A Thread for Newcomers Worried about Multiple Sclerosis (MS)

[precious007]

Hey guys,

~ I'm pretty new to these forums and I would first like to say hi to everyone and no matter what diagnose you have, I know and see that a lot of you are in pain and MOST don't seem to find an answer to their issues apart from big ol' "ANXIETY".

~ I'm no doctor by profession and I'm only posting from my experience and knowledge.

~ I have been diagnosed with anxiety back in November 2004, so that is basically 7 years ago. On and off since then I have had roughly 200 symptoms, they might be more than that. First of when I had my first "attack", I will not call it a panic attack because I still doubt to this day that it was a panic attack and I am still wondering what's going on with me, which MIGHT be the case for many of you.

~ Ok, so I had my first attack in 2004, out of nowhere. I was working one day and out of nowhere I had this terrible headache mainly at the back of my head, pins and needles in my body, a SEVERE loss of balance, nausea, spinning and everything.

~ I ended up in the ER room in Italy and they did a CT scan which showed up nothing on it, the hospital didn't tell me what I had either and I was sent home after a one night-stay.

~ I took off from Italy to Romania my home country, because I couldn't afford the medical bills in Italy. Long story short I came back to Romania, in the worst health condition that you could imagine. I was feeling my body numb, needles throughout my limbs mainly and the first day I got home I landed in the ER room again, COMPLETELY numb on my right side (including face, arm, body and legs.

~ I got a MRI scan which showed nothing (2004) the neurologist said it was anxiety and panic attacks. Of course if it's MS then right when the illness starts it might not show on the MRI. Anyways I went on treatment for anxiety for 4 years in a row, when I felt like hell. (After every single treatment I felt even worse)

~ Everyone was telling me it's all in my head, even through I never believed a word because my symptoms are very real and I have them now in 2011 after 7 years. During all these years I have had them on and off at different intensities. (but always said well if doctors say it's anxiety then it might be anxiety after all).

~ First of all, the symptoms people describe on this thread, and the symptoms I have are very similar (and yes they mimic MS) but you might believe it or not there is another bacterial infection that causes the same symptoms, called Lyme disease. Someone has mentioned it on this thread.

~ Many doctors say that there is no such thing as multiple sclerosis, and that is for ONE BIG reason - because they can't find a cause of multiple sclerosis. And at the same time many doctors agree on the fact that multiple sclerosis is in fact Lyme Disease (I am seeing a doctor today) that says he found Lyme bacteria in 100% of the Multiple Sclerosis diagnosed patients.

~ Do you get the picture?

~ I am not trying to make anyone more anxious than they are, in fact NO ONE can give you a diagnose without a proper testing, evaluation and laboratory blood tests.

~ If you want to check out the symptoms of Lyme disease go ahead and scan this page ~

http://www.lymediseaseblog.com/lyme-disease-symptoms/

~ Or join these communities to find out more about Lyme Disease and see what other DIAGNOSED patients are experiencing.

http://www.lymenet.org/
http://www.mdjunction.com/forums/lyme-disease-support-forums/

~ I am posting this because I have too diagnosed with anxiety and many people from the two forums above have opened my eyes to actually get further checked and that's what I am going to be doing.

~ Again don't get more anxious over this possibility, yes Lyme disease IS real, and the symptoms ARE real and debilitating. And more over, 100% of the Lyme patients have been told that it's all in their head to one point when they actually got tested for Lyme infections and co-infections.

~ I'm here to help. I am not saying you guys have Lyme or I have Lyme. NO ONE can know if they have Lyme unless they have the laboratory tests. This disease is so widespread and not diagnosed, it's just insane. Many people HAVE Lyme yet they  get diagnosed with either Lupus, Multiple Sclerosis, Anxiety, IBS and other illness simply because they don't get the proper blood work done for bacteria and co-infections.

~ It's so much more easier for the doctors to say: "It's all in your head, It's anxiety!"

~ Guys this is non-sense, we have real symptoms.

~ and NO doctor can tell you such thing when you have the symptoms of a disease such as Lyme and DID NOT get tested.

~ Many doctors will probably tell you that Chronic Lyme doesn't exist and get send home.

~ Get tested by and LLMD (Lyme Literate) find one in your area that knows what he/she is doing.

~ You need to rule out Lyme. (seriously)

~ However, 70% - 80% of the patients that have been diagnosed with Lyme were told for years that they suffer from anxiety.

~ If you have a constant fatigue, pressure feeling in the head, tension headache, back pain, muscle twitching, numbness, tingling, brain fog, problems with speech, memory issues, loss of balance, feeling sick on daily basis, dizziness and anxiety you HAVE to get tested for Lyme (I will get tested very soon as well, and I am almost certain I have an infection in my body for at least 7+ years that's causing me all the symptoms because YES, I have been bitten by two ticks (ticks carry Lyme disease) These are just the basic symptoms, do your own research on the website that I have listed above and check out all the symptoms.

~ Then again, I am not saying you all have Lyme disease but I am mostly certain that SEVERAL people on this thread DO have Lyme disease and they have not been tested.

~ First off, for anyone that wants to get tested for Lyme, see and LLMD (Lyme Literate Medical Doctor), because other doctors will only send you home again and tell you it's anxiety. So please see a  LLMD (Lyme Literate Medical Doctor).

~ An LLMD will further tell you where to have proper lab tests done and see if there is any living bacteria or other co-infections in your body. Borrelia, Bartonella, Babesia are the most frequent, anyway I will not get into this detail, the LLMD should be able to send you in the right direction.

~ You might not remember being bit by a tick, or maybe you don't even remember seeing a bull's eye rash on your body, don't worry NOT all people get a rash on their body after they're bit. The bacteria can stay in your body without symptoms and in all cases something STRESSFUL in your life will trigger the bacteria to start spreading even more.

~ Guys many of you might thing I am joking, I am not yet diagnosed but yes I have been bitten by a tick roughly 17 years ago and I will get tested simply to rule this out. Seeing the doctor today and will be sent for tests.

~ Remember that most Lyme patients have the symptoms that are described on this thread and most Lyme patients have ANXIETY.

~ To make things simple, see an LLMD, tell the doctor all of your symptoms (make a list before seeing the doctor, just so you don't miss out any symptom)

~ Get a proper blood test for Lyme (COMPLETE) and voila.

~ I would be glad to hear how many of you guys have Lyme disease. Only time will tell, but certainly and most likely you will  not know if you have Lyme unless you take the tests and rule out this possibility.

~ Be aware, that a negative test for Lyme doesn't always mean you are not infected, some people take 2 or 4 tests until they're tested positive. This illness mimics anxiety and other dozens of diseases perfectly and not only it's hard to diagnose but hard to treat.

~ I believe there are millions of people with Lyme that are being treated for a completely different health issue and they don't even know they have Lyme.

~ Lyme affects the central nervous system, bones, joints and in rare cases the heart.

~ Lyme induces arthritis and spondylosis which is something I have developed over the years. My joints severely crack, including my chest bones, knees, elbows, every bones nearly in my body cracks. That's what made me have an AHA moment and thought to myself wait a minute, hell anxiety can't cause arthritis. (yes I have been diagnosed with arthritis and spondilosis) I have back pain daily and mild pain in my joints.

~ I believe this is enough, even though I could go on for hours.

~ Guys get tested for Lyme!

~ and of course get tested for MS as well to rule it out once and for all. You can't take the chance, and just swallow that you have anxiety.. what if you have MS? Get tests done.

~ And please post your Lyme test results on this thread.

God bless
Alex

[messalina]

I pretty much had a breakdown this summer because I was obsessed with having MS. In this case I don't think it was too unreasonable a conclusion as I had sporadic tingling and numbness in my arm and leg. Anyway, it turned out to be a pinched nerve and it was a really important lesson to me on how symptom Googling worked. I Googled tingled or numbness or paresthesia and the first few pages were mostly MS, pinched nerve didn't show up at all, even though paresthesia IS listed as a symptom of pinched nerve if you look for that specifically. Conclusion: Dr. Google is not a real doctor!

[wired up]

newbie here. pan, THANK YOU SOOOO MUCH!! that is/was me to a tee. also feel better knowing that the anxiety symptoms hang around even though you feel "fine". i FINALLY used google for the right thing and came across this site and this post!! thanks again pan and others that have posted. calmist day i have had in a long time!! will continue to fight...........

[kinikia]

OMG, Im sure none of us have it, but did you hear _ theres a news miracale MS drug!!!  In trials it literally made the blind see and the lame walk!!!!!   A new miracle drug was on the evening news for MS.