Is this MS or something else?

[jojofishfish]

For the past 4 to 5 months I have had these aching shooting pains in either my wrists or shins. They seemed to be more intense when I would skip working out for a week. They would go away when I became more active. During the last month, I have had increasing headaches of all different varieties - migraine, tension, cluster, etc. I have had some dizziness but I also have severe generalized anxiety so I'm not always sure if my dizziness is real or imagined. Then during this week, in my right knee only, it has felt like there is a cell phone on vibrate going off inside my leg. At first I thought maybe it was the whooshing of my blood but the rhythm was not in sync with my heart at all. It was much slower like a cell phone. Then today I have had that plus the full aching all though my shin and ankle just on one side. Also today I had a brief (less ham 2 minutes) period of tingling in my left ring finger as well as a dime sized spot on my forehead of pins and needles. Being terrified that this is MS, I have been obsessively checking for Lhermitte's sign as well as the Babinski sign, however they are both negative (no reaction). Any ideas what this could be?

[supermum_ms]

Hi and welcome,

The reality is that what you are experiencing is unlikely to be caused by a neurological condition like MS and more likely to to caused by something else...

You are acknowledging your medical condition (general anxiety) will at times make it difficult for you to know if something you've experienced is real or imagined, so there is the possibility your general anxiety has developed into being more specifically to do with your health.

I'm not saying it is or isn't, just that if this is already identified, the possibility is higher that your anxiety could be making you hyper focus on to your health and you are inadvertently feeding your health related anxiety further with your unchallenged obsessive behaviours ie googling symptom, reading about MS, self checking etc. I would highly recommend you consider contacting your psychiatrist or psychologist and proactively seeking additional mental health directed help and support in this moment of your life.

Hope that helps......JJ

btw Pain caused by neurological damage from a condition like MS wouldn't actually feel better with exercise and worse without, shin pain more specifically is usually the result of chronic overuse, physical activity overloading the structures such as your bone, muscle and tendons so it's possible this started from something your doing whilst exercising, it's an idea to consider at least.  

    

[BOK2Bjan]

Every time I start to answer someone's question, you do so, saying almost exactly what I was going to say! Kind of funny - you're doing a stellar job!