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Tiredness, Leg Weakness, Tingling In Arms And Legs. Blood Work Normal. Worried About MS
Question: Hi I have a question regarding some weird symptoms that have been happening to me lately. A year ago I started medical school and I was under a lot of stress, so one day I woke up feeling tired and had weakness in my legs. I looked up my symptoms and found MS I got so worrieddd and symptoms got worse and lasted for 3 weeks. I also had tingling in arms and legs. Then 5 months later, I was also very stressed out and woke up with the same thing that lasted almost 3 weeks. Yesterday I remembered these 2 incidents and I immediately started feeling the same symptoms, weakness, numbness, tingling.... And now I'm obsessed that I have MS and I'm scared to go to the doctor. I had some blood work done including tsh,CBC and vitamin b12. All is normal. Thanks for ur help.
Hi,
Thanks for writing to us,
You have mentioned that you have had past history of anxiety and panic attacks which have now subsided and you are not on any medications for it, and also crohn's disease for which you are on mesalamine. Currently you are experiencing some symptoms for which you are excessively worried.
Firstly i would like to mention that MS is diagnosed by doctors by first corroborating the patient's subjective symptoms with objective findings on a detailed neurological examination. Then an MRI of the brain is done and there has to be specific lesions in the imaging to make a diagnosis of MS. You have not yet moved beyond step one and hence do not worry before anything is found as evidence of the disease.
Anxiety can present in patients in many ways and in varied situations. It can present with numbness and tingling, excess worry, apprehensive expectations, easy fatiguability etc. This is much more commonly seen in people and is more likely to be so in your case as well. If these symptoms are not interfering in your day to day activities then you may be able to manage these symptoms by simple relaxation techniques, breathing exercises etc.
The drug mesalamine that you are on is also known to rarely cause weakness in arms and legs. This has to be ruled out as well.
You can visit a neurologist where you will be examined clinically and probably an MRI may be done depending on the doctor's judgement. This will only take a few minutes and completely painless. Hence there is nothing to worry about. If there is no neurological condition involved then you may visit a psychiatrist for resolving the symptoms.
Wishing you the best of health,
Hope this answered your query,
Write back in case of any questions,
Dr A Rao Kavoor
Thanks for writing to us,
You have mentioned that you have had past history of anxiety and panic attacks which have now subsided and you are not on any medications for it, and also crohn's disease for which you are on mesalamine. Currently you are experiencing some symptoms for which you are excessively worried.
Firstly i would like to mention that MS is diagnosed by doctors by first corroborating the patient's subjective symptoms with objective findings on a detailed neurological examination. Then an MRI of the brain is done and there has to be specific lesions in the imaging to make a diagnosis of MS. You have not yet moved beyond step one and hence do not worry before anything is found as evidence of the disease.
Anxiety can present in patients in many ways and in varied situations. It can present with numbness and tingling, excess worry, apprehensive expectations, easy fatiguability etc. This is much more commonly seen in people and is more likely to be so in your case as well. If these symptoms are not interfering in your day to day activities then you may be able to manage these symptoms by simple relaxation techniques, breathing exercises etc.
The drug mesalamine that you are on is also known to rarely cause weakness in arms and legs. This has to be ruled out as well.
You can visit a neurologist where you will be examined clinically and probably an MRI may be done depending on the doctor's judgement. This will only take a few minutes and completely painless. Hence there is nothing to worry about. If there is no neurological condition involved then you may visit a psychiatrist for resolving the symptoms.
Wishing you the best of health,
Hope this answered your query,
Write back in case of any questions,
Dr A Rao Kavoor
Note: For further guidance on mental health, Click here.
Above answer was peer-reviewed by :
Dr. Chakravarthy Mazumdar
Answered by
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