Could this be MS?

Hi, I am an 18 year old girl and I have been struggling with pain throughout my body. I know that with MS they say the symptoms don't start showing up until around the 20s. Last year I was diagnosed with Degenerative Disc Disease. I thought that maybe the shooting pains that go through my body could be related to that. Well the disc is in my lumbar. It doesn't make any sense that the two could be related since the nerves for the arms are mainly in the cervical vertebrae. I get shooting pains everywhere throughout my body, I've recently developed a stutter, I get muscle spasms everywhere at least 2 or 3 times a day, I get really bad headaches that feel like someone is taking an ice pick and jabbing it into my brain but it only lasts from 3-5 seconds. My mom's side has a history of cancer and my dad's side has a history of muscle diseases. I'm not able to go to the doctor because my parents don't want to pay for it. I have told my mom that I keep having pains but she just says that I'm faking it or that I am always in pain. My dad said that if I want to go to the doctor I have to pay for it. Which would be fine if I weren't saving my money for college. I don't know what to do and I am so scared. I never sleep because it's all I think about. Does someone out there have these pains/issues like I do? Did you go to the doctor? What did they say? I'm really scared of doctors, I have been since a little kid, so I don't know what to do.

Hi,

Well for a start, you are going to need to get over your fear of doctors, because unless you make an appointment with your GP, nothing can be done. I understand you are saving for college, but I am afraid your health is your wealth, so getting medical attention should be priority.

Is it MS? No one can know. MS isn't one of those diseases you can just say 'it sounds like MS'. The symptoms are very vague, and there are MANY other things that mimic MS. You say your Dad's side has a history of muscle diseases, do you know which? Were they all of the same muscle diseases?

No one here will be able to tell you what is going on. You will need testing from a neurologist (MRI), and then it can be deduced what could be causing this, and what isn't. Best of luck, I hope you can get this sorted and get treated ASAP.

My grandmother has rheumatoid arthritis and other muscle diseases but I can't remember exactly what she has. I know it's some form of muscular dystrophy but that's all I can remember from out conversation. My aunt on my dad's side had fibromyalgia. And my grandmother's sister, my great aunt, also has a form of musclular dystrophy. My grandmother did say that the muscle disease runs in our family but is more prevalent in women.