Hello. I'm a 26 year old female and for the last 7 months I have been experiencing strange symptoms that seem neurological in nature. I have a family history of neurological disorders on my mother's side of my family. My mother has epilepsy, her father had parkinsons, and somewhere in the family line there have been one or more cases of MS. I have RLS and sensitive to medications that cause tardive dyskinesia.
I once experimented with psychedelic mushrooms when I was 22. During my trip I experienced spinal pain, urinary incontinence and visual symptoms resembling visual snow and scotoma. Ever since that experience I have been seeing transparent black spots and spectral colored lights in the shape of zigzags, blobs, specks and resemble sparkling snow, which last for a few seconds. I shrugged it off as a hallucinogen flashback that would probably go away after time. However, the symptoms never stopped. In fact, while typing this I have just experienced a few of these strange visual phenomenon. I fear that it may have caused damage to my central nervous system.
Over the summer of 2010 I started having episodes of urinary problems, reoccurring UTI's, strange rib and back pain, hot sensations in my neck and shoulders, blurry vision, feeling faint and/or feelings that I can only describe as an impending seizure or a stroke, despite the fact I cannot verify I have ever had a seizure. It was nothing like a panic attack, not even similar to severe panic attacks.
These symptoms have progressed over the months.
Now I have severe nausea and/or less frequently vomiting every morning, sudden unexplainable constipation despite the fact I've had IBS with chronic diarrhea for 10 years, tunnel vision, blurry vision, grayish vision, double vision, visual hallucinations of colors and lights, eye pain, one-sided headaches, feeling like I'm going blind, sensations of hot and cold everywhere from my face to my arms and chest, numbness and tingling in my face, arms and legs, weakness in my arms and legs, burning pain in my arms(the feeling you get after excessive weight lifting or exercise), rapid and pounding heartbeat, palpitations, shaking, twitching in my arms and back, occasional involuntary noises, zapping sensations in my spine, weight loss, confusion/very poor short term memory/concentration, uncoordinated movements, loss of balance, dizziness, feeling faint, fatigue, shortness of breath, difficulty breathing (where must literally force myself to breathe for a few minutes, not hyperventilation), high and low blood pressure, chest tightness and pressure in abdomen that is not asthma related(girdle band-like pain), feeling faint upon standing, easy bruising, temporary inability to urinate or unable to feel the need to go with a few instances where I almost had an accident, delayed gastric emptying(stomach paralysis) and facial flushing.
I've been experiencing most of these symptoms everyday. I feel weak, especially in my arms and legs and out of breath so much that it's exhausting to leave the house. I have a constant fear that I will faint or vomit in public.
I can only explain my symptoms as a failure of my brain to communicate properly with my bodily systems. These symptoms have been slowly progressing every day, I am afraid I will have to stop working.
My doctor thinks I may just have fibromyalgia and anxiety, which has not been verified by any tests--I'm very skeptical of the diagnosis. I have had anxiety for 26 years and these symptoms are nothing like panic attacks I've ever had, plus my Xanax seems to help only very slightly, even after increasing the dosage.
I had blood work done including a complete blood count, an ANA test which came back negative, a negative thyroid test and a negative rheumatoid factor test.
I just had an EEG last week and waiting for the results. I have a feeling it may be negative. However, during the strobe light part of the test I started twitching a lot in my arms and back. It was very uncomfortable. I was also having visual disturbances before and during the procedure. I wonder if they might have been recorded or not.
I know I cannot get a diagnosis on this forum and that only a doctor can verify a disease. I'm wondering what a negative ANA test or EEG means for a diagnosis of MS and if my symptoms even resemble MS. My doctor seems like she's calling it quits and wants to write it off as fibromyalgia and anxiety, and I don't feel it's helpful. Any suggestions?
By the way, I was tested for diabetes and came back negative and I don't consume any artificial sweeteners, as I am allergic to them.
Post Edited (pink blobs) : 1/31/2011 12:30:19 AM (GMT-7)