Still confused

New diagnosis and before diagnosis
1

Hello

I posted a few times in here and am not diagnosed with anything yet. I don’t want to appear like I am whinging especially when most of you have a chronic illness, but I am still confused as to my symptoms.

  • Basically 10 years ago I was diagnosed with chronic vestibular migraine following a intense and prolonged dizzy spell. I had a brain MRI and they found an ‘arachnoid cyst’ but I was told it was incidental and I had probably been born with it.

  • Over the years I have had weird symptoms such as crushing feeling over chest, feeling of weakness in legs and arms (finding the stairs felt like a mountain and picking up my children might have me drop them) random tingling, migarine aura once where I had a blind spot for 20 minutes and saw flashing zigzags, needing to pee at night, difficulty swallowing and fatigue.

  • In the last few months since late summer I have experienced a weird tingling in my left leg that feels like goosebumps but only in one area - it is obvious enough to stop me in my tracks and happens daily. I have also had sore eyes and slight blurred vision (optician did lots of tests and determined I have ‘dry eye’ even though I did have to repeat the visual field test having failed it first time) random pin prick type tingling in my hands and feet, more fatigue, cramping feelings in my feet and hands when doing housework or using my hands a lot and when wearing firmer shoes, pain down arms and shoulders, a weird sensation like I have a bandage on my left shin and left wrist and a tremor in my hands and arms that’s seems worse after exercise if my arms are stretched out (carrying shopping bags or stretching above my head) The doctor said that many people tremor when doing stretches but this is a new thing for me and sometimes I get this tremor at random times. I am always off balance since 2009 to varying degrees but this has been put down to my chronic migraine.

Anyway I have had blood tests last week and my b12, thyroid and D3 are all normal as well as the general panel. The doctor did a quick neuro exam and my reflexes etc all seem fine. She asked me if I was stressed and seemed to be suggesting that my symptoms were all anxiety based. I am booked for a diabetes test next week otherwise I just have to go back if things get worse.

I really don’t feel like all my aches and weird symptoms are ‘just anxiety’ although I know that anxiety can present in different ways. Do I just try and forget about things and wait?? Obviously I don’t want MS or anything similar but feel like i’ve had weird symptoms for a long time and all the doctors can suggest is anxiety or migraine medications???

Thanks for reading.

2

Have u never had an MRI? How are these things affecting your life? From what i can gather Drs usually deal with your symptoms based on how it is affecting your life. If you are really upset and not able to do anything they’ll try more tests but if u seem to be getting on with things then they arent going to refer. I have had the bandage pain in the past with my left arm and foot and leg sometimes and neck. But it is more tighter like a blood pressure test.

3

Hello Dee

Given that you have chronic migraines as well as these other symptoms, has your GP never considered referring you to a neurologist? I’m not supposing here that you have MS, just that quite a few of your symptoms sound as though they could have a neurological cause.

I’d repeat Cosines question ‘have you never had an MRI?’ It would seem that one could be called for. Weird sensory problems coupled with your other symptoms might have a neurological cause. And if your GP did ‘a quick neuro exam’, there was a point when she thought one was called for. In that situation, rather than the GP doing a neurological examination, surely it’s better to have a full neuro examination by a neurologist?

Why not directly ask your neurologist for a referral to a neurologist? At no point would I suggest that it could be any specific diagnosis (like MS), more that many of your symptoms do appear that they could have a neurological cause. It would at least put your mind to rest if you’d seen a neurologist, maybe had an MRI and been reassured about neurology.

I wish you the best of luck.

Sue

4

Thanks both for replying. I only had the MRI 10 years ago when they diagnosed migraine. Each time I visit the doctor recently they just offer me more migraine medicines or seem to suggest I am stressed or anxious. One doctor said that migraines cause tingling which I know to be true but this is started as a weird tingling in just one shin and I never felt it was typical of migraine. I have not ever been offered a neurology appointment or an MRI recently. Today I had my last blood test to check for diabetes and magnesium deficiency. If they don’t call me I can assume they are normal and I have just been told to go back if symptoms persist or get worse…