Very scared - please answer!!
 

I am a 26 year old female with no history of any medical problems at all (except my back goes out once in a while and I go to the chiropractor to fix it).

About 2 weeks ago, I woke up in the middle of the night and could not feel my legs. They were numb, cold, and tingling. I can move them fine and walk fine and have no balance issues. I went to the chiropractor thinking it was a pinched nerve. He adjusted my back but told me I probably have MS. It really scared me so I went to the ER right away. They refused to do an MRI (needed more evidence) and sent me home after drawing blood.

I went to my primary physician and he said the bloodwork was fine and he had no idea what I had. He put me on Prednisone and Nifedeprine, neither of which helped at all. I just returned to him today and he took me off of both and said it was pointless and maybe I should learn to live with this.

I made an appointment with a neurologist but that isn't for 2 more weeks and I'm very scared. Everyone just tells me I probably have MS and need to live with it. The women at work say it's probably a brain tumor and I'll die. I think they're gloating about it. But moving on...

I have numbness in my legs, tingling in my feet, and a cold left foot. I get joint pain too, very mild right now, even in my hands. My heart has been beating irregularly a bit and my blood pressure at the doctor's about 4 hours ago was 90/60, which he said was not a big deal but I feel a bit lightheaded.

What should I do? Any ideas? The doc did say my Vitamin D level was 15, which is supposed to be low, but he wasn't concerned and said it couldn't cause my symptoms.

I think it's very irresponsible of your Chiro to speculate what this could be. It very well could be a pinched nerve. Or any number of other things. A diagnosis of MS doesn't come quickly and many things must be ruled out before a definite diagnosis can be given. A good Neurologist will be able to conduct the appropriate tests. Preferably a Neuro that specializes in MS.

P.S. Don't listen to the women at work. Geez.....with friends like that who needs enemies?! :rolleyes:

Jennamartine,

Welcome to Neurotalk.

Of course you are scared- what terrible things you have been told- "you have MS", "you might have a brain tumor" and "learn to live with it." Not one caring voice in the crowd.

MS is a diagnosis of exclusion. There are many, many things to be ruled out that might be causing this. Like Lyme Disease or B12 deficiency. And it takes time.

Be patient- write your symptoms down and when they started and what you remember about that day or days leading up to it.

If reading medical things is panicking you, don't read it.

Let us know how you are doing and how that neuro visit goes.

My best to you,
ANN

Hi Jenna, nice to meet you.:) I hope you don't have MS and what you are feeling is just a temporary thing. Please do stay with us and let us know what your Neuro thinks.

Again Welcome to NeuroTalk..:hug:

Hope you dont have MS.

If doctors seem to be acting as if the numbness isnt a big deal, that's because to them, it's not a big deal. Doctors tend to forget that a lot of their patients dont have any medical training. Numbness is not really considered an emergency by doctors. Unless you have something like paralysis or abnormal reflexes accompanying it, or a giant open gaping wound somewhere causing it.

Like I said, they forget that most patients dont have the fancypants education that they have. Patients just know that they're numb, it's really uncomfortable and usually very distressing to the patient to be numb. I know I hate it when I'm numb. It usually makes me feel like panicking.

Hopefully the neurologist will be a good one, listen to you, be very thorough in his/her exam. If you can, take sme one with you who can remember things. You may be to scared to remember what to ask and what they tell you. Be prepared to have a lot of tests scheduled. As one said, MS is a diagnosis of exclusion. There are a lot of illness with the same symptoms and they just have to get the right one. You are in the right place for support or to just find a place to take your shoes off, put your feet up and relax and have a good laugh.

Don't bother listening to so many others. Waiting for my MRIs results I was convinced it was a brain tumor. The years proceeding my DX, doctors and others said they didn't know what it was, but it wasn't MS. My PCP unhappily sent me to a Neurolgical Opthalmologist who looked so serious at me, said he had no idea, could not help me but he could do magic tricks for me and did. (I was cute back then and a captive audience for that frustrated magician-wanna-be.). My PCP then sent me to a neurologist and made me promise her after that I'd stop looking for answers. He DXed MS. No numbness or tingling, I walked funny and always had to pee. My LP and MRI were classic MS. I'm PPMS and firmly convinced in my DX. 10 years after DX I am in a wheelchair but never spasm or tingle or have numbness. I have found many doctors and others in medical community are very unfamiliar with MS and not worthy of listening to. My D and B levels show fine. Everyone's MS or ? is different.

The women at work sound like total b******. If I could curse them then I would. A pox on them then.

I would suggest finding new docs. You need a doc that is part of a team and would rather say I can't give you a definite answer but refers you to someone who can or at least someone who can point you in the right direction. I've gotten very lucky with most of my docs. I have never had a problem with anyone she has referred me to.

Good luck and I hope it is not MS but you get correct answers so your issues can be addressed.

Wow!

No wonder you are so scared - I can't believe that your chiropractor has made this call. I also can't believe that the girls you work with are that nasty.

Others here have given you great advice, Kicker has called the gods to smite those who are being so mean :D, and we all agree that MS is a complicated thing that will take some investigating before diagnosis.

So....take a deep breath...this is a great place for friendship, support and information. If you do end up with MS - life will go on. Some things will be different, but there are many worse things that you could have, and there are amazing strides being made all the time across so many medical frontiers.

Please take care, and take heart - you are not alone, so keep us posted.

Lyn