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Have Most Of The Symptoms Of MS Or Lyme Disease. Why Is There Numbness, Off Balance, Nausea?
Question: I have most of the symptoms of MS or Lyme Disease. I have been tested for those and many others. This has been ongoing for several years, getting me to a point where I can barely walk, have numbness in my hands and feet, have no balance, and feel nauseous quite often. No Dr. can find a diagnosis, Can you please help???
I have been to numerous doctors and neurologists, who cannot figure out what is wrong. I do have high blood pressure and high cholesterol.
I have been to numerous doctors and neurologists, who cannot figure out what is wrong. I do have high blood pressure and high cholesterol.
Hello and thank you for sending your question.
Your question is a good one and I will work on providing you with some information and recommendations regarding the symptoms you are experiencing.
From the clinical details provided it looks to me like you are not suffering from multiple sclerosis or Lyme disease. I personally feel you may be suffering from a problems which looks or mimics Lyme disease or multiple sclerosis.
Though all your symptoms like numbness in the hands and feet and probably ataxia (balance problems) indicate to you about serious illness, I want to reassure you that these do not indicate either MS or Lyme disease. This is certainly not something that is not life-threatening as it is going on for many years.
Many of the symptoms you have mentioned to me may be seen in people with anxiety neurosis and depression. MRI of the brain and spinal cord is a very sensitive diagnostic tool for the diagnosis of MS. I assume your MRI was done and did not show any changes of MS in it. In the absence of elevated titers and other diagnostic proofs for Lyme disease, I feel it is not worth treating without any evidence in you.
So I personally feel most of your problems may be related to your anxiety and do not look to me like you are suffering from MS or Lyme disease. I am interested to know if you had any positive neurological signs of examination and findings on the MRI.
I thank you again for submitting your question. I hope you have found my response to be helpful. If you have additional concerns I would be happy to discuss them with you.
Sincerely,
Dr Shiva Kumar R
Consultant Neurologist & Epileptologist
Your question is a good one and I will work on providing you with some information and recommendations regarding the symptoms you are experiencing.
From the clinical details provided it looks to me like you are not suffering from multiple sclerosis or Lyme disease. I personally feel you may be suffering from a problems which looks or mimics Lyme disease or multiple sclerosis.
Though all your symptoms like numbness in the hands and feet and probably ataxia (balance problems) indicate to you about serious illness, I want to reassure you that these do not indicate either MS or Lyme disease. This is certainly not something that is not life-threatening as it is going on for many years.
Many of the symptoms you have mentioned to me may be seen in people with anxiety neurosis and depression. MRI of the brain and spinal cord is a very sensitive diagnostic tool for the diagnosis of MS. I assume your MRI was done and did not show any changes of MS in it. In the absence of elevated titers and other diagnostic proofs for Lyme disease, I feel it is not worth treating without any evidence in you.
So I personally feel most of your problems may be related to your anxiety and do not look to me like you are suffering from MS or Lyme disease. I am interested to know if you had any positive neurological signs of examination and findings on the MRI.
I thank you again for submitting your question. I hope you have found my response to be helpful. If you have additional concerns I would be happy to discuss them with you.
Sincerely,
Dr Shiva Kumar R
Consultant Neurologist & Epileptologist
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Above answer was peer-reviewed by :
Dr. Chakravarthy Mazumdar
Answered by
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