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Multiple Sclerosis
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Posted 4/15/2015 10:49 PM (GMT 0)
I posted this on CFS, but since I've been informally diagnosed with MS, here it goes

about 15 years ago while living in Japan I passed out in a field. When I awoke I realized that something had bit my hand (some believe it was a brown recluse spider). My hand became about the size of a softball and shortly thereafter, I developed neurological symptoms that came quickly and violently). I truly believed I was dying. I got better for a period of time and then regressed. The house I lived in also had severe mold (which is something I also think may have caused this).

At present I have:
Constant fatigue
Brain fog
Severe anxiety and 3 panic attacks
Tingling legs and face (inside nose and eyelids) (new symptoms after getting over a severe viral infection)

I had a MRI several years ago, which revealed a few signal intensity lesions and they discussed MS, but I just don't think it is based on the violence of my symptoms and how poisoned I feel.

I recently became a psychologist, which appears to have triggered additional anxiety and symptoms. I'm currently a psychologist who thinks about suicide to escape the 24-7 hellish symptoms. I truly feel like I'm dying. Sorry to hear others are struggling. I just have always been searching for answers. Frustrated. Perhaps I do have MS, but it just didn't fit based on onset, type and violence of symptomology. If it is MS, I've gone untreated for 15 years now haha.

Thanks in advance for any thoughts you may have :)
Posted 4/18/2015 6:03 PM (GMT 0)
Hi Hoshie,
Personally, I don't know. If it was a brown recluse that bit you, you would know. The venom from a recluse destroys the skin around the bite. A friend got bit by one and waited too long to go to the doc and they had to (literally) make a 4 inch incision and open it up and scrape the inside of the skin and the muscle. Sorry to be so graphic.....

Some symptoms seem to fit with MS, the Constant fatigue, Brain fog, Tingling legs and face definitely do. I am not sure about the anxiety though, I have heard of some of that but not a whole lot.

Lesions on the brain can be caused by things other than ms. I was told by my neuro that they can spot lesions but cannot tell from the mri what caused them. A stroke looks the same as a lesion caused by ms. I am not sure if that is still true since I was told that in about 2010 but that is what I was told then.

You said you just got over a viral infection. There are some schools of thought now that believe there could be a viral or environmental trigger to ms. That is very new and unproven but I have seen a couple articles on it.

However to me, it seems like being a new psychologist would be enough to cause anxiety. As for the physical symptoms get with your primary physician and explain all of your concerns. If they blow you off or do not try to get to the bottom of things then get another one. I had a pcp that did not take me seriously so I dumped them and got another. However, do not mention your concern about ms right away, let them draw their own conclusions. Being a psychologist I am sure that you know about the power of suggestion.

There are definitely problems that you have that need to be explored.

Anyway, I hope all of this makes sense to you. Good luck to you with being a new psychologist and with finding out what your problems are caused by.

Jim
Posted 4/19/2015 12:52 AM (GMT 0)
Hoshie,

I have allergic reactions to insect bites that cause me to lose consciousness. During one of these allergic reactions, an onlooker said it looked like I may have had a seizure--which led the docs to give me an MRI. Because of what they found in the MRI (40+ lesions), I was diagnosed with MS.

Since then I have had MS relapses, and I believe some of them (if not all) have been initiated by an allergic reaction. I can tell you my MS relapses start off feeling just like one of my allergic reactions. So now when I get bit by a bug and the symptoms start, I worry if it will turn into an MS relapse or not.

I would imagine you have two (if not more) conditions causing your ailments. Just the fact that you have a mysterious illness is enough to cause anxiety. I take treatment for anxiety myself. It is a byproduct of having MS.

I normally get an "aura" before I pass out--meaning I have other symptoms that warn me it is coming (a metallic taste in my mouth, anxiety, tunnel vision, nausea). Tell me, do you experience those same symptoms before you lost consciousness?

Frank
Posted 4/19/2015 3:27 AM (GMT 0)
Hey Frank,

I don't ever lose consciousness. When I was in japan, I passed out due to intoxication. Something bit me there...never saw or felt it, but it looked like a brown recluse with respect to swelling and tissue damage.

I actually felt really good earlier this year minus the tinnitus which has been ongoing for 10+ Years. A couple months ago, I caught a nasty virus which lasted over a month. I finally caved and went in and got some symbicort and antibiotics and things have gone dramatically downhill. My anxiety and brain fog are sooo intense. Tingling is chronic in legs and periodic in my face. I really feel like I'm poisoned and dying. Sooo frustrated and scared.

Thanks for your response and time.
Posted 4/19/2015 7:57 AM (GMT 0)
I would schedule an appointment with a neurologist. If it is MS, you should start some type of treatment. Just knowing what is wrong can relieve a lot of fear/stress. Sometimes MS patients even get symptom relief from their treatment program--even though it is only designed to slow progression, not relieve symptoms.

The anxiety can be treated too with medication. You'll probably need to see a psychiatrist to get a prescription. Some meds work for some people, not for others--so you may have to experiment a little. I settled on Seroquel after trying two others.

Get to a doc--don't wait for it to get worse. Good luck.
Posted 4/21/2015 10:23 PM (GMT 0)
Get a juicer and try juicing. If you body it toxic with mold and viruses you need to remove the toxins. When you drink fresh juice from fruits and vegetables you give your body what it needs to remove the toxins. Your body is always trying to heal itself but you need to give it the vitamins and minerals it needs. Good health is the result of putting good things in our bodies. Hippocrates the father of western medicine tell us "Let your food be your medicine and your medicine be your food". God told Adam and Eve to eat the fruits and vegetables bearing seed. That was his instructions for good health. It still works today.
Posted 4/22/2015 2:28 AM (GMT 0)
Hoshie,

Sorry to hear that you are feeling down in the dumps.

MS presents it self differently in every case and is unique to every patient. With that said, Your symptoms sound like typical symptoms right down to the anxiety.

A neurologist whos knowledgeable or specializes in ms will be able to differentiate between stroke lesions and ms lesion. Also As for your diagnosis, i have to ask why havent you been formally diagnosed.? Although MRI imaging alone can diagnose MS ( http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/McDonald_criteria ) a thorough neurologist will perform multiple MRIs of the brain, cervical spine and thoracic spine (usually with contrast), a lumbar puncture and evoke potential testing and take clinical symptoms into great consideration before he/she makes a diagnosis.

If you havent already, i would suggest getting involved with your local chapter of the MS Society. Just meeting other people with the disease and hearing their stories helped me greatly. You know what they are going through and they know what you're going through..so there a calm understanding in the room..just my take.

As for your spider bite. That is a million dollar question. Many health care professionals, drug companies that make drug therapies to treat MS and researchers firmly believe that MS manifests itself from an underlying condition ( bacterial, viral, fungal ect ect) myself included.

Remember, somebody somewhere has it worse and any day on this side of the green is a good day.

Post Edited (Chris_1234) : 4/21/2015 8:36:51 PM (GMT-6)

Posted 4/22/2015 2:33 AM (GMT 0)
http://www.asnr.org/patientinfo/conditions/ms.shtml

Www.mssociety.ca

Www.mssociety.org.uk

www.nationalmssociety.org/

Feel free to pm me if you want or need to chat.

Post Edited (Chris_1234) : 4/21/2015 8:37:55 PM (GMT-6)

Posted 5/3/2015 5:45 AM (GMT 0)
Hi you should get tested for lyme. Untreated lyme can cause many of your symptoms. You got bit by something....lyme tests are know to be very inaccurate. Get a lab test by a lab called igenex. Check ot the lyme board. Post your question on that board. This in my opinion soinds like classic lyme.
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