hello, and welcome.

While stress can cause such symptoms, you normally just know it when something is wrong with you. you can feel it! That being said, there are more than 100 diseases that can mimic MS. Lyme, Lupus, Sjoghrens, and so on. The list could go on and on.

What I found helpful was to get to an MS clinic. there are usually at least one in every state. Sometimes its a branch of a main hospital, but most states have at least one. Those folks will do the leg work. They will test for Vit b12 def. Check your Vit D level (commonly low in MS) check your Lyme titers, and your inflammtory markers. They will do hands on exam, and if all of those things lead them to believe they need to be searching for MS, they most commonly do a spinal tap, and an MRI with Gadolinium dye. If you have lesions in your brain, the dye will light up the active ones. not all brain lesions are MS. They commonly lay in a pattern around the ventricle, but can be found in other locations. The spinal tap will measure inflammatory markers and O bands. Most folks wont have O bands unless they are IN a flair, so dont be discouraged if its a zero count.

PLEASE see an eye surgeon. They will take a look at the front edge of that optic nerve in your eyes, and maybe able to tell if you have a disease called optic neuritis. its a hallmark sign of MS and quite frequently is the presenting symptom of MS. They can only see the front tip of this thing, and the MRI would be able to see the rest.

Please know that being tested for and being diagnosed with MS is a long process for most folks. Many go through several MDs before finding one that will listen to them. In 99% of all MS cases, they are not an emergency. While it feels like your life is falling apart, and you cant get a grip, its RARE, extremely rare to have a lesion on your brain stem, and that would be the only time you will see those who diagnose you panic.

Please go to NMSS.org. They have amazing resources, and can help you find an MD in your area that treats and can help diagnose or rule out MS. Its a process of elimination. They take this basket of 100 things and start to pull them out. She doesnt have B12 cause her blood test was great, ok, next, she doesnt have Lyme cause her blood test was good, ok, next, she doesnt have high inflammatory markers her CRP was good...get the idea? Then they will narrow it down to a hand ful of 10 and out of those ten, they tend to take their best educated guess based on your history, and your work up. it can be quite frustrating and aggrevating, but dont allow yourself to be dismissed if you feel something is wrong. Go get those answers. I wish there was a blood test that could make it easy.

I have always said I want a color coded system of eyebrows. This girl has a red eyebrow so she has heart disease. This one pink, she has breast cancer, this one is orange so she has MS. wouldnt that be great?! Hang in there, and come on back to sit and chat, and learn, and get hugs.