Anxiety or multiple sclerosis?

[duckotaco]

Hello.

few years ago I had periods of muscle twitching everywhere. They passed.

Lately I've had:

- depression.
- twitches.
- feeling of paralysis.
- extreme fatigue and weakness.
- dizziness, feel faint all the time.
- rvision on right eye is always somewhat shadowy and I've recently got two floaters.
- funny feelings in head.
- teeth pain.
- coordination problems. Hands and feet.
- problems coordinating speech.
- my balance seems worsened. I feel very clumsy. This has happened lately.
- brain zaps, head kerks.
- very bad memory.
- ear pain.
- fatigue recalling words.
- thought blockage. Feeling I can't think of certain things.
- headaches.

You can well say this is awful. I have suffered severe anxiety and panics in the past, but these symtoms have been with me all the time for about a month now. Especially the balance and thought blocking, and muscle weakness (feel exhausted), make me fear multiple sclerosis.

I haven't had a MRI yet - my doctor doesn't wanty me to do it. He says it's not necessary and thinks it's all in the mind.
But I'm seriously concerned. I would be ok to have MS, but I want to know so I can treat myself.
I just don't think all that comes from anxiety. Also, I felt strange things for several years now, even when calm. It comes and goes and seems to be a feature of MS. I feel I don't have a balanced nervous system.

Please help.

[whataprettyworld]

Hello

Firstly, the tendency for anxiety sufferers to equate all these weird and wonderful physical sensations as MS is incredibly common.  It is well documented by the medical community and if you have a scan over this and other anxiety forums you will find all the empirical evidence to support this you could ever wish to find.

I don't think anybody on here would be irresponsible enough to say that you do not have MS...this is something that only the medical community can do for you

                                                                BUT

What we can do is look at your situation with a fresh pair of eyes so to speak.  All the sensations you have listed are possible within an anxiety explanation, some are more common than others but you need to realise that anxiety can actually cause pretty much any effect on the body.....I suffer from the spaced out feeling, the buzzing, the twitching, the fatigue, the aches and pains etc etc.  I remember for a month over Christmas my back teeth where killing me, I went to the dentist as it was obviously a dental issue...surprise surprise my teeth where fine, about a week later it just stopped...I'm sure that this was just another physical outlet of my anxiety!

What I think has happened in your case is that your anxiety has shifted somewhat...you state that in the past you have had anxiety issues and panic attacks but that now things seem to have become more physical.  What this suggests to me is that an accumulation of anxiety has finally had an effect on you nervous system and that your anxiety level has become stuck on overdrive, this exists independently of how you are feeling emotionally now and even though you think that you are not anxious for all intents and purposes your nervous system is stuck in the flight of fight response and misfiring all over the place as a result.  You state that you feel that your nervous system feels off , IF YOU WANT TO PUT INTO WORDS WHAT THE PHYSICAL EFFECTS OF ANXIETY FEELS LIKE WHEN IT HAS EFFECTED YOUR NERVOUS SYSTEM THAT IS IT!!!

Wow, your GP is unhelpful, yes all this is related to what is going on in your head but these physical sensations are 100% biologically real....the thing is how they are caused, they are NOT caused by an organic neurological nasty but they are the by product of an accumulation of anxious thoughts and practises and I believe suppressed emotional issues.  Where your head really comes into play is how you are monitoring and comprehending these physical sensations....are you just observing, accepting and letting the sensations just go through you or are you worried, scared, interpreting and living in fear of them??  I would hazard a guess it is the latter and if that is the case, congratulations, you are now a fully paid up member of the health anxiety club as the loop is complete and you are dumping more fear and stress on top of an already frazzled nervous system!  Of course, all the while this continues your nervous system will NEVER get the time and rest it requires to reset itself.

Like I said at the top of the post, nobody on here can give you a 100% guarantee you do not have MS, even a GP will actually only give you a 99% guarantee if we wish to be pedantic BUT I personally do not THINK you have it.  You have to look at the bigger picture.  You had a history of resolved twitching, now MS would not really present as twitching and as it was resolved I think this fits an anxiety explanation, you have suffered for the 'traditional' element of anxiety such as panic attacks in the past which confirms a history of anxiety and finally all the new sensations fit an anxiety explanation....all too easily we miss the bigger picture but this is what the GP's look at, an overall history and certainly in your case all the available evidence does point to an anxiety explanation.

If you feel you are being fobbed off by you GP (annoyingly an anxiety/health anxiety 'symptom' in itself) demand a neuro consultation....they will tell you in 15 minutes if any further investigation is required and I bet you that you would walk out of there good to go, it is how you go forward from that point that will determine how all this works out for you.

Hope this info helps in some way, have a look round as there has been a plethora of posts on this very issue at the moment and I always have the opinion we can't all be mad and or ill!

Please also look at the 'have you got 9 minutes' thread in the hypochondria folder and watch the short video, it explains the physical effects of anxiety incredibly well and it could well give you that  moment that we all eventually come across and that helps us through this difficult period.

all the best

[WorriedinTexas]

First of all let me state the obvious, you are at an anxiety forum and not an MS forum. So somewhere in your mind you know that the more probable cause is Anxiety because of your history with it. Secondly if your doctor sent you away saying he didn't deem it necessary to give you an MRI, then either A. you can sue the crap out of him when you do get diagnsed, or B. You can accept the fact that in his professional opinion, and he sees alot of patients, he didn't think you had the symptoms of MS but that you did have the symptoms of anxiety. I can't say if you do or you don't but I will tell you that all of the symptoms you have I have had and still have. Let me just name a few...

Head pings, aches, numbess in face/head/extremities, Body twitches, tremors, brain zaps, fatigue, insomnia, dry mouth, IBS, body pains, lip tingling, face tingling, creepy crawly sensations on skin, blurred vision, brain fog, constant dizziness, head pressure, rapid thoughts, hot flashes, cold sensations, etc.

And so many more random things, and then of course the obvious panic driven symptoms of heart racing and shortness of breath. All of your symptoms can be attributed to anxiety. But if you google for instance, headaches and facial numbess something dreadful scary will come up and you will feel like you better get to the hospital right now. What I started doing was adding anxiety to that google search so headaches, facial numbess, anxiety and lo and behold anxiety will pop up. It's easy to run to one conclusion based on a series of crazy sensations but it seems you finally ended up at the right place. If you still don't feel comfortable with your doctor's diagnosis, seek a second or third opinion for sure, it's your body afterall and your money you are spending on it. I know that some of my symptoms are anxiety related and the other ones I am working on getting to the bottom of. Glad you found us, hope at least hearing that other people have the same weird sensations you have helps to ease your mind some.

[duckotaco]

Thanks a lot guys, I really appreciate your answers.

Tomorrow I have an appointment with a neurologist. I'll let you know what happens next.
Right now I don't feel I have MS. The fear passed. This morning I was sure I had it. So hopefully it'll be another story of "I thought I had MS, but my mind was tricking me" that will help me and others who will be scared in the future.

The thing is, guys, I never heard of clumsiness and balance problems caused by anxiety. I guess it can happen but its sounds too neurological to me. I mean the basic neurological test is based on how you keep balance.
If I can have an explanation of how anxiety would affet my coordination and balance, that would be good. See, I often hit the wall with a shoulder at home because I fail to do a correct body/space check for a second (I'm talking about walking through a strict corridor, or a door).
 

[whataprettyworld]

Clumsiness and balance issues are huge anxiety issues.  Basically anxiety can make your whole body feel off kilter and therefore clumsiness and balance do become issues...once you notice this as well you begin to anlyse your movements and look for and see patterns that just are not there.

Balance is one of the things that the neuro will look at tomorrow but this is in conjuction with a whole gamut of other clinical tests....the balance test does not involve walking through door frames but you will probably be asked to stand still, close your eyes and hold your arms out in front of you....this is where any balance issues would come to light and if you actually try this now and bet you are probably able to do this now problems at all.

I'm sure you will be fine tomorrow.

[Xalatimo]

I agree with whataprettyworld.  Try to see a neurologist because if it is MS, you're right, it should be treated.  If your neurologist tells you that an MRI is not needed, try to put the issue to rest unless symptoms worsen.  Taco, MS symptoms do come and go, but so do anxiety symptoms.  It's almost impossible to tell which is which just by using that as a factor.  How intense are the symptoms?  A lot of times in MS they are much more intense than in anxiety and would sometimes cause you to miss work.  Same with anxiety, but anxiety is more mental.  With MS, there are times where you might not be able to walk.  Total paralysis, total blindness, things like that.  Something else that is important is the amount of symptoms you have, in MS you usually have 1 or 2 symptoms and then generally other minor symptoms but those main 2 worsen and cause problems.  For example, optic neuritis causing blindness in one eye, or numbness from the waist down that causes gait issues.  Specific things.  If you have a variety of minor symptoms it's probably less likely to be MS and more likely to be anxiety.  Like whataprettyworld says, it is possible to feel these symptoms even if you are not feeling mentally anxious.  It is also possible to feel some of these symptoms due to the medications you are using.  There is one symptom in there that I am curious about.  "Feelings of paralysis."  Have you ever actually been paralyzed and unable to move?  Have you ever been numb to the point where you couldn't feel it, couldn't move it?  If so, I would think this is excessive for anxiety but still not totally impossible.  If you just "feel" as if you are paralyzed then it is different.  It's a mental thing.  That would not indicate MS.

[duckotaco]

Neuro check up moved tomorrow.

Xal, I didn't have real total paralysis, just a feeling of it. A powerful one. But I was able to move my arms and legs. Only they get tingly a lot and if I sleep in a wrong position, like over my arm, it takes a lot for circulation to improve. I'd stay 5 minutes moving my hand so I can feel normal again. Well this doesn't worry anymore. what worries me is the concept of "progressive paralysis".

Today I was fine, I didn't focus much on my balance "issues". I can walk, probably people don't notice any problem - I hope. But I feel clumsy form time to time. I thought this could happen because of lower back problems. I've always had problems coordinating legs when I had lower back issues.

I'm not noticing the right eye floaters now, are they gone? But the vision is still not perfect. I'm afraid this is what you call optical neuritis.
And, I mean, neuritis plus balance problems...not numbness in the legs, but weakness. But this could be caused by the lower back again, of the heat.

So. How can I know if it's MS or anxiety. It sucks.
Everything can "indicate" MS or something else but you're never sure.

This, truly, sucks.

[Xalatimo]

Don't assume it's optic neuritis unless you start losing vision or have extremely blurry vision.  Optic neuritis is also painful at times and you will experience pain while moving your eyes if you do have this.  Plus, an opthamologist can detect it.  I am starting to think what you have is anxiety and not MS.  But like I said, don't assume you have MS unless you have evidence that a doctor could see (like a failed reflex test).