Multiple Sclerosis

[smiley]

I have severe TMJ and I recently had arthroscopic surgery on my right & left TMJ. Originally, my Oral & Maxillofacial surgeon thought the symptoms were from the TMJ, but since my surgery in April, he has concluded that my jaw joints are completely fine. Based on some concerning symptoms that I started to have, he has referred me to my family doctor for an MRI because he is concerned that my symptoms might be MS:
- eye pain and sensitivity to light, left eye only.
- stabbing pain in left ear only
- headache/migraine & facial pain on left side only around left ear, eye and temple.
- rarely see "spots". They appear like a grey spot. When I see them, it is almost like I am seeing something moving. I can't make it out. To me, it looks like a bug in the air. I see it for about a minute and then it just disappears. Sometimes I wake up at night and see them. To me, they look like a spider or something crawling on the wall or ceiling. It lasts anywhere from 10 seconds to 1 minute.
- numbness (parathesia) in both lips
- occaisional numbness in hands, one hand at a time, sometimes 4th & 5th fingers together, other times 1st, 2nd & 3rd fingers together.
- rare numbess in feet.
- fatigue and sleepiness. I have no energy. I am usally the energizer bunny but sometimes I feel completely drained like I have the flu. I feel like a need a nap in the late afternoon. I feel like I could fall asleep right away during the afternoon, yet I have insomnia at night. Some days, I don't have a nap and fight the fatigue and urge to nap, yet when it's time to go to bed, I can't fall asleep.

All of these symptoms come and go.

I have searched the internet for information on MS symptoms. They symptoms on the internet are very general and don't go into detail. My question is related to my symptoms. Are my symptoms similar to what other people have experienced?

I have 2 weeks to wait before I see my family doctor and I am worried.

[emalej]

I also have insomnia. I have tingling in my lips at times. Have you had an MRI yet?

[smiley]

My oral surgeon has sent a letter to my Family Doctor stating that I should have an MRI. I have an appointment with my family doctor on Jan.7th to discuss my symptoms and hopefully get scheduled for an MRI. It takes about 6-8 weeks to get an MRI here in Canada.

Since I last posted, the pain in my left eye and ear is becoming severe along with a headache/migrain just on the left side, and pain with movement of the left eye. My vision in my left eye is slightly blurry and dull, but I can still see out of it fairly well and there is no loss of colored vision. Advil, Tylenol 3's or Percacets do nothing to relieve the pain. The only thing that is helping is an anti-inflammatory called "Arthrotec" which my Oral Surgeon prescribed for my jaw, since I have temporo-mandibular joint disorder (TMJ). I've done some reading on the internet and my symptoms seem similar to Optic Neuritis. I'm not sure how serious Optic Neuritis is, and if I should see a doctor sooner than Jan.7th.

By the way, I have also had intermittent severe abdominal pain and CT scan, and ultrasound show nothing, except that I am constipated. Has anyone experience abdominal pain with MS? I am thinking that this is also a symptom of MS, since even the specialist (internal medicine & gastroenterologist) can't figure out what's causing the constipation and pain.

Thanks,
Diane.

[emalej]

I have optic neuritis as well. It DOES hurt. I have continuous ringing in my ears 24-7. I can not stand it. My MRI showed white matter lesions on my brian. I had a few five years ago and was told then that I "may" have MS but the spinal tap was negative. Well, it's five years later and I have twice as many white matter leasions as I did then. They are REALLY leaning toward MS. I have a spinal tap scheduled in two weeks and a hearing test this Friday. I am under the assumption that MS is extremely difficuly to diagnose? WHY?!!! If I can be of any help, e-mail me. [moderator note: e-mail address has been removed]. Good luck.

[michellewalter]

Hi,
I had very similar symptoms to the ones you described. I was surprised when I got diagnosed with ms last September because I didn't have any paralysis or anything. In fact I didn't even have optic neuritis - it was uveitis! But the symptoms were exactly the same - the grey spot, like a bug moving, my vision deteriorating, numbness (but only very slight). I also had colitus - which is inflammation of the colon - which is associated with uveitis - inflammation of the eye. I think with MS you can get other 'auto-immune' reactions. MS is so varied in its symptoms and manifestation. but of course the only way to really know is get a mri and a lumbar puncture - and the waiting for results is hell!
I have since done a course here in Australia with a Professor of Medicine- George Jelinek who has MS and has written a book about the best way to treat it: Taking Control of Multiple Sclerosis - it is fabulous and it has helped my other symptoms too. Diet, meditation, supplements etc.
Good luck and I hope it works out for you :)