Tingling in feet and fingers, urinary incontinence, frequent urination, urination urgency. Family history of MS. Do I have MS?
Patient: Hi, my name is Jennifer, I am 37 yrs old and my mother has MS. I have been experiencing some symptoms related to this disease. I was just looking up some early warning signs and there were quite a few on there that I definitely do have. Now whether it s MS or not I can t of course make that diagnosis on myself. There are 21 of them however that I do have. The ones that are more noticeable than others are the tingling in the toes, feet and fingers, urinary incontinence , frequency in urination , urination urgency, short term memory loss and unsteady gait/loss of balance are just a few of them. I am of course going to see my physician over this, but I was wanting to get an opinion from someone on what they think all this could be meaning. Also, I don t have regular insurance, I am on a medicaid card so I don t know how serious my physician will take me about all this. I know I m not imagining these symptoms is the thing. It s been going on for quite some time now. I had a regular Dr but he moved out of town so I am in the process of finding a new one....which I will very soon. Thank you for your time and I will wait patiently for an answer. Doctor: Hi Jennifer, thanks for the query. As you might have already searched & know; multiple sclerosis (MS) has plethora of signs & symptoms. But it can present in various ways including tingling numbness, urinary incontinence or even frank Psychiatric problems like depressive symptoms, manic states etc. Usually the common ones like tingling numbness, gait imbalance, urinary incontinence are screened for by doctors. But you DO need to know that MS is NOT strictly a hereditary disease. Hence you are at a slightly higher risk but it do sent mean you are having MS for sure based on having some symptoms like tingling numbness, incontinence (you mentioned). Hence try to relax first. Then visit your Neurologist who with help of your history, clinical examination & MRI Brain (if needed) will diagnose or RULE OUT MS! Lastly, MS is no longer a disease with grave prognosis as it used to be once upon a time & with advent of new drugs; patients do lead a near normal disability free life. Hope this helps..good luck