Does this sound like I have multiple sclerosis?

Here is My Question:
Hi I am on a waiting list to see a neurologist. I am intolerant to heat. I have no foot reaction when reflex test done. My arms and legs feel numb. I feel shaky confused and just not quite with it. Tired depressed and anxious. I was diagnosed with vitamin d deficiency last moth. Does this sound like MS? Thank you.

Answer:
We can not use a list of symptoms to tell whether a person has MS, just as we can not look at a list of words to tell a story. The diagnosis of MS or any other condition requires a patient, with the physician’s guidance,  to link together their symptoms in a temporal manner that tells a story consistent with a particular condition.The physician forms hypotheses during the process of obtaining your history and ask further questions to either support or refute this hypothesis. We then use our examination and test findings to further narrow the diagnostic possibilities. 

Numbness, fatigue and heat intolerance are certainly symptoms that can occur in MS but are also very common with other conditions. A neurologist should be able to assist you in determining the cause of your symptoms.

Revere (Rip) Kinkel MD
Director of the Multiple Sclerosis Program
Clinical Neurosciences Director
Professor of Clinical Neurosciences
University of California San Diego