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Does this sound like MS? Neuro doesnt sound like he knows

Okay, so I am a 31 year old male.  Around Xmas time I started getting feelings of hot water running down my legs.  
After that I started getting tingling/heat sensations on my legs.  Afterwards i started getting shooting pains in my shoulders and electric sensations on my thighs and forearms.  Also having joint point on my shoulders, ankle and hips.  Extreme fatigue.  2 days of constant urination.  Sent to  ER for vertigo.  

Went to general doctor, got referred to Neuro.  Neuro did a couple reflex checks asked me to walk in straight line, etc. said he it doesnt sound like MS.  I asked for an MRI, with and without contrast.  It came back normal.  The neurologist says these dont sound like classical symptoms of MS.  Had me get on vitamin D and B.  He said unless I feel half my body go numb, or get optic neuritis, or fall while im walking, I probably do not have MS.

For the people who have MS, does this sound right?  I hear people saying they take years to get diagnosed.  Does this mean the initial symptoms are falling over, optic neurtis or numbness on half the body.  Or are the symptoms i am having the start and the classical symptoms. I am now starting to get twiching on my right tricep and left thigh.  

What are my chances of getting MS in the future?

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Avatar universal
true it can take years, all of the mimic diseases have to be ruled out, but your s/s don't dedicate themselves to one side of the body or another.

MS is an autoimmune disease associated with the central nervous system, much like you don't get stroke s/s on both sides of the body after an attack, usually MS works the same way.  That is much simplified but a way of trying to explain it.

What types of blood tests did the neuro run?  I noted that you said he put you on or suggested B & D, was this just a general suggestion or based on labs?

Now, MS moves slowly, most of the time, so not to panic yet.  Keep us posted, we are here, always here.....and yeah, some of us took years and years to get a Dx.
Helpful - 0
1493284 tn?1294875712
Did your neuro probe further or just say, "Not MS" ? Because there are a lot of neurological/autoimmune diseases/responses/pathologies that could cause stuff like this. Do you know if a clotting panel was done? What did the doc in the ER say when you came in with Vertigo? Did they call for a neuro consult at the time?

Best,
Sadie
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Avatar universal
I actually went to primary doctor, he said it doesnt seem like MS. He ordered thyroid tests, muscle tests, and vitamin d test.  Vitamin D was 28, i guess it should have been 30-100.  

Went to the ER for Vertigo, the ER doctor did some basic tests and she also said it doesnt sound like MS given that all my reflexes were normal and im not experiencing blurry vision. She ordered a CT scan which came back normal then she give me some prednisone for a week.  (It caused some weight gain, but all the symptoms went away). She also suggested I visit the neuro.  

The neurologist did some basic coordination tests and ordered an HIV test and was about to end our appt until I demanded an MRI.  So he ordered it with and w/o contrast.  They said it came back normal.  I have to take a test called the EMG, i think?

For everyone here that has MS, were my symptoms your original symptoms?  or did you experience others that were more classical?  I heard they are coming up with medicines that can now reverse the damage caused by MS.  Is this true?
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Avatar universal
Also does the fact that I am experiencing joint pain from time to time rule out MS?  I experience lots of hip pain, sometimes on the knees and elbows.  Just curious?
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Avatar universal
joint pain is usually associated with forms like arthritis.  does this joint pain decrease after you have been "moving" for awhile?  do anti-inflammatories help?

MS cannot be reversed.  The medications we take, given after Dx, are to help hold off future lesions.  There are no guarantees, we just hope, my neuro said its like "investing in your future"....still a gamble but there have been some fantastic studies done.

Helpful - 0
1831849 tn?1383228392
Joint pain neither rules MS in or out. It's not related. I have osteoarthritis in my right hip. My left hip has been replaced due to arthritis. This is totally unrelated to my MS.

As to the rest of your troubles, MS can be a very tricky diagnosis. The smoking gun tests include the appearance on MRI's of lesions in your brain and c-spine, the presence of oligoclonal bands in your cerebral spinal fluid (CSF) and negative results on all blood tests for MS mimics like Lupus or Lyme disease. If you don't have these it DOES NOT mean you don't have MS. Your symptoms may not be "classic", but again, that does not mean you don't have MS.

Did you have an MRI of both your brain and c-spine? What blood tests were run? If your current neuro is not willing to completely investigate I'd find another neuro.

Kyle
Helpful - 0
488198 tn?1493875092
Vertigo, tingling, fatigue … all sounds like my early MS symptoms. And a clean MRI alone isn’t definitive.

However, as others have noted, MS does not typically present with symptoms on both sides of the body. So other diseases (which I know little or nothing about) are in play. Those warrant further investigation.

If what you have now is not MS, I don’t think your “chances of getting MS in the future” are any greater than the average person. If you do have it now or in the future, for many people the medications can significantly slow progression, and a diagnosis isn’t a death sentence. The medications don’t reverse the damage, but the disease can go into remission, your nervous system sometimes can find detours to route signals around the damaged areas.
Helpful - 0
Avatar universal
aren't we a fun bunch?  we just bombard you from all sides!  but we bring to the table what we know and what we think and hope it helps you in some little way!
Helpful - 0
Avatar universal
yes, i appreciate though.  

Thank you all
Helpful - 0
Avatar universal
So in this case you guys are saying the tinling/ heat sensations would only be on one side at a time? As in the same foot and arm?  The heat sensations on my legs are always at the same time.

Im not really freaking out about the potential of getting MS.  I do understand that research has gone a long way esp in the last 10 years.  I just hate not knowing what these sensations that started 4 months ago.  Like right now I have my right tricep feeling slight tingling and my left calf.  Its frustrating.
Helpful - 0
382218 tn?1341181487
It's tricky because of all the mimics but also because every MS patients' experience is unique.  I have and have had symptoms on both sides of the body at the same time.  First Lhermitte's, which I sensed down the middle of my spine and into both feet.  Later, tingling in R hand pinky, crept up to whole hand then elbow, and a few days later into my L hand.  Symptom mostly remitted, then returned worse and permanent in my L hand. Now, R hand going numb.  Had a relapse once that caused me to feel like I was walking on marbles, sand and shards of glass, felt it the same in both feet at the same time.  So it isn't typical for MS symptoms to first show up symetrically on both sides of the body, but it's possible.  

For now the best thing to do is keep a symptom journal to keep track of any continued, new or remitting of symptoms. This is very important info to aid in the diagnostic process, whether the cause is MS or something else neurological, or someting more innocuous which is certainly possible.
Helpful - 0
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