for the warm welcome. its nice to meet each of you.

hi bones, roadie and seara.
sorry for the reason you've found us but i'm glad you're here.

hope to hear more about you all.

Hi,

Ran across this site in another forum I belong to.

Had my first MS sx almost 2 years ago - numb arm and hand. Thought it was from doing the rowing machine for the first time at the Y. So much for that theory. Was officially dx October 07. Tried Rebif for a short stint, but we did not agree at all. I have now been on Copaxone since March 08, and seem to be doing well.

Since starting C, had one flare this summer after overheating at the county fair - tingling/ burning cold ??? left foot. That was July 26th. Tried gabapentin for a couple weeks, but the side effects of being out of it all the time just weren't worth it for me. My foot still isn't back to normal, but most of the time, I don't even notice it anymore. Other than that, been pretty good MS wise, I think. What do I know anymore?

Also in the last year (about 2 weeks after starting Rebif, so I am blaming that!), I became gluten intolerant. I must say, that runs my life and makes it suck more than the MS at this point!

Glad I found another place to look around, and talk with people that understand.

Hi Pam and a big welcome to you. Come on in and join the party.

I'm glad you found us, I think you'll like it here..

Hi Pam and welcome to the MS Forum! So glad you found us....there's a large MS community here with lots of great information and very supportive & understanding people.

My name is Dragonfly I have had MS since 2001 or finally diagnosed. I am in the middle of a huge flare up and just finished 5 nights of Methopredision IV tonight.I live in Midland Tx. I am 48 years old. I am going to fax my doctor in Temple Tx tomorrow and ask for LDN

Welcome, Dragonfly, so nice to meet you.

The above is an old post, actually, I'm going into my 6th year on LDN and still love it.

Be sure to visit our LDN checkin thread and good luck with getting a script from your Doc.

Come on in and join your new Family.

Hello all, I have read so many of these pages and the info has been great. I have not been DX with MS but there is suspicion for it because of intermittent paresthesia. Below is my history.

I am 34 female otherwise healthy Mom and wife.
I got Strep with a fever that I could not bring down and ended up in the ER in May 08. Two weeks later my neuro symptoms started. I felt very weak and legs were sore like I had the flu, went to Dr and blood work showed viral infection. Dr said remaining virus I will get over it. My knee (skin only) had a mild burning sensation without any reason which would last 10 - 15 secs on and off throughout the day. I got very dizzy and lightheaded for a few days and went back to Dr. He did blood work and said everything was back to normal, still must be effects of virus. I felt horrible, NO energy, no appetite, lightheaded, and sick. This went on for several weeks and I couldn't perform my job. I was referred to neurologist and passed neuro exam, EMG, and MRI of brain cervical spine was normal (with and w/o contrast). Neurologist said I think it is a virus, give it time and it will go away. From May to July my neuro symptoms increased to my forearm feeling like there was a band slightly constricting it; my temple tingling; the feeling of "chills" with no visual skin changes, and isolated to a small area like the top of one thigh. My toe at the tip feels less sensitive, like a band-aid is covering it. All of these feelings would only last seconds to a few minutes at the most, but they would come and go throughout the day. Some days would be good and the very next day would be "sick" again. My family Dr and Neuro looked for MS b/c of paresthesia but Neuro said that my symptoms did not match MS that she had seen and all my tests were normal. I stopped Zantac and everything I was taking in fear b/c I didn't know what my problem was and I wanted to see if I could get better. I did, almost all symptoms went away by Aug and everyone thought they would never come back. I started the Zantac again (very bad ulcer and reflux) and got a flu shot in Oct. Two days later the "chills" feeling came back and over the next few weeks, so did the others. I was soo depressed and afraid, anxious ALL the time. Neuro does not know why they came back and has ordered another MRI and will refer me to another Neuro for a spinal tap if I want. I had my Dr. order B12 serum. It was 283 with a note from lab stating 10% of patients have neurological symptoms with level below 400. Neuro said can have problems with level below 500! I started the cyano b12 shots 1ml every day for 7 days, then 1 per week for 4 weeks, then 1 per month. My symptoms are 85% better after 5th shot! I stopped Zantac after reading it can cause b12 deficiency.
I am afraid of MS and I am trying not to put all my eggs into B12 being the case but with the weird intermittent paresthesia I can’t figure out any other reason, and neither can my Drs. I don’t want the spinal tap until last resort. If my MRI comes back normal tomorrow what should I ask my Dr to do next? My neuro is very nice and wants to help but she said after seeing her since June,” in my heart of hearts I don’t believe that you have MS, I think it may be a virus and sometimes we can’t find a reason for everything.” .Have any of you ever heard of a virus lasting this long and presenting neuro symptoms? I don’t have any pain and I have not fallen or had any vision problems. Neuro said my symptoms are peripheral and have to do w/sensory. During all this, for about 5 days my knee (area about two inches on skin) felt like a cold breeze was blowing on it? When I have the numbness sensations I check to see if it is really numb and it is NOT. I feel everything just slightly less during the “spells.” Dr said in MS symptoms have to last for 24hrs to be considered a flare up, do mine count b/c they only last a few seconds but are coming and going through the day. They also change from day to day; my finger can feel numb for a few days then feel normal a few days, then back to numbness again. (when I say numb it is not really completely numb, just less sensitive.)

I also went to ENT and had many tests done for vertigo, again everything normal. Dr said I could be hypoglycemic when I feel light-headed and eating does make me feel better, but not 100%.

Is it possible that all of my problems could be due to overuse of PPI and low Vit b12? I don’t eat meat that much and my diet is not very healthy, but that is changing! Does this sound like early MS that anyone else has experienced? I have had blood drawn for everything many times over 6 months, diabetes, lupus, RA, only things off are B12 and Vitamin D.

I was a normal person before all this, now I worry ALL the TIME! After reading so much on the internet I am scared that I will wake up one day w/o vision or feel paralyzed, or that the “symptoms” won’t go away. I know that some people get diagnosed with MS when they don’t really have it, so I am afraid to go to a new Dr and they just diagnose me b/c of my paresthesia and no lesion on MRI. My second MRI that is tomorrow will be 6 months from my last. If it is normal does that lessen my chances even more of not having MS?



Sorry for such a long and convoluted post !Thanks for any help!

who had chronic paresthesias on his upper back.

When he was tested for Vit D and found very low, and when he started VitD replacement he improved.

example:
http://neurotalk.psychcentral.com/thread43954.html

Sometimes if there is an imbalance between Calcium and magnesium, there will be paresthesias, tingling, tight muscles,
cramping etc.

Check out my magnesium thread at Vitamin forum and try one of the good supplements for a month. 7 out of 10 people are typically below RDA intake for this mineral.
http://neurotalk.psychcentral.com/thread1138.html

These are the most commonly appearing problems. Best to deal with the more common first and move on if correcting them does not work. I would continue with the B12.
Zantac and other H2 antagonists decrease stomach acid, which B12 needs to be absorbed. Those drugs also cross the blood brain barrier in some people (more commonly the elderly, but others as well) and cause CNS symptoms. Headache is most common, but confusion, and other things may result.

hello and welcome to all.
glad you found us.

hope to hear more about everyone.