@kimmydee 

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kimmydee

Could it be MS or a TIA?? So confused.

Hi everyone. My name is Kim and I'm 34. I'm gonna dive right into what brought me here and why I'm so confused. I apologize in advance that this will be long.... October of this year I started feeling weak and extremely fatigued. I was working full time, studying part time by correspondence as well as training with a personal trainer 3 days a week (since end of July). Up until the middle of October I was feeling fantastic. I had tons of energy and had lost 25 lbs, 10 inches and was getting so strong. Sometime in mid September, I had an episode where I lost vision in my right eye. It was all black and really only lasted about 15 - 20 minutes. I had no pain or discomfort in my eye or head. My vision just progressively returned after 20 minutes. I knew I was scheduled to see my family dr in a couple weeks from then so I didn't think anything of it and thought I'd mention it to him when I saw him. A week after the first episode of losing sight, it happened again only in my left eye this time. Same thing: black vision loss that lasted a little longer maybe about 30 -40 minutes. Still no pain no discomfort. I was a little freaked out at this point but again in a weeks time I knew I was going to see my GP. I should mention I have suffered from migraines my entire life from when I was a little girl. I never had migraines with aura or visual disturbances. Always just a giant cluster migraine or eye stabbing migraine that wouldn't go away until I'd throw up. Once I saw my GP early October, I was feeling perfectly fine and he was impressed with my new lifestyle change. I mentioned the eye issues and he just assumed it was a new type of migraine and it was painless. But to be safe he would send me for an MRI to r/o MS. I thought nothing of it since he wasn't worried. 2-3 days before my scheduled MRI is when I got my first bout of vertigo, tinnitus and chronic dizziness. I had to stop training at the gym because I had become so weak I couldn't keep up with my sessions. My MRI Revealed a tiny flair on the right white matter of my brain and that's it. By the time I saw my dr for the results, I had begun having cognitive issues. Slurring my words, difficulty articulating, short term memory issues, feeling so exhausted that I literally felt drugged. My GP still wasn't too concerned with the MRI but performed a quick reflex exam and I got a positive babinsky reflex on the left. He immediately contacted my neurologist (who I had been seeing for migraines) and asked that he see me right away. Unfortunately I had to wait 2 weeks for him to see me where he said I don't have MS (even though I still had a positive babinsky reflex) and that it was all in my head because my GP put the idea there. That I was fatigued cuz it was November and everyone is tired in November. The explanation for the blindness was migraines without a headache and Hat I will start a new regimen of meds to control ththe migraines ........ I asked him about the newer symptoms of tingling and tumbness in my legs and he brushed it off and said everyone gets tingling and that I've just become more aware of my body because my GP freaked me out. I had actually not experi need any headaches or migraines thorughout this whole ordeal I should add. Not once. Unimpressed with my neuro and because I clearly knew something was wrong with my body, I pushed for a second opinion with an internist whom my sister worked with. He sat with me asked me my symptoms and he performed a full neurological exam which revealed a positive babinsky 2x on the left and left sided weakness. I also had pretty bad balance that day as well. He suspected a stroke caused by my migraines simply because it was upper and lower body weakness and not just lower. He sent me for another MRI with contrast, a heart ultrasound to make sure there was no underlying heart condition and a sleuth of blood tests for inflammatory diseases including RA, Lupus and Lyme disease . He also wanted to see if I had a clotting disorder which would account for the stroke. All blood tests came back normal. My blood pressure was perfect, my cholesterol was good, no clotting disorder, my MRI with contrast showed no difference from October until now. I have improved strength in my left leg with slight improvement in strength in my left arm but still notably weak. I asked him if having a TIA can cause tingling and numbness and severe muscle spasms for such a long time since it started and he said he didn't know but I had improvement. I asked him if he can send me for a spine MRI to rule out spinal lesions and I'm waiting for that appointment now. I feel like I've gotten better. I don't have the constant dizziness and pressure behind my eyes. I feel like I have a little more stamina for the day but I still need at least 1 nap to get through the day. My current symptoms are: Waves of tingling in my left leg that has spread to my left leg tonight. On and off blurred vision in my right eye Tinnitus in my right ear Slight light headedness Shooting pains in my finger tips (left) Terribly painful back spasms and rib spasms on left that has started to spread to ththe right side tonight. My left leg went numb while I was grocery shopping for about 30 minutes. Still difficulties with memory but not quite as bad Still quite fatigued after little effort (just doing a 15 minute grocery run exhausts me) Strange muscle twitching on left side. I guess I'm confused at the diagnosis for a mini stroke due to migraines when I have never had vascular migraines, never had migraines with aura, have tingling sensations that come in waves several times a day.... when everything I read says the symptoms of a mini stroke should clear up after a week...... I also didn't have any type of an incident that could be considered a stroke. Just the vision loss on 2 different occasions.... Does anyone have any suggestions or thoughts? Does having a mini stroke cause lasting symptoms over several weeks and tingling? I'm only 34 with good blood pressure and counts...... I just don't wanna be given a diagnosis of something when I may have MS and I'm losing time getting treatment.
@Stumbler

Hi @kimmydee and welcome. Our bodies are very complicated bits of kit. MS, as a condition, is very difficult to diagnose, with symptoms being also present in a wide range of conditions. It's a case of eliminating the probables and then looking at the possibles. The medical profession do not want to make a rash diagnosis of MS, as it is a "label for life" with widespread issues, e.g. obtaining insurance, etc.. So, a diagnosis of MS has to be a definite. You're doing the right thing by being persistent and pushing for answers. It was also a good call to go for the spinal MRI. Just keep pushing..........politely.

@mmhhpp

I will definitively wait to have the spine mri scan !