Need help! MS? spinal issue? Strange migraines without pain?

Question

Visual spotty blurryness in one eye that comes and goes and changes, neck pain, a constant feeling like I'm not in the room or I'm not part of the scene in front of me which gets worse and better but always there (my biggest symptom), twitching in my legs and arms at night sometimes, numbness and tingling in left arm and scalp sometimes my face (less so now), super tight left shoulder muscles (less so now). On an off ear pain in my left ear but nothing wrong w my ears. Some out of balance symptoms every so often. This is all worse when I lay down and in the morning. I do get migraines since for 30-40 years now in which the most pain is in my neck- I take imitrex to stop it. MRI shows white lesion in my brain but they were there in 2012 without these symptoms. Also 2 bulging discs one w a fissure at C4 touching the spinal column but not herniated. An Opthomologist said my eyes are fine. Blood test all fine except D which was low 29 (I'm taking that now) and iron which was slightly high but also ruling out lupus B12, thyroid etc.  This all started abruptly one day and has been going on for almost a month and a half and I havnt driven because of it. Almost all these symptoms are on my left side. I'm doing Nucca chiropractic which has helped a bit. One neurologist wants to do a lumbar puncture to test for MS- (yikes! can't this be diagnosed without that?), another wants to do an EEG to test for seizures (but I've never had a seizure), another thinks it could be a migraine without the pain and to take preventative drugs every day for that (that's a lot of drugs). I was given Horizant (gabapentin enacarbil) to deal with that but scared to take it and when looking it up it only deals with restless legs. Is this drug safe? Any advice out there? I need some help with all this. Anyone had these symptoms? Any diagnosis that you've gotten with these symptoms to help or any advise? Can MS be tested without a lumbar puncture? 

Thank you ~ Oak tree

K_rock43 · Answer

I have had MS for 15 years. I'm 44 and I have also suffered from migraines since age 12. My mom also passed away from complications of MS. A lumbar punction alone doesn't diagnose MS. You must have lesions on the brain. Now migraines can cause lessons on the brain as well as if you drink diet colas. Lesions from migraines will be in a different location than lesions from MS. Don't know if you have had your MRIS looked by a neurologist. I suffered from spinal pain as well there is a condition called lehumes with MS people. The brain sits on the atlas the first vertebrae of the neck. Chiropractors can do an adjustment to remove the brain off the atlas relieving alot of your spinal pain. I am also on gabapentin it is not only ised for restless leg syndrome. It is used for nerve damage of patience with MS. You also sound like you are suffering from vertigo. If you like you can email me at ***@****. I can answer further questions for you. Willing to help you

supermum_ms · Answer

Hi and welcome,

Firstly, can you please break up any future posts into smaller text blocks, people with MS often have visual and or cognitive issues that makes reading big blocks of text very difficult, thank you :D

 No single test can diagnose MS, a lumbar puncture (LP) isn't diagnostically exclusive for a specific medical condition, depending on the results an LP can help point towards or away from various medical conditions. The main types of testing for MS are lab tests to help rule out other diseases, brain and spinal cord MRI's, VEP, medical history, neurological clinical exam and confirm the MS diagnosis.

I have no personal experience with Horizant so i genuinely can't comment, i did look it up and whilst it is prescribed for RSL i suspect it was prescribed for your nerve related pain which it is also commonly prescribed for too...

"What is Horizant?
Horizant (gabapentin enacarbil) is a prescription medicine used to treat adults with restless legs syndrome and pain from damaged nerves. It affects chemicals and nerves in the body that are involved in the cause of some types of pain.

Horizant is used in adults to treat nerve pain (postherpetic neuralgia) caused by herpes virus or shingles (herpes zoster).

Horizant is also used to treat restless legs syndrome (RLS)." https://www.drugs.com/horizant.html

From what i can understand, your saying the only abnormal test results you have so far are blood test related eg low vit D and slightly high iron, spinal MRI evidence of 2 bulging discs one w a fissure at C4 touching the spinal column but not herniated, as well as 30+ history of migraines which wouldn't typically be what's suggestive-consistent diagnostics to be pointing towards a neurological condition like MS

I hope that helps......JJ