I was on another anxiety forum that is frequented by a neurologist (a lovely lady that's retired and 88 years old!!) and I wrote to her about my MS fears and this is what she wrote back....It makes a lot of sense about MS fears, googling and physical symptoms of anxiety. I thought I'd share it with you....
MS does not have an acute onset such as what you're describing and symptoms appear in a constellation rather than isolated. The reason is that autoimmune processes affect cortical areas of the brain or spinal tissue that are associated with certain aspects of bodily function. In other words, MS does not affect the body directly, but rather portions of the brain/spinal cord that control the body.
The sensation of heat can result from a number of circumstances, not the least of which is nerve compression or significant muscle strain subsequent to trauma, which can last several weeks to a month or more before resolving in some instances. In other words, unseen injury from the fall could produce this type of limited sensory disturbance.
The eye and chin twitch is more likely the result of something call Myokymia and is entirely benign. It most often arises from intense stress or anxiety and can sometimes last several weeks to months in rare instances.
The fatigue associated with MS and quite debilitating and most patients with the disease are relegated to bed rest. It is again important to note that symptoms related to MS occur simultaneously and in the case of relapsing/remitting MS, can alter symptom presentation since any area of the cortices of the brain are vulnerable. Prominent visual disturbances such as central scotoma, or blind spot within the central vision, is quite common among initial symptoms because the optic nerve is affected.
Always remember when reading medical literature on the internet that in order even remotely use such information to consider evaluation or diagnosis, you must possess the requisite medical background in the way of medical education and experience. Physicans undergo an average of 12 years focused medical education and training in order to be competent in practicing medicine. This cannot be made equivalent in any manner whatsoever by simply reading about symptoms on the internet. Medicine and human disease is extremely complex and let when reading such information, it is erroneously thought to be a mere process of making associations between what a patient is experiencing and similarly described clinical signs of certain types of pathology. Remember, 12 years just to be permitted to professionally treat a patient, not counting the life-long experience and training necessary from that point forward to be considered competent.
I guess my point here is that you're falling prey to a genetic predisposition in all humans, wherein the brain will employ reinforcement of internal thoughts and perceptions construed as a danger or risk. In other words, from a more simplistic standpoint, if you see a bad dog and by its posture and signs of aggression, determine it to be a danger, the brain incorporates every single aspect of the experience in the way of sensory feedback and records it so that upon any future encounter, you will be able to detect the risk to your safety far earlier than the original encounter. In terms of what you see, hear, feel touch, taste or even smell, the brain records all of these events and collectively defines it as imminent danger.
The brain, however, is unable to distinguish between a real danger and one that is imagined. Do you understand? So if you experience strange physical manifestations and based upon general information you have been exposed to, your brain automatically records and stores this information together with your reaction to it. If you seek out additional information and it tends to reinforce your belief and assumptions, the brain defines it as a danger. If the matter remains unresolved, you remain on alert because you are creating fear in your mind as though the danger constantly exists. Does that make sense to you?
So in cases where a person believes something dreadful is befalling them, the brain actually responds to increase your preparedness to fend off the danger. By example, if the bad dog charges at you with intent to harm, your body will undergo swift physiological transformation in order to give you the best odds of physically fending off the animal or alternatively running to escape it. Upregulation of the nervous system is a primary part of that response and so all sorts of unfamiliar things begin to happen to the body, which are considered to be normal due to the circumstances facing them.
But in instances where the threat has been created internally by irrational fears that have no basis in fact, in other words pure speculation, the brain still receives the same exact feedback as in the case of our bad dog example and thus, the same physiological changes take place. In these instances, however, there is no immediate threat like in the case of the dog, but rather internal fear. The physical changes taking place are therefore not connected with a fear response, but seem to be immediately paired with symptoms of some type of disease taking place. It is through innate processes and social training that people make the direct association between physical symptoms and physical disease, but in actuality no such link exists at all. People can experience physical symptoms far more frequently that have absolutely no connection to a corresponding disease.
To sum it up, it is fine to seek out medical information on the internet, provided that you don't automatically assume that you have the requisite background and professional training ro properly assess it by comparison to any symptoms you may be experiencing. It simply won't work that way at all.
Secondly, nearly all physical manifestations that a person experiences are benign in nature and extremely common among humans, so to draw a premature conclusion based upon simple fears, you must pause to realize that the only basis for your fear is lack of sufficient knowledge to accurately distinguish between something benign and something pathological or harmful. So if you don't possess the requisites, then you must automatically question your fears regarding the overwhelming odds that you could somehow be correct.
Let's stop here for now. I trust my response has offered you information about yourself that might bring insight where your fears and concerns are of issue. You'll be just fine. Again, describe the fall in as much detail as possible for me and whether other falls have been occuring. Other than that, take a breath and relax.
Best regards,
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Topic: A retired neurologists response to my MS fears.... (Read 12237 times)
April 10, 2008, 04:01:28 PM
