being checked out

Welcome to ThisIsMS, WorriedGF.

The symptoms of MS are common to many conditions. I see no way that your partner can rule out the other more likely possible causes for his symptoms if "he refuses to go to the doctors."

You say, "there is some family history of possibility." Does this mean that his dad had an MS diagnosis? Lesions in the brain are not exclusive to MS; they are found in people with migraines, with magnesium deficiency, and also with B12 deficiency, and others. In fact, lesions have been found, upon autopsy, in people, who were perfectly healthy and had no symptoms at all when they were alive.

Vitamin/mineral deficiencies can only be identified conclusively with testing. (The body can often compensate for deficiencies for a while.) Individuals absorb these at different rates. If you feel comfortable sharing his nutrient testing results here, please do.

To your specific question, I would say that if he refuses to be checked out, concern will do nothing but give you sleepless nights and ulcers.

I got a very extensive blood work done on him and ruled out vim deficiency, blood sugar, as well as any BP issues. We also have scans of his back and neck etc. I had my endocrinologist read the results and they where at optimum level. As for the family history, his doctors admitted his father had all the signs of it, and was never DX'ed, but they said the dx most likely made some sense with his emotional state and physical the prior 11 years before he died. The spinal is abnormal, and that's all we know, and we don't know why. He wont get checked out further because he's worried about cost.

He's also done a 24 hour cortisol urine test.

Hi WorriedGF,

Quite simply: he needs to see a Dr. His refusal isn't helping his health and could be hurting his health.

Without any testing it's premature to assume he has MS. There is no symptom exclusive to MS, no single test, by it's self, that can give a definitive diagnosis of MS. Many other conditions need to be ruled out. His dad had brain lesions but it is unknown why he had them. Brain lesions happen for many reasons and some lesions are considered benign. Hs dad having brain lesions make MS a possibility or family history.

periods of time he says that he doesn't recall parts of his driving or how he got someplace.

This makes him a danger to himself and others --- he should not be driving until he sees a Dr. and finds out what is going on.

Weed is the only thing that has helped his pain

This could be part of the problem if he is using weed before driving.

He has had basic testing of vim, sugar, blood count/ levels, and etc We just need to get him more testing.

The driving issues started way before the weed. He only has weed on fri- sunday, (days he doesn't work), and never drives on weed. He's very cautious. I just wanted to make that noted.

We are struggling because we do not have $6,000 for the deductible/ copay, we are in a college town, and everything here would be super pricey. I've been researching cheaper places for us to go. Hopefully, I'm able to find a place we can afford to pay out of pocket for some scans and more lab work. It's hard as we have two separate insurance plans and do to my epilepsy, I'm unable to drive either.

As for his dad we did find out that his lung cancer did reach brain cancer level about 3 years later. And more lesions appear, along with cancerous tumors.

WorriedGF wrote:As for his dad we did find out that his lung cancer did reach brain cancer level about 3 years later. And more lesions appear, along with cancerous tumors.

Without a biopsy of his dad's lesions even after death there is no way to know what the noncancerous lesions were. Lesions have many causes and is not diagnostic, by themselves, for MS. So again, he has no family history of MS.

My opinion, for what's worth: He should see a Primary Care Physician(PCP) who can examine/evaluate, run whatever tests the PCP deems necessary, and refer to whatever specialist is needed. PCP can order x-rays, MRIs and other specialty tests. Why run out and spend possibly thousands of dollars for MRIs that might not be needed.

Drag him to the doctor.

WorriedGF wrote:He has had basic testing of vim, sugar, blood count/ levels, and etc We just need to get him more testing.
.....................
We are struggling because we do not have $6,000 for the deductible/ copay, we are in a college town, and everything here would be super pricey. I've been researching cheaper places for us to go. Hopefully, I'm able to find a place we can afford to pay out of pocket for some scans and more lab work. It's hard as we have two separate insurance plans and do to my epilepsy, I'm unable to drive either.

RequestATest, "National Leader in Affordable Direct to Consumer Lab Testing"
Vitamin D, 25-Hydroxy Blood Test: $59
http://requestatest.com/vitamin-d-25-hydroxy-testing


It is possible to order a 1-time vitamin D test kit from GrassrootsHealth for a $65 fee (+ $5 shipping). This at-home test requires pricking a finger, placing a few drops of blood on the blood spot card, and mailing it in (you get results within a week).
https://www.grassrootshealth.net/proj-welcome/?pr=95284

How to Complete Your Home Vitamin D Blood Spot Test (5 min.)
VitaminDaction Project by GrassrootsHealth



A similar in-home vitamin D test kit is offered by the Vitamin D Council for $50:
https://www.vitamindcouncil.org/testkit/


Thanks to NHE, who posted this information some months ago, there is the option of ordering your own nutrient tests:

How to Order Your Own Tests for Nutrient Levels
http://www.peoplespharmacy.com/2016/03/ ... nt-levels/

First paragraph: "Do you know your vitamin D status? What about vitamin B12? It can be difficult to discern what your nutrient levels are unless you have the results from a laboratory test."
…
"A. Many states now permit people to order their own laboratory tests to determine nutrient levels as well as thyroid panels and other data. Some of the companies to look for include AnyLabTestNow.com, HealthTestingCenters.com, HealthCheckUSA.com, Life Extension, SpectraCell Laboratories and WellnessFX.com."

https://www.anylabtestnow.com/tests/micronutrient-test/

http://www.healthtestingcenters.com/

http://www.healthcheckusa.com/

http://www.lifeextension.com/Vitamins-S ... Blood-Test

http://www.spectracell.com/patients/pat ... t-testing/

https://www.wellnessfx.com/
https://www.wellnessfx.com/how-it-works

WorriedGF wrote:It's hard as we have two separate insurance plans and do to my epilepsy, I'm unable to drive either.

In view of your epilepsy and the following articles, I have to ask if you have had your vitamin D level tested? Do you know the actual number for your vitamin D level? Maybe it would be a good idea for both of you to be tested.

Vitamin D deficiency and its risk factors in Malaysian children with epilepsy. (2016)
Fong CY, Kong AN, et al.
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/27378185

Long-term use of antiepileptic drugs (AEDs) is a significant risk factor for vitamin D deficiency in children with epilepsy.

SIGNIFICANCE: Despite living in the tropics, a high proportion of Malaysian children with epilepsy are at risk of vitamin D deficiency. Targeted strategies including vitamin D supplementation and lifestyle advice of healthy sunlight exposure behavior should be implemented among children with epilepsy, particularly for those at high risk of having vitamin D deficiency.


Epilepsy and vitamin D: a comprehensive review of current knowledge. (2017)
Miratashi Yazdi SA, Abbasi M, Miratashi Yazdi SM
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/27988507

Abstract
Vitamin D has been considered as neurosteroid, and its pivotal role in neuroprotection, brain development, and immunomodulation has been noticed in studies; however, our knowledge regarding its role in neurological disorders is still developing. The potential role of vitamin D in the pathophysiology and treatment of epilepsy, as one the most prevalent neurological disorders, has received less attention in recent years. In this article, we review the possible relationship between vitamin D and epilepsy from different aspects, including the action mechanism of vitamin D in the central nervous system and ecological and epidemiological findings. We also present the outcome of studies that evaluated the level of vitamin D and the impact of administrating vitamin D in epileptic patients or animal subjects. We also review the current evidence on interactions between vitamin D and antiepileptic drugs.

By the way, the standard ranges set in most labs are considered by experts to be too low for most nutrients. For example, most labs use 30-100 ng/mL for vitamin D…your doctor might say that a test result of 31 is "normal." In general, it is better for most people to be in the high end of the normal range, NOT low normal.

Likewise, most lab ranges for vitamin B12 reach down too low (to around 200 pg/mL). It is much better to be about or above 500 pg/mL.

My partners vim D levels are at 42--- above optium range. We've already had him tested for any vim issues. He also takes 3,000 IU daily. Every vim is at optimum range for him.I've spent $900 on testing and re-testing.

should be comforting, right? if only there were no flaws in widely used normal/reference ranges, and no issues with health pros' interpretations of tests that use them!