wmjsease
04-06-2006, 11:29 AM
All of my problems started after the birth of my daughter who is now almost 6. I started getting a tingling weird feeling in head and scalp. Then I started getting really lightheaded feeling. It wasn't bad for the first two years. I could tolerated it, but it was aggrivating. Also, the left side of my face would go numb alot. I lived with it for a while, but then I got to where I couldn't drive sometimes, because of the dizziness and lightheadedness. Also, terrible headaches. I went to my GP and he said it was just anxiety or depression and put me on nerve pills. Well it didn't help. So I called a neurologist myself, and was seen. He did a CT Scan with contrast and an eng, and said that he didn't find anything and put me on another nerve pill. It didn't help. So about a year passed, and all of my symptoms increased. I went to another neuro, and he did a lot of tests and came up saying that I was missing part of my cerebellum, but that the rest of my brain had compensated for it and that it was okay. He said migraines were my problem. I still didn't agree, so I went to two different ENTs and they didn't give me and answer. I also went to the eye doctor and he couldn't help. I have new symptoms lately. My right eye hurts really bad, and sometimes my vision in both eyes gets blurry. Also, the headaches are extreme, and I always feel like I'm going to pass out. Some days it's worse than others. My hands tingle and go to sleep alot, and sometimes I have a lot of tingling in my left leg. My face and neck are going numb a lot of my left side. I've had 2 mri, 2eeg's nerve conduction test and blood tests. Please help. What do you think? I've also had all the heart tests that they could give me to make sure I don't have blockages or anything and I had a carotid artery ultrasound. Everything always comes back clear. I have had to hire a lady to drive for me because I stay so dizzy/lightheaded. I have 3 kids and cannot do the things with them that I once could. Everything gets worse around my period, and I get really dizzy around crowds. Anxiety is probably the issue there. Please help.
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TamCazz
04-06-2006, 05:00 PM
I'm sorry to hear about all of your trouble. I can relate to a lot of what you are saying. I had horrible migraines before and after my last child was born. They got worse around my period, so my OB/GYN put me on some hormones to try to help. Eliminating my period didn't do any good. After a while, none of the migraine meds did any good, either. Over the past year, I got to the point that a migraine would keep me off work for days. When I had my first MRI in November, there were just a few lesions, which my doctor thought might be from the migraines, since they had been so severe. When I was diagnosed with Optic Neuritis just a few months later, the MRI showed almost 20 new lesions. Things just sort of picked up speed all of a sudden. Get yourself into a good neurologist, preferably one who deals with MS. That's what I had to do. I was sent to a neurosurgeon first (after going through some of the same cardiac tests you've been through), and he was clueless. I got my own referral to one of the best MS specialists in the Northwest from my GP - before I knew I had it. Hang in there! :)
wmjsease
04-06-2006, 08:40 PM
thank you for your response. Unfortunately neither one of my MRI's showed lesions. They were completely clear. I am going to see a new GP Monday that luckily also knows a lot about MS. Hopefully he'll refer me to another one. Without the lesions, niether one of the other neuro's wanted to say it was MS. I feel like I have it though or something similar to it. I would love to have my head stop hurting and stop feeling as if I'm going to pass out all of the time. I hope that something can be done about it. Again, thank you. I'll post a response after I go to the doctor Monday. What did you do about your migraines/head pain. Is it better now?
dgibson70
04-07-2006, 07:25 AM
Unfortunately, MS is a very difficult disease to diagnosis. It mimics many other things because the symptoms are all over the place. The main things a doctor looks for are the lesions either on the brain or on the spinal cord, a positive LP result, positive evoked potential tests and at least two 'episodes' or attacks. You don't have to have a positive result on all of these to be diagnosed but since you mentioned you had negative results on all your tests so far, you will be hard pressed to find a doctor who will even entertain the idea of MS. Even people who have positive test results on some of these remain undiagnosed for years. I know my reply seems depressing, I apologize, and I certainly don't want you to lose hope. I just don't want you to limit yourself to MS as a possible reason or you might miss what is really going if, in fact, it's not MS.
Take care and chin up!
Take care and chin up!
wmjsease
04-07-2006, 05:19 PM
thank you I am trying not to give up, but it's so hard not to. I am so used to doing things my way, and being able to do things like I used to, but it's like everything is being taken away. I'm not able to drive, do things with my kids like I want to. My life is so affected by whatever this is. And all the doctors just want to write it off as anxiety. Thanks for the support. It's what I need right now. I'll be thinking of you all in your struggles also.
journey4me
04-07-2006, 08:41 PM
Hang in there...Prior to my actual diagnosis I didn't know how I could continue to go on with how my body was feeling. I had horrible electrical shocks that lasted close to an hour and that horrible tingling throughout my body. My neurologist never suspected ms. He put me in traction for my neck (I believe that is what caused my shocks for 4 months). It wasn't until a few ER visits and two hospital stays that I was given a spinal tap and the proper mri that ms was diagnosed. Since then I have been on Avonex and neurontin. I see another neurologist now. The neurontin has just about eleminated the tingling unless I am late on the medication. I get tired too. I've got other health problems to contend with also but right now the ms is "stable" (thank God). I'm very grateful.