Multiple Sclerosis

[mgd40oz1]

Hello,
I am a 29 year old male. In active duty military and in pretty good shape. For the past few months i have been experiencing some progressive and ever changing symptoms that have me very scared and worried that it is possibly MS I had a brain MRI done and my neurologist had said that everything looks good, but still had no answers..
A few months back i suddenly woke up one morning and had this feeling of total disconnect. It was like being lightheaded or dizzy, and like i was watching my life rather than willfully moving through it. The problem has been constant for over 3 months. I also started to get a lot of headaches, eye pain, muscle twitching in my forehead, numbness all through my forehead, sagging right eye, fullness and ringing in my right ear (constant), wavy/wobbly vision, neck pain, numbness in the back of my head, and just more recently both my hands and feet started becoming numb like when your hand falls asleep or something (and it has been like this for days now, nonstop)..
I have no idea what to do, and what questions to ask. Every time that i search my symptoms online i always get MS sights. I'm not a whiner or a hypochondriac, I'm just starting to get really worried and I pray for answers or healing just about everyday.
ANY information or advice would be enormously helpful, and appreciated.. God Bless

[UroDoc]

The disconnect feeling you describe as well as the others are common symptoms of generalized anxiety, something to consider. Good luck.

[theresa28]

I have experienced a lot of the symptoms that you have described. Like the fullness in your head, ringing in your ear, the numbness in your face and hands, etc. I felt like a hypochondriac too because I knew that something was wrong with me but if you were to look at me you couldn't see it. I'm 28 years old and was just diagnosed with MS 3 weeks ago. I started researching my symptoms on the internet last year and came up with MS also. I think I have had it since 2001, when I experienced my 1st visual disturbance and then nothing for 2 years. But in 2003 all of sudden I had numbness and pain on my left side startin in my chest, then to my arm, then to my face. And I had pain. My symptoms just progressed. If you believe that you have MS don't give up until you have a satisfying answer for your symptoms because they say the best way to treat the disease, slow the progress, and prevent disability, is with early treatment. So the sooner you find out, the sooner you can start. Good Luck. GOD bless, and I hope you feel better.

[Butterflyangel161558]

I understand your fear your unsureness, and worry and found out as of yesterday that I indeed do have MS. I am 33 yrs old-female and have been dealing with some similar symtoms myself and thought I was just going crazy by the way I was being evaluated. I have found a really great neurologist and he is going to help me through this one step at a time you need to keep searching and find someone to believe in and not give up.

[UroDoc]

Good luck, thanks for sharing

[ReggieMiller]

I know exactly how you are feeling. I have all these symptoms and on top of it one day I woke up blind in one eye with optic neuritis, and the MRI revealed four lesions. I am in a grieving and anger stage right now and have little family support. I went to a support group and that frightened me of what I might become. Read the book "reversing multiple sclerosis." It is really amazing.

[Christina Marie]

I'm glad to read a message from someone (much) younger than I am... My major problems started with an unexplained heart attack and stent implant at age 42, and was healthy, other than the fact that just 6 months earlier I had a complicated hysterectomy which produced internal bleeding and resulted in three blood transfusions. I have no family history of any heart disease and I honestly do eat very healthy food, etc.

When I didn't recover as anticipated after my heart attack I kept getting advice from some of the senior citizens (very kind and well intentioned) I worked with when I was able to be employed. In response to their telling me about how they had went through the "same" thing, I sometimes would blurt out, "yes, but you're 25 years older than I am!" And, I didn't want to share with them my laundry list of symptoms including the constant pain, fatigue, tremors, involuntary muscle movements, spontaneous bruising, low/fluctuating WBC, frequent vomitting, etc. I also have a vitamin D and Vitamin B 12 deficiency. A few weeks ago I was hospitalized because I had all of the symptoms of a heart attack, but after many tests found I have an enlarged biliary duct. I had an MRI yesterday, and unrelated but odd timing- I had a cyst develop on the right side of my neck which was removed by my GP the day prior.

I had one MRI and my neurologist (who specializes in MS) said he doesn't think what I have is MS, although the people I know with MS had to go through at least three MRI's before finding . Next week I am scheduled to see my neurologist and we are going to talk about RSD.

Like you, I have also experienced the fear of the unknown, the frustration of having my life turned upside down, and sometimes feel obsessive about trying to figure out what is going on inside my body.

I just started reading the comments in this forum, and as I write comments I feel it's a great way to release my thoughts knowing there are other people out there who are going through a similar, yet unique, physical crisis. I have spent too much energy trying to protect other people (family and friends) from the tests I had (mostly because of the cancer scare- but thank goodness my PET scan was completely normal.)

I'm writing too much, I know, because this is my first time to post a comment... I just want to say hang in there and remember to focus on your abilities. Ssave your energy for what is most important- you!

My greatest loss was when I was no longer able to keep working (after being a museum curator at the same museum for 16 years). I felt like all of my "life choices" were being taken away until I realized I do still have choices-- they are just different from the choices I had available to me prior to the onset of my illness. Keep that in mind, if that makes sense to you too...

Best wishes for getting the answers you're looking for---

[tmill404]

I know it's scary. I had almost all of the symptoms you describe (including waking up one morning and feeling totally disconnected) I couldn't stand up because the room kept spinning so of course I got "sea sick" It took them a while to figure out what I had (they originally told me it was a migrane, then I had a stroke, finally they settled on MS.) I can tell you that once they give you a diagnosis, aside from the inital shock, alot of the stress will go away. At least you know what your dealing with. The good news is that having MS is not the end of the world or your "life". I have had it for a little over 3 years now and am just now coming out of a relapse (I'm on sick leave) So I can tell you my feeling has never returned back to my right hand but it is manageable. The problem with MS is that it affects everyone different.

Just know that after you know what the problem is, you will feel less stress. Not knowing is the worst.

Stay in prayer.

Tom