slurred speech

I am a 48 year mother of two. Since May I have been experiencing trouble with my speech and ability to chew food with ease. The symptoms have gotten much worse since October and I now sound as if I´m drunk. It is extremely difficult for me to speak clearly and I find that at the end of the day I am exhausted from just working on my pronunciation. I often gag when brushing my teeth and sometimes when I take a sip of water or anything liquid it comes back out. Recently the thumb on my left hand has become weak - I literally cannot zip up my coat with the left hand or undo buttons or buckles with it. I also have noticed that I have a lot of tics on my body. At the moment I have one by my rib cage.
I have been to a neurologist, who ordered an MRI - it came back clear. I have also been cleared of Myasthenia Gravis. I was then sent to the speech therapy department at the hospital and they sent me back to neurology. I am scheduled to have another MRI with color contrast.
I have no pain, but I am getting more and more depressed. I am a teacher and my students have begun to notice my speech problems.
Does anyone have any ideas or thoughts? Tweet