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Health anxiety over MS

For the past month, I’ve been having tingling/buzzing sensations on a few of the toes on my left foot. It usually happens after I’ve been walking for a bit, then goes away. I went to a neurologist who did an EMG, nerve conduction test, and had me get three MRIs (of the brain, C-spine, and T-spine) with contrast, all of which came out normal. We are awaiting the results of my blood test.

I do pretty well at coping except when this tingling starts, which is when I think this is a symptom of MS and the MRI didn’t catch it. I also beat myself up that I didn’t get 3T MRIs (I got my MRIs on a 1.5T machine). I feel fine otherwise, no other symptoms such as numbness or weakness or vertigo, but when the tingling starts, so do all of my fearful thoughts :(

Can anyone else relate to this health anxiety? I appreciate any advice.
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Avatar universal
If you look at the archives on this forum you will see a whole lot of people suffering from health anxiety.  Most people have it to some extent, including those who don't have an anxiety problem, as health really is all we've got in reality, right?  It's when anxiety gets in the way of your life that it becomes a disorder, and the fact you have been able to get all these tests signals you're still functioning, you're not just sitting at home worrying about it.  Now, nobody here can diagnose MS or any other nerve disorder, but a lot of things can pinch nerves, including your shoes, bad posture, impinged nerves in your foot or heel, inflammation from all sorts of conditions, sleeping on it wrong, sitting oddly at your desk all day, did I mention shoes (and that doesn't have to be the ones you're walking in, it can be ones you wear at other times).  The likelihood of any particular person having MS are pretty small, but that's no consolation to those who do, but again, it's not likely you have that.  It's much more likely to have something else going on that's a lot more prosaic.  A neurologist isn't necessarily the best person to see for some of the other causes of that.  Even a lower back or hip problem can pinch on nerves that you might feel anywhere up and down the leg, so sometimes an orthopedic surgeon or podiatrist might be better than a neurologist if it's from an injury or condition neur0logists don't treat.  Also, EMG tests are not very accurate -- you kind of have to hit it just right for them to register positive, so a negative test doesn't mean you don't have a pinched or impinged nerve.  Neurologist are usually looking for things like diabetic neuropathy or lupus or the like, and again, while it might be something like that and it's good to eliminate those possibilities, it's usually something a lot more benign.  All the best.
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