How important is severity and length of symptoms

[jkphil]

Hi everyone,

This is my first post to the forum. I am a 27 yr old male. I have not  been diagnosed with MS, but do seem to be exhibiting many of the symptoms. Here is my story (sorry for the long post):About two months ago a got an odd feeling for a few hours in my left arm which came back maybe 3 more times over the next week. It then switched to the right arm and then eventually both arms. It was always at night and always lasted for a few hours then went away. These symptoms eventually stopped

About a month ago I started to get muscle twitching in my legs that spread to my entire body (legs, arms, lower  back, stomach) and some very mild tremors in my hands. Naturally, I became very worried about the symptoms and the stress seemed to exacerbate everything. I became very light-headed and tired for a few days. I could still function normally but I felt "out of it". I also began developing tingling feelings in both legs/feet. There isn't any numbness just a slight pins/needles feeling.

I then saw my PCP who did blood work and decided it was likely anxiety. I also recently saw an neurologist who conducted a physical exam (everything normal, no weakness in any muscles), ordered more blood tests to rule out lyme, vitamin deficiencies, electrolytes ...etc (my CK levels were "a little high at 220") and conducted an EMG (again normal).

Since then my  I have had an odd feeling in my right foot when I walk. It's not a weakness just feels like its sensitive. I have also developed eye floaters (I've had this issue for about 10 years but they recently seem worse). I also have a sun burn feeling on my left leg in a small patch.

My PCP and Neurologist both think it is anxiety related (fyi I got married, bought a house and started a new job in the last few months so it's certainly a possibility).

My question is, many of my symptoms seem to come and go and none of them are really severe. The pins and needles are there for 30 minutes and then gone then back again. The twitching/tremors have subsided for the most part (except twitching in my calves) and none of the other symptoms are present most of the time (the sunburn feeling is mostly at night).  None of this has been debilitating, it is simply worrisome and making me very depressed/anxious.  I have not had an MRI, I am wondering if I should wait until my symptoms become more "severe" to push for this.  Are MS symptoms typically severe at the onset and are they constant?

[jkphil]

Thanks for your input. I have been leaning in the direction of stress as the cause but, you are right the fact that MS symptoms are so varying has left me with a feeling that it could be the cause. I think my best course of action is to see how it goes for a while, manage my stress level and check back in with my neurologist in the future if necessary.

Thanks again, I appreciate your insights.

[kwarendorf]

Hi JKP - Welcome to the group.

MS attacks individual locations on the nerves that comprise the Central Nervous System (CNS). It does not attack the entire CNS. As such, MS symptoms tend not to move around. If MS were causing your left arm issues it would not like then cause your right arm issues.

Because it can attack any location in the CNS, MS symptoms are a pretty large list. This is why it shows up on almost any symptom search. Stress is a frequent MS mimic, as are things like Lyme disease.

WHile what you describe does not sound particularly MSish to me, I am not a doctor. The only way to rule MS in or out is to see a neurologist who specializes in MS. It is a challenging diagnosis and general neurologists might miss things a specialist will catch.

Included in the rule in/out process would be MRI of your brain + cervical and thoracic spine. These would be done with and without contrast using the MS protocal. The contrast helps differentiate old and new lesions and the MS protocol uses thin slices to reduce the possibility of missing anything.

If you ask 100 of us to tell our MS stories, you will hear 100 different stories. None of us has exactly the same MS. This includes how and if symptoms progress.

Hope this helps.

Kyle