Brief background –

For a period of around 6 weeks i have been having spasm in muscles all over my body this has decreased over this period but increased over the past 2 days, i have also had on occasion a kind of fog on my eye this is stopped by blinking or rubbing. Also body pain, not proper as in bee sting more like if you were punched by a friend 😕 this is less often now. I sometimes experience dizziness this is less frequent perhaps every 3 months but has happened over a 2 year period (my mother has meniere’s disease)

I have spoken to my doc a week ago who hit me on the elbow with his xylophone mallet (bit old school) and said nothing to abnormal but return in 3 weeks if it persists. Whilst I haven’t waited the 3 weeks I feel as though it is not going to stop and the signs direct me towards MS. 👿

My question I am seeing my doc this friday can I demand to see a neurologist or have an MRI scan, as i am very concerned and it is affecting my mental health. I would honestly rather die then be a pair of eyes on a pillow.

You may ask the DR, politely if you can be rerfered to see a Neurologist, and pick which hospital you want to be seen at,but you may wait for quite a while.

Why not make an appointment with another Dr at the pracrtice and get a second opinion.

From experience of MS,the DR,S never believe you and find it difficult to diagnose.

Best of luck.

i could do i guess but this was the first time i had been to a DR in years, I don’t understand why he wouldn’t believe me. guess i could go private. 😐

Going private will gain you nothing much. Why do you think MS?

Go back to your GP. The hitting your elbow with a mallet is a normal test, one that any GP would do. Dunno what you think and MRI scan would show anyway. What makes you say ” why wouldn’t he believe me? You appear to have self diagnosed MS, he probably does not agree with you.

There are many things this could be.

Well i think MS as many of the signs add up baring in mind I am never ill with the exception of maybe 2 colds a year. Is it a normal test, what would it show him? I have only seen the mallet thing on TV. MRI would show if i have problems with my brain or spinal cord, lesions i believe. Your right about the self diagnoses, but i just feel it needs investigating further. I don’t understand what his mallet and looking at me would confirm. More than anything it is effecting my mental health which is not great when trying to perform day to day tasks.

cyber-condria is an easy diagnosis.

Tails – the mallet thing tests the speed of spinal nerve impulses. Hit the tendon which stretches it which is picked up by a nerve – impulse travels up to the spine, and then back to the muscle making the muscle contract.

If you had MS this would be delayed. Its one of a set of basic neurological tests.

You vision thing is nothing to do with neurological issues – if it was it wouldn’t clear when rubbed

MRI scan won’t show MS I don’t think. edit – it might but might not

The reason for the 3 wk wait is to let other possible causes settle such as viral infection or dehydration.

So he was actually aiming for something with the mallet, thats reassuring.

Could Dehydration last around 9 weeks?? I have been dehydrated (urine not clear) but I have been drinking a lot of water so . . . bit strange.

yes I release reading the internet is not the greatest thing to do but I have learnt important information from the NHS and BUPA websites, and i am not imagining these symptoms/things.

thanks for your advice people.

Tails – a little knowledge is a dangerous thing. Did he also scratch the sole of your foot? Another basic neuro test.

The elbow hit is actually a very basic and important test – it would show up neuro problems immediately and presumably didn’t as he didn’t want to see you 3 wks.

I would take that as a good sign that there is nothing seriously wrong rather than a sign of the DR not doing his job.

Dehydration is just an example of what it could be. There are loads of other things

Umm I’m not medically trained.
But as someone who is married to and has be with the same person for 27 years who has had MS for 25 of those years, would you describe the feeling as a fizzing in your back, pin & needles in your hands, problems focusing in one eye? There are many more.

TBH not ever really being ill before has little bearing as MS sufferers generally have an over active immune system.

TJ MRI scan is I think the most common method of diagnosis of MS? Well it was for my wife as she was one of the first patients to use the scanner when we lived in Bristol.

No he didn’t do the foot test. I also would not like to accuse him of not doing his job as he seemed like a decent guy and said I did the right thing in coming to see him. I would feel more confident if it went away or I had a scan.

would you describe the feeling as a fizzing in your back, pin & needles in your hands, problems focusing in one eye? There are many more.

see thats the point i have none of those but have heard/read that MS has many different symptoms, which as you say makes it hard to diagnose but a scan should be more certain

TBH not ever really being ill before has little bearing as MS sufferers generally have an over active immune system.

i have just mentioned my lack of being ill as i am not a sufferer of hypercondria

Mr Overshoot – I checked hence the edit in my post. I thought it didn’t show on MRI scans but was wrong. I merely mentioned the scratching the sole of your foot as another common test that laypeople think is odd

okay well thanks for your replies i’m off to try get some sleep.

Your correct about the foot test TJ as the feet are one of the first areas to loose sensitivity with MS, I can remember my wife walking in trailing blood everywhere as she had a roofing tack stuck in her foot and she didn’t notice!
Sadly she cant walk anywhere these days 🙁 She has Cat2 Progressive not Relapse-Remit which is the early stages.

Poor old Sheldon Brown had Cat1 Progressive (He was bloody brave about it in the email conversations I had with him about it)

I’m sorry tails that this discussion is not really helping you much, but I would keep your chin up and get some tests done then you will know.

I think your doc sounds like he’s just starting to narrow down the options.
And the problem is that your symptoms can apply to a large selection of ailments!
Also a lot of them can take a long time to pin down as there are so many variations/combinations of symptoms in each case.
Numbness, pain, spasms, dizziness can all play a part in things like ME,CFS, Fibromyalgia, post viral syndrome etc. as well as viral infections, flu type stuff.
Combinations of relatively minor conditions like being run down, poor nutrition, dehydration, digestive problems, trapped nerves, pulled muscles, lack of good sleep, mild depression and stress can combine to appear to be something much worse (and just as debilitating) at first sight. (and often work against each other to stop your body from fixing itself swiftly)
We commonly tend to think the worst when we’re worried and don’t really know what we’re looking for but a lot of people still get floored by less well known and stubbornly awkward to diagnose stuff!
By all means keep talking with your doctor but try not to get fixed on the one idea, he may have done some training at some point and have more ideas to test for, but be waiting for that 3 week gap to rule out other possible diagnoses!
Oh and I really hope for you that it isn’t MS!
(apologies for the rambling response! It’s the insomnia I tells ya!)

Doctors know nothing, long live the punter home diagnosis is what I say!

no history of MS in your family?

no history of MS in your family?

no not that i know of, or have been told of.

thanks for your time, its wrecking my **** head i really hope it is just a combination of minor ailments I personally will not be able cope but the thought of topping myself is equally as scary.

could be worse, i went into the Doc’s with a strained wrist, he ended up testing me for a particularly rapid and incurable bone cancer!

Got some funny looks off the nurse when i went in for the blood tests as well, she was about the 5th person to draw blood that week(gave blood, MRSA test, different set of blood tests, assorted bike related scratches, a hole where i jabed myelf tryign to sew a button on whilst drunk), my arms looked like those of a serial junkie!

good luck!

Tails – even if it is MS (doubtful from your symptoms), this doesn’t mean you’ll be “two eyes on a pillow”.
My best mate was diagnosed with MS (MRI scan) a few years ago and is totally fine now.

When you say muscle spasms what do you actually mean? Not that I can actually diagnose over t’internet of course

Tails, my wife was diagnosed with MS at 19 after 2 years of being told she had Epilepsy (they put her on frightening doses of tablets) or one kind doctor even suggested she was a malingerer and it was all in her head!
Given that her first attacks were while she was doing 4 A levels, playing the flute to grade 8 & working in a local shop during what little spare time she had this was a real insult.

She’s now 42 and only in the last 10 years has it really started to affect her day to day routine. But she’s a million miles away from “two eyes on a pillow” sure its hard (for both of us) but you adapt and get on with it the best you can.

could be worse,

I’m sure there are many worse things but i want my body to do as its told not how it pleases.

When you say muscle spasms what do you actually mean?

well i get two kinds the first i can see it, it moves the body part to a rhythm most noticable my upper arm. This can be stopped by grabbing it or biting it or even just looking at it(except for one occasion where it went on all day) The rhythm is a different speed most times.

The second is like a jerk or zap one quick movement, but will move the whole leg rather than a single part. thanks for your help.

MrOvershoot i’m sorry for my ‘two eyes on a pillow’ comment not particularly thoughtful of me especially when your being very helpful and reassuring.

How old are you? Sounds more like motor tics / myoclonus than true spasm to me but I am reaching the limits of my knowledge here.

I seriously think that there are far more likely diagnoses for this than MS.

One possible explanation is dehydration and salt depletion started it. You got worried and stressed and the stress has continued it. I ain’t saying that is the cause – but its as least as likely as MS.

Try getting really relaxed – massage, swimming.

Nowt else I can offer but to go back to the GP – but do so calmly and ask for what he thinks is going on.

Hi, along with foot drop your symptoms sound a bit like mine were. It took me 2 years to realise I had Lyme Disease, by which time it was a bit late to treat it so I haven’t been able to shake it off. I had a lot of private treatment (was in Bupa with work at the time) but no-one even considered Lyme might be the problem. I didn’t have (or at least don’t remember) a rash, but I had just been walking and cycling in long grass in the Lake District on hol. Although the NHS tests are notoriously unreliable, it might be worth asking your GP to consider it. I certainly wouldn’t be worried about MS just yet (and don’t accept a diagnosis of CFS or ME, you pretty much get consigned to the dustbin with that!).

Take care

tails – Member
MrOvershoot i’m sorry for my ‘two eyes on a pillow’ comment not particularly thoughtful of me especially when your being very helpful and reassuring.

Its OK I didn’t take any offense, I was really trying to let you see even if it was MS it can take years for any issues to restrict any of your day to day activity.
I fully understand your head must be all over the place at the moment, I once convinced myself I had testicular cancer by self diagnosis in the middle of the night, turns out I was passing a kidney stone 😳

Out of intrest where are you based?

How old are you?

25 years old. i shall look into tics or tourettes etc as has been said so many other things it could be.

jdavis, lymes had crossed my mind after reading something on this forum, but surely i would notice a insect stuck to me. But I shall mention it.

Out of intrest where are you based?

Around 15 miles from cambridge (Prime mountain biking location :lol:)

Not all MS is terrible, if it turns out you have it. I know someone who has had it for at least 10 years and still goes running for fun. His running mates have not spoted it. A collegue has a relative now in her late 50’s who gets about relatively normally on her own, given she was diagnosed decades ago!

i want my body to do as its told not how it pleases.

You’re gonna have trouble with getting older then! 😉

(and don’t accept a diagnosis of CFS or ME, you pretty much get consigned to the dustbin with that!)

Doesn’t mean you haven’t got them, but yeah don’t get that label on you as the docs generally don’t really know what to do with it (although they are starting to admit that it exists) Unless it develops into something with a definite treatment they’re often stumped with what to do and you get left in limbo. I know and know of people that have been stuffed by that as much as their medical problems!

Try getting really relaxed – massage, swimming.

I’ve found Shiatsu can work quite well too. Can clear away a lot of the secondary symptoms so that you have a clearer idea of the underlying problem. (if any! 🙂 )

Also +1 for positive MS views. The Mrs and I know a lovely chap who on diagnosis went out and bought himself a spangly new bike or two and he’s still flipping quick out on the trails! Attitude to stuff can make all the difference 🙂

Tails said “jdavis, lymes had crossed my mind after reading something on this forum, but surely i would notice a insect stuck to me. But I shall mention it.”

No, is the short answer.

The longer answer – A high proportion of people don’t notice a tick, they can get into all little nooks and crannies (ahem) and they don’t itch or hurt, because they inject some sort of anaesthetic before they start feeding on you. They can be the size of a freckle, very difficult to spot. Not everyone gets the tell-tale bulls-eye rash either.

Please don’t discount it totally even if you don’t think it fits. I wish someone had told me:-( There are very few enlightened GPs as well, so the theory is quite likely to be dismissed with him/her.

Out of interest, do you cycle in Thetford Forest as you’re in Cambridge?