Multiple Sclerosis Forum - Frustrated With My Gp, Could These Be Symtoms?

Conditions and Diseases > Multiple Sclerosis Forum > Frustrated With My Gp, Could These Be Symtoms?

MS is a relatively unpredictable disease of the central nervous system. Learn about the four types of multiple sclerosis here....

Q: Frustrated With My Gp, Could These Be Symtoms?

asked by: burns44 on February 19th, 2004

New User

Hi everyone-
looking for a little advice, hoping all of you can help!

I am a 33 year old male from southern california. My story starts in 1997, where I had a really bad case of vertigo while in college. It was so bad that a friend told me I was walking in a complete circle for almost 10 minutes.

In the summer of 1998, I began experiencing sever pain in my right ear. A day or two later, I noticed that I was losing feeling on the right side of my face, and the next day had been diagnosed with bells palsy on the right side of my face, since I have recovered about 95%. The bells palsy lasted about 12 weeks.

In january of 2001, I had a bad case of what I thought might have been the flu, with exhaustion, heavy diarrhea, weight loss, fatigue, and night sweats. Most prominent was the fatigue and the bowel problems, which wiped me out. I was under a bit of job related stress at the time as well. After about a month the symptoms cleared up, only to return again about three months later (april). They continued for three months. I lost 20 pounds from the bowel problems and decrease in appetite. My doctors were at a loss, and I was tested for everything viral from hiv to hep a,b,and c, all tests coming back neg. Stool samples all returned negative as well. Towards the latter part of the second bout, I had problems with inflammation and vision in my right eye for about five weeks. My vision was so bad that prescription glasses couldn’t correct the problem. My eye felt huge, almost dry. I also suffered from a weeks worth of the worst migraines I have ever had, keeping me in bed for two days. Oy!

Since then I have not had any major relapses, just periodic bouts with numbness in my upper left leg, that seems to be worse when I am laying in certain positions. I have also been diagnosed with depression, and am on 20mg prozac daily. I also have periodic problems with the need/urge to urinate, with nothing coming out. Sometimes so bad it keeps me up at night (this lasts for about a week or two at a time). I have also had very slight hand tremors, but only on a couple of occasions, as well as off and on bowel problems.

When I have approached my general practioner about this in the past, he has told me that I am just depressed and been reading to much on the internet, and there is no way these things are interconnected. Its frustrating because I would like to see a neuro and ask some questions, but cannot do so unless I get a referral. My questions to you are this:

1. Does this sound like a case that would need to be referred, or is my doc correct, and I am just over reacting.

2. Are these symptoms consistent with those found in ms patients?

3. Anyone else heard of someone having bells palsy with ms?

Thanks again for your help!

Replies(4)

litekpr2

replied on February 20th, 2004

New User

I have had ms since being clinically diagnosed in june of 1997. While some of your symptoms do not "seem" to match the major symptoms of ms (i'm thinking the ear pain specifically), other symptoms you mention certainly are ones that I myself have had, like numbness, extreme fatigue, vertigo (i too had an episode of severe vertigo years before I was actually diagnosed and it was chalked up to an inner ear virus).

Bell's palsy is not connected to ms; however, there is no reason why a person could not have ms and yet other chronic or acute diseases, also. I do. The visual problems you speak of could certainly be signs of optic neuritis which is common in ms, but one symptom I have yet to experience (thank you god!).

I think this needs to be your call about seeing a neuro or not. Have you directly asked your gp if he would refer you to one? I used to have that type of insurance too and would get really frustrated with the referral business. Perhaps your gp is reluctant to refer you because he feels somewhat helpless in that he cannot himself diagnose the problem. An ms diagnosis comes only after ruling out any other possibilities; it is a diagnosis of exclusion. Would your gp be willing to order an mri of your brain and spinal cord, with and without contrast? That's the top test right now to see about ms, although a negative mri does not mean you don't have the disease. Some neurologists also want their patients to undergo a lumbar puncture (or spinal tap) to see the results there.

In my opinion, you should see a neurologist to further investigate these mysterious symptoms that return like they do. If you can't talk your gp into referring you, you might have to think about changing to a gp who is more "user-friendly."

purple333

replied on February 20th, 2004

Extremely eHealthy

I won't pretend to know anything about ms but I do believe that you are doing the right thing in researching on the net. A dr is merely a mechanic your body is the car, but if the mechanic doesn't do the job right on your car you a) do not pay & b) change mechanics. Do the same with a dr!!

A couple of suggestions that might help with a research: life extension foundation (or organization) they sell stuff but also have alot of free info on tonnes of conditions).

Also as there is no doubt (since you are human & not a machine) that this must be stressful & some of your symptoms may be caused or made worse by stress so some things you could do to help in this area are:
try taking 50 then up to 100 mg 5htp a day (research tryptophan or pm me) also sam-e a natural antidepressant which may also help with some of the other symptoms & side effects. Then do some relaxation therapy.
Last but not least if you don't have then get someone to talk to, someone you can vent with, it is needed.

Waldo

replied on June 4th, 2004

New User

Medical Answer

I am an eye doctor who also happens to have ms. Although your symptoms might be from ms, they are much more likely to be due to something called susac syndrome. This syndrome of vertigo or tinnitus, eye problems and encephalopathy is common in young people and fortunately, self-limited (usually). You should absolutely see a neurologist for this work-up. If you take vitamins and monitor your diet, it will go away on its own. But, if you smoke cigarettes and use iv drugs, it will also go away on its own. Please, see a neurologist for this condition - hopefully it's not ms. Good luck!

kt1976

replied on March 25th, 2008

New User

Definitely see a neurologist. We have had similar issues with doctors, and you definitely have to be assertive. We have the same kind of insurance, and we have learned that if we are still unsure we need to push the doctor for the referrel and not just go home disheartened. My husband was having vision loss issues. We kept getting sent home and told to come back if something happened again. Hello! We had to wait until he lost more vision to go back? Well, we finally learned that we can't keep doing that. It was only getting worse. Don't wait until things are too far gone. I don't mean to be discouraging. We have just learned we need to drive our own ship so to speak.

We researched and came up with other specialists beyond eye specialists for the doc to send us too because the eye specialists weren't finding anything. So, if the neurologist doesn't find something go to a rheumatologist. Keep going to people until you get answers.

I hope you get answers soon! God Bless, kt

Learn About Us

Get Help

Join In

Do More

We comply with the HONcode standard for trustworthy health
information:
verify here.

The site is not a replacement for professional medical opinion, examination, diagnosis or treatment. Always seek the advice of your medical doctor or other qualified health professional before starting any new treatment or making any changes to existing treatment. Do not delay seeking or disregard medical advice based on information written by any author on this site. No health questions and information on eHealth Forum is regulated or evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration and therefore the information should not be used to diagnose, treat, cure or prevent any disease without the supervision of a medical doctor. Posts made to these forums express the views and opinions of the author, and not the administrators, moderators, or editorial staff and hence eHealth Forum and its principals will accept no liabilities or responsibilities for the statements made. Schizophrenia health sitemap.
This page was last updated on January 1, 2009.
© 2008 eForums, Inc