Anxiety or ms/mnd?

most people with anxiety have sensations in their body somewhere. I can tell you that when I was in my 20s I thought I had MS..

I had so many sensations that I was freaking out. Numbness and tingling, muscle twitching, all over, floaters in my eyes, ringing in my ears, shortness of breath, weakness, and several more.

My dad took me to a neurologist who ran tests, and everything was perfectly normal. All of these sensations or a result of long-term stress and anxiety.

To this day, when I’m stressed out, I might get one or two of those but I don’t get all of them anymore. Thank goodness.

Basically, I just ignore them and they go away. From what you’re saying it also sounds anxiety related.

If you are really concerned, visit your doctor, but in the meantime, try to calm your mind down as much as possible listen to soothing meditations for anxiety on YouTube. Do some deep, slow, deep, breathing exercises. That muscle twitching is extremely common with stress and anxiety and my neurologist told me it’s not related to.mnd .

Feel free to private message me anytime I’ve been through this for a long time. Take care.

usually underneath somebody’s name, it’ll say the word message in blue letters and you can click on that to send a private message. I’m not seeing it. Maybe it’ll pop on later but see if there’s the word message underneath my user name. If there is then you can click on that to send a private message. next to the word message, there should be what looks like a tiny envelope.

Hi!

I was wondering if your symptoms subsided? Or if you have had any further investigations doing?

I am currently going through right now and am totally convinced I have MS. So any useful help or tips would be appreciated?

Hello,

I'm a retired medical professional from the U.S. and specialized in neurology. I see nothing of the constellation of symptoms being described in your original post that would be consistent with either MS or MND. The paresthesias you are describing as "tingling" sensations are the mere result of tension or compression against peripheral nerves to the extent that it results in the sensations you mention that can also include variable and temporary numbness of the skin in the context of light touch sensation. The muscle twitch in your left eyelid is known as myokymia and is inconsistent with MS forms that more correctly result in ptosis, or uncontrolled drooping, due to demyelination that results in 3rd nerve palsy.

The mention of left eye pain that is actually consistent with patients suffering from MS is due to optic neuritis and is most often accompanied by a central scotoma, or blind spot, in the vision. Episodic sharp or shooting pains in your instance would be more consistent with somatic features of anxiety. The same would be true for the aching sensations in your legs that are often accompanied by restlessness that is sub-clinical, or falls short of, clinical RLS or restless leg syndrome. The range of neurological signs and symptoms do not actually present themselves in the particular manner you describe by comparison to those regarding the various forms of MS to include relapsing-remitting, Primrary-Progressive, Secondary-Progressive or Progression-Relapsing.

The same is true for Motor Neuron Disease, which presents in two forms, either limb-onset or bulbar-onset. With limb-onset, there are salient features that include fasciculations that are quite distinct from muscle twitches in that the twitches from MND are the result of diminishing connections between the nerves and the muscles which they innervate. Fasciculations can most often be demonstrated in MND patients by rapidly tapping the surface of skin of the upper arms and larger muscle groups of the legs that results in multiple undulations or slow twitch effects that demonstrate diminishing nerve continuity.

There is also significant atrophy with limb-onset MND, most particularly observed in the thenar muscle group, composed of three muscles at the base of the thumb that produce a characteristic bulge when the thumbs are pressed firmly against the index fingers. In patients with limb-onset MND, the bulge is not only absent but is atrophied to the extent that a hollowed out appearance is demonstrated.

For patients with bulbar-onset MND, the initial symptoms most often include a very recognizable and progressive nasal tone when speaking as a consequence of loss in continuity of nerve impulses that maintain the necessary and normal tone when speaking and performing articulations of the voice. There is also a history of increasing choking episodes because the same progressive innervation is taking place in the 9th cranial nerve that also results in increasing loss of taste.

The course of MS is variable depending upon variant, whereas regardless of the MND variant the patient experiences a very rapid course of disease progression. It's important for you to realize that within the context of neurological pathology, it is not a single symptom or even a random group of symptoms that are telltale signs of true disease but rather the specific company that certain symptoms keep with other specific symptoms and clinical signs. I say this because it is impossible to merely associate individual symptoms regarding the diseases you mention and might find listed somewhere on the internet or within a textbook and become concerned that relevance exists. That sort of association can result in a great deal of misguided concern for persons with anxiety and particularly so in instances of health anxiety. Again, accurate interpretation requires extensive clinical training and experience.

Realize also that anxiety can become exacerbated to the extent that somatic features appear, or in other words physical symptoms that in many instances can inappropriately stimulate the nervous system in a variety of contexts. Lastly, I always seek to remind those who seek medical advice that while the internet forums are an outstanding resource for reassurance by those with similar symptoms and concerns that are quite common and lie outside the realm of clinical pathology, the internet is entirely inappropriate as a source of medical evaluation. In other words, the primary source to determine the nature of a medical concern is directly with your primary physician. Once a clinical evaluation has been rendered, then support discussions with others on forums such as this one become far more valuable and effective.

Best regards