Need answers

[Knc960]

Hi I'm posting this because I need some help. About a month and a half ago I was a basketball game and started feeling some weird sensations on the left side of my face. I had been really stressed in school that past week and also had a enormous cold sore on my lip. So the next day the numbness sensation didn't go away and I called my mom and we went to the immediate care center and he told me I had Bell's palsy and he gave me an antiviral drug and some steroids. Well a few days went by and my face never started drooping. From my research, even with medicine, your face is likely to droop. So a month or so goes by and I guess I stopped paying attention to it and it gradually went away. So fast forward to about two weeks ago. I decided to look up symptoms of MS. Not sure what inspired me to do this because ever since then I have been toturing myself. That night I started getting a weird prickling feeling in my left hand and the facial numbness started coming back. After this I have feel weak/tight muscles in my left arm. Hands feel weak at different times. Joint pain in hands and feet. Tightness on my face. I can still move it completely but it's such a weird feeling. I started to feel weak in my legs a couple of days ago and now my feet are starting to feel weird as if I'm going to lose control. And I feel like I'm going to cramp up in my legs during certain parts of the day. I can still fully walk and move everything but everything feels so weird. I also went to my GP last thurs. and that day I was feeling really good (no symptoms or so I thought) and she just put me on some anti-anxiety medication. Well that night everything started reappearing. Is this normal for MS? For symptoms to go in and out everyday? Or do they stick around until remission? I am so confused and lost. Also none of the symptoms besides facial numbness about a month or so ago were present before I started looking up symptoms. And my symptoms are very patchy and weird. also I want to add that I just recently go a new job were I am standing for 5+ hour straight every other day so I don't know if that is taking a toll on my body too. I am only 19 and I'm really scared for my future. Someone please try to explain to me what Is going on. I feel like I could say a million other things but right now I can't think of anything. PleAse help!!!

[supermum_ms]

For your generation, these types of facial sensations are becoming a lot more common now, it's possibly related to 'occipital neuralgia' which for teens and young adults, is typically caused by the amount of pressure that's unnaturally being placed on the cervical spine (neck) from constantly looking down at smart phones, tablets, game consoles etc for hours, so it's technically posture behaviour and not a serious medical condition.

I think it's definitely worth considering, but keep in mind that if you are already anxious about your health, and things do get worse after you read about a symptom, the last thing you should be doing is googling symptoms, and preferably not googling whilst looking down a mobile, because it's only going to exacerbate your anxiety and not be helping you....

Food for thought........JJ

[supermum_ms]

Hi there,

What you have described happening to you over the last 2 weeks after reading about MS, would be completely inconsistent with a neurological condition like MS.

MS is a condition that effects the central nervous system, so you could google just about any symptom and MS will generally show up but there are a lot of conditions that can cause facial numbness besides MS or bells palsy (facial paralysis)eg anxiety and depression, stress, panic attacks, hyperventilation, migraines, some prescription or illicit drugs, autoimmune related conditions apart from MS, would be conditions like Sjogren's disease, scleroderma or systemic lupus erythematosus etc.

Most cases of bells palsy are actually thought to be caused by the herpes virus that causes cold sores, but cold sores that are caused by herpes viruses, can start off as areas of numbness on the face and not become true bells palsy.

Considering mental and emotional stress is a very common cold sore trigger, a much more likely common explanation than MS or even true bells palsy, is that during a stressful period in your life, the herpes family of viruses triggered a cold sore out break....

I suggest you give your self and your anxiety medication some more time, focus on improving your emotional health, find ways that help you minimise your reaction to stress and if you feel you need additional help, be proactive and speak to your dr about counselling, cognitive behavioural training etc.

Hope that helps.........JJ  

[Knc960]

thank you! i am feeling a little better after reading everyone's comments. but tonight i have really bad facial numbness. it is like so tight above my eyebrow and even my nose and inside my nose feels numb. and my eyelid is especially numb feeling. could this just be anxiety? i was on google (again) i know i need to stop but its like my body cant. and it seemed to get really after that. it's as if my eyelid feels like it is blinking slower. but it actually isnt. i feel like my left eyeball is straining really hard. talking to other people seems to calm my nerves and sadness.

[Knc960]

there is so much pressure above my left  eye and below my left eye and my left eyelid feels numb. and my left hand started tingling. but my symptoms change daily. the facial numbness comes and goes the most though

[Knc960]

i also get numbness in my gums area and my teeth when the facial numbness is present. it is so strange and hard to explain. and today i felt like there is something weird going on with my eye but i think im just talking myself into having all these problems. who knows

[aspen2]

There is a really good chance that the patchy symptoms are anxiety related, which is good news!  MS doesn't present with all over, intermittent symptoms like that.

The best thing you could do is stay off Dr. Google and immerse yourself in your new job and friends.  Bell's Palsy generally stands alone ... one of my sisters had it.  But anxiety can do exactly what you are experiencing!

Best wishes and congratulations on your new job!!!

[Knc960]

Sorry the comment above was for you too. What do you think could have been the cause of the facial numbness about a month ago? Would stress bring that on and then go away? I don't understand the other symptoms either. I have tried to calm my anxiety but mostly the symptoms are still there. I feel like they just creep up out of nowhere sometimes. I'm tired of feeling this way, I was so happy like two weeks ago and I can't get out of this funk

[Knc960]

Hi immisceo, yes I have been taking my anti anxiety medicine. I'm not sure if it is working or not. I'm literally driving myself insane about this. My GP said it was probably not Bell's palsy if my face never started drooping. This is what is scaring me. What would be more like MS symptoms? Compared to mine

[immisceo]

I'm hesitant to answer that, as I feel it would simply contribute to your disordered thinking on this subject. In your frame of mind, you could likely contort anything I said into something you feel you've experienced. As someone who has both MS and mental health issues, I can attest to the mental health issues having much more impact on my everyday life than MS. I'd recommend getting some specific help for your health anxiety. GPs aren't really equipped to provide the counselling and medication combination you may benefit best from. You might consider getting them to refer you.

[immisceo]

You sound like you're having physical manifestations of stress (both work and health stress) in addition to a viral incident (the cold sore, possibly the Bell's Palsy). What you describe does NOT sound like MS. MS symptoms do not show up the way you describe. The don't come and go that rapidly, nor do they show up directly after you've read about them. Have you been taking the anti-anxiety medicine? What you are experiencing sounds like classic health anxiety. It can be miserable, limiting your quality of life and well-being. It is deserving of treatment. This is what needs to be dealt with before other avenues are explored.

[Knc960]

And I have been really sensitive to the cold. I feel like everything is locking up especially my hands.

[Knc960]

Also to add- my tightness in my left side of my face is mostly above my eyebrow and on my eyelid. I do not have any signs of optic neuritis(yet) but I do sometimes feel like when moving my left side I am straining it. No pain really just strain. Am I being crazy?