I'll preface this by saying that I'm sorry for the long post...because I tend to be totally full of hot air.

At 17, I had my first real memorable "episode" (even though I had been fighting severe fatigue for a year at that point) - extreme weakness (especially on my right side), fatigue that made small tasks very taxing, gait oddities due to stumbling and my right foot kind of dragging, and my balance just gone to heck, along with crappy vertigo. Went to a neurologist who had me do all the standard stuff (touch finger to nose, stand up and close eyes, blah blah)...which showed my weakness, especially in legs, loss of balance (as I fell over when I closed my eyes), and the tremor I had. But the MRI (of brain only, not brainstem or anything) came back clean, so I was sent to physical therapy. It had started to get better a little bit before the MRI results came back (about a month had elapsed since the "episode" onset), so I accepted his treatment and didn't want to cause more trouble for my aunt who had been taking off work to take me to doc appointments.

It never got completely better, or even like it was before the "episode", but I dealt with it and didn't complain about it. I tried convincing myself it was in my head, like I was making a big deal out of nothing... but things slowly came on....muscle twitches would happen every once in a
while, then more often, then it became constant. I began to get shooting pain, numbness, and more brain fog than I'm used to.

I'm 20, nearing 21 now.... This spring, I got a cold during Finals week. It made me feel crappy, but it was just a cold. It was still hanging on when, right after finals were over, I left for my 3wk college exchange to Ireland. The whole plane ride, my muscles were cramping almost constantly. The second day in Dublin, I woke up feeling horridly weak and exhausted. I took a hot shower, and suddenly (maybe 5mins in), I was so dizzy I couldn't stand...my legs were so weak they were giving out. I thought I was going to vomit. I sat on the toilet seat while I shakily pulled on my clothes as fast as I could, then hobbled straight to my bed as my muscles gave out. I skipped the whole day because it was hard for me to get out of bed.
In fact, 2 of the 3 weeks were spent with me being very, very weak, in pain due to my muscles twitching and spasming, and all kinds of other things. But it got better - somewhat. I had to quit my waitressing job because I physically couldn't do it anymore.

Then in September, I got the flu. Then, right after it started going away...exhaustion. I had to drop 2 classes, and missed the majority of my others. I couldn't do it. Once, I took the 1 step up from my porch to my doorway and....my legs just collapsed. The muscles went to water. It's happened a few other times since then. My muscles twitch 24/7, though it could be anywhere...a finger, leg, thigh. Sometimes you can feel it, but not see it because it's a "deeper" muscle, but sometimes I don't feel it and see it. It feels very weird when it's a muscle I can't flex voluntarily (and wasn't even aware of) suddenly spasms...it's a really weird feeling!

My doc originally gave me a b12 shot (since I'm a little anemic) and sent me home. I came back 2wks later sobbing because I couldn't even take care of myself due to fatigue and everything was spiraling down the toilet since I couldn't do ANYTHING substantial. She sent off for a Rhum. Arthritis and ANA panels. Both came back negative.
I was given Lyrica for the INTENSE, shooting pain in my chest - but it doesn't help at all.
I'm suffering at school with my memory as well. I was diagnosed with ADHD this spring - the meds used to help a lot more than they do now. There's a different kind of fog that is NOT ADHD fog...and the meds don't touch it. But, geez, a good bit of the time I'm so tired that 20mg adderall doesn't even give me enough energy to get up and do things anymore. And even though the "episode" kind of tapered off after about a month, I'm still worse than I was before - more exhausted, weak, and with more nerve pain, more eye pain, more numbness in my feet, more muscle twitches, and more memory issues.

MS totally matches with my symptoms, even down to the little things like trouble swallowing. But, I've been through this before with a Neuro when I was 17, and my MRI was clean.
Sometimes I wonder if I'm just being stupid and making something out of nothing. I...honestly don't remember what it feels like to feel rested. So then I wonder if maybe this tiredness IS normal and I'm just being a whiner about it. And what if the MRI comes back clean this time, assuming he orders one? I have a Neuro apt on the 10th. But if it does, then what? And if it doesn't, well...that sucks too!

I'm really lost on this. Am I making too big a big deal out of it? I turn 21 on the 16th of this month....ugh.