MS fear

[yix]

I have been in to an ophthalmologist and they told me that I had neuroretinitis, which is an inflammation of the optic nerve and a part of the retina around it. They said it was an old injury and that I could have gotten it from when I had encephalitis a year and a half ago. I don't have any eye pain just a lot of floaters, the occasional flash, sometimes when I wake up it's like my vision is flickering like on those old televisions. Recently I've been experiencing this thing where vision in my left eye would get blurry in the corner of the eye and it lasts for a few seconds. Idk if that's related, I hope so otherwise I'm thinking stroke.

Anyway, because of this I'm scared I might have MS. For the past two weeks or so I've also been getting other symptoms like fatigue, tingling in my hands and feet, and more recently chills and tingling that starts in my upper back and travels up to my neck and part of my arm.

I've also been experiencing what I perceive as cognitive decline. I have trouble concentrating, really bad memory, trouble speaking and even reading. Just putting coherent sentences together seems difficult. It feels like I have adult onset dyslexia or something.. Subtitles are too fast for me to read, I skip words and jumble up letters, I make a lot of typos,... I really hope that's anxiety, otherwise I'm probably the youngest ever dementia patient lol.

My GP told me that the eye doctor would've already sent me to get an mri if he suspected MS, so I probably don't have it. I'm still scared though. I have another appointment on Monday, where we'll discuss whether it's safe for me to go back on meds (I have slight liver damage)

I would appreciate your input.

 

[FlipperK]

So a big part of hypochondria is being very OCD about symptoms. Anything that is out of place or different, no matter how big or small, has the same effect. It’s different, therefore something must be wrong.

Your body will do many things for very benign or harmless reasons. Aches happen, tingling happens, things happen.

So you are a slightly different case in which you do have a diagnosed condition that has caused some vision issues. Therefore, you should reasonably expect that any eye issues may either stem from this or anxiety in general.

I have the fuzzy TV looking static at times, especially at night. The tingling and fatigue is extremely common with anxiety; even if you don’t feel anxious.


All in all, I Think you are okay. You are already going to doc on Monday for a follow up but I am also sure your eye doc would have said something if they suspected a brain/nerve issue like MS

 

[gehlien]

I had similar symptoms and now I can firmly say that they were just a product of severe health anxiety, as I got rid of them a month ago. I remember crazy bouts of fatigue when I was barely able to walk and carry my backpack. I had lived with tingling first in my legs for a while, and then in my feet for 5 months straight, constantly. And the weirdest symptom of all - tingling chills triggered even by the feel of my shirt on my sensitive stomach, going down my legs. Sometimes I still find it hard to believe that it was just my brain's doing.

Every case is different, but usually worrying about one thing leads to new symptoms, and in turn worrying about them, and it's an endless cycle I hope that your appointment with doc on Monday will calm your nerves!!

 

[H.J.J.C.]

For those of us with HA, physical feelings which "normal" people simply ignore are "obviously" life-threatening to us. The resulting anxiety exacerbates those symptoms (or actually causes them). Trust your docs or find one you can trust. They spent at least 12 years of their lives becoming experts. They have the knowledge to properly interpret the nuances of your symptoms and what they mean. Trust the tests. And stay far away from Dr. Google.