Fear of Multiple Sclerosis
Fear of Multiple Sclerosis
On the night of December 16th to December 17th, I was awakened by severe headaches and nausea. These pains originated from the back of my head and extended towards my forehead and temples. It was noticeable that these pains were position-dependent. This means that the pains intensified while lying on my back, and decreased while lying on my side. During the day, the pains were barely or not present at all. The only symptom I experienced was occasional dizziness.
After visiting the doctor twice (diagnosed with tension headaches), I went to the emergency room on December 23rd. The pains had decreased by then, but then worsened again on the night of December 22nd to December 23rd.
The neurologist at the emergency room performed various tests on me, including the usual medical history and functional tests, as well as a blood test and a CT scan.
Here is the clinical findings:
Awake, cooperative patient oriented to all qualities. No major memory deficits, no signs of depression, no indication of psychotic experiences. No dysphasia, no apraxia, no neglect, no anosognosia. No signs of meningitis, no Lhermitte's sign. Head and spine without tenderness. Cranial nerves: normal. Motor function: normal without paralysis. Normal muscle trophism. Reflexes: Muscle reflexes equally elicited on both sides. No pathological reflexes. Sensitivity: normal for all qualities. Coordination: normal in finger, standing, and walking tests. No history of bladder or rectal dysfunction. Afebrile, normal blood pressure, normal blood sugar.
The lab results showed nothing abnormal, except for the neutrophils (78.1). All other values were within the normal range.
CT scan: Normal, no signs of ischemia or bleeding.
Diagnosis:
Nightly accentuated headaches without focal neurological deficit.
History of tonsillectomy (2014)
History of erythema migrans due to Borreliosis (2014)
Additional information:
At the beginning of December, I returned from a trip to Thailand with my girlfriend and had burning, red eyes, which I attributed to the flight back. This seems important as there has been no improvement so far. The redness is sometimes better, sometimes worse, always affecting both eyes. Several times a day, the vision in one eye weakens when reading small text. After blinking two or three times, it returns to normal. Eye tests have always been very good, and I do not need glasses.
Currently (for about 5 days), I have been experiencing "pain" in the lower leg area. I put "pain" in quotation marks because it is more uncomfortable than painful. It feels like someone is pressing on the muscle. This sensation comes and goes and affects both legs.
Last night, I woke up several times because the fingers of my right hand felt "asleep." There was a distinct tingling sensation that disappeared when I shook my hand. So far, this feeling has not occurred during the day and cannot be artificially induced. At most, there is a slight tingling sensation along my index finger.
Otherwise, I feel fit. I have gone jogging for the past two days after a long time, attributing the problems in my lower legs to tension.
The internet suggests that these symptoms could be characteristic of Multiple Sclerosis. (Lhermitte's sign is not present in my case).
I have scheduled an MRI appointment for January 18th to clarify the situation.
However, I am understandably very nervous until then, so I am asking you (as a neurologist) if I am worrying unnecessarily.
Thank you in advance for your objective evaluation.
