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Inflamed Muscles?, Tingling and pain in right extremities
Hi, my name is Tiffany, I am 24 years old. In January, the first week of January, I began having problems with my right side. I would go through periods of tingling, pins and needles as well as numbess from my arm down to my toes. With my general dislike of needles and doctor's I waited until February 26th to go to my General Practitioner, after having two months of symptoms. During my appointment my doctor asked me to get into a gown, and then he began to stick me with two objects (one sharp and one dull). During this test, my doctor stuck me from head to toe in hopes that I would be able to distinguish between the alternating sticks( a few sharp and a few dull). On my right side my doctor said I was wrong with each of his sticks (30 to 40 sticks). He then asked me if I had any family member with Multiple Sclerosis of Lupus. He referred me to a Neurologist, and after having 2 MRIs w/ and w/o contrast, 1 EEG, labwork and an EMG/NCV my results came back normal. I was told that my B-12 was extremely low, 214. As a result, he prescribed weekly B-12 injections for the first four weeks and one every two months thereafter. He also prescribed Pamelor as a means for headache prevention. I began having problems again with my side Sunday, severe pains as well as numbness on my right side. I notice with each onset the symptoms seem to worsen. I called my Neurologist and he wanted me to immediately come to his office for a check-up. Now my neurologists has decided to perform a CT Scan of my chest w/ and w/o contrast, in hopes of insuring it is not LUNG CANCER? He also prescribed a Medrol Dospak, and Vicoprofen every 6 hours as needed for pain. Is it possible to rule out Multiple Sclerosis as quickly as he did? My MRIs were two months after onset, and not even a month apart. Is it possible that Lung Cancer could cause the problems that I am experiencing? I don't smoke, but my mother and father have all my life. I am so worried, I just don't know how much more I can take.
hi tiffany,
wow. i find your story very similar to mine. i'm 22 and a female as well with problems on my right side. mine started with pain and weakeness leading to twitching and tingling. do you have any weakness on your side? i have been to a whole heap of doctors as well and have been dealing with this for a few years now. recently i discovered that my b12 was low too. 150 the first time and 201 the second, but i was never prescribed with b12 injections after having a third blood test that proved that i was not deficient (i don't really understand how this works) from a hemotologist. i'm now amidst another set of mris (it has been a year since my last one). did the doctor say that you were b12 deficient? do you have perconius anemia? because that, from what i have read, can cause that.
right now my doctor is strongly considering CIDP (Chronic Inflammatory Demyelinating Polyradiculoneuropathy ) and ms. CIDP is very very rare, so there is a chance that maybe your doctor doesn't have as much experience with it. My doctor has only seen one case in 20 years. Guillan-Barrone syndrome is the acute version and more common. I'm definitely not a doctor, but am dealing with the same issues so it is a thought.
do you remember what the doctor said about your reflexes?
i hope things get better. i know how frustrating it is. please keep in touch and let me know if you have any ideas.
wow. i find your story very similar to mine. i'm 22 and a female as well with problems on my right side. mine started with pain and weakeness leading to twitching and tingling. do you have any weakness on your side? i have been to a whole heap of doctors as well and have been dealing with this for a few years now. recently i discovered that my b12 was low too. 150 the first time and 201 the second, but i was never prescribed with b12 injections after having a third blood test that proved that i was not deficient (i don't really understand how this works) from a hemotologist. i'm now amidst another set of mris (it has been a year since my last one). did the doctor say that you were b12 deficient? do you have perconius anemia? because that, from what i have read, can cause that.
right now my doctor is strongly considering CIDP (Chronic Inflammatory Demyelinating Polyradiculoneuropathy ) and ms. CIDP is very very rare, so there is a chance that maybe your doctor doesn't have as much experience with it. My doctor has only seen one case in 20 years. Guillan-Barrone syndrome is the acute version and more common. I'm definitely not a doctor, but am dealing with the same issues so it is a thought.
do you remember what the doctor said about your reflexes?
i hope things get better. i know how frustrating it is. please keep in touch and let me know if you have any ideas.
Hi, I have noticed a change in my mental state since I began to ween myself from the Anti-Depressant and really even before then. I find myself somewhat on the edge all the time, with little control of my emotions. I find myself easily saddened or angered, which is not a good thing especially with my job, I work with special needs children ages 3 to 5. I have been more apt to sit here and cry and dwell on the slightest things. It (my illness, diagnosis and depression) at times becomes almost intolerable. I really need a GOOD Neurologist and possible therapy/medication. I find much relief in these forums and with your your answers. Thanks so much.
It isn't always a good idea to "wean oneself off an antidepressant". When an antidepressant starts working, often a person starts to feel normal again and thinks (I don't need this...I feel fine) and they do BECAUSE the med has started to work. It's a little Catch-22. Sometimes a little help from a med is very useful in getting through the hard time and anxiety of looking for a diagnosis to frightening symptoms.
Quix
Quix
You are so awesome. Thanks for the help, I really needed it. It has me so down and depressed. Could be because I decided to try to ween myself off of the anti-depressant the neurologist had me on to. But thanks again.
No, he could not rule out MS, but neither could he make even a probable diagnosis without at least one MRI lesion. He needs to schedule another for about 3 months after the first ones.
It was thoughtless and careless to "inform" you of a possible Dx of cancer the way he did. Not apologizing for that callousness, you need to realize that the pre-diagnosis code used in lab requisitions is often the absolutely worst thing the doctor thinks is possible - NOT what he really thinks is going on. This is for the purposes of getting insurance to pay for things. It is - or should be - a means of looking out for the patient's best interest. However, not talking to you about it was cruel.
Lung cancer would indeed be extremely rare at your age. Far more rare than MS. I think that traveling to see another neuro is a good idea. The next appropriate steps in working up your problems would be a spinal tap, and evoked potentials, along with a whole laundry list of blood tests to test for other causes of myelopathy, which is what your neuro exam seems to show.
That's all I can write tonight. Good luck, Quix
It was thoughtless and careless to "inform" you of a possible Dx of cancer the way he did. Not apologizing for that callousness, you need to realize that the pre-diagnosis code used in lab requisitions is often the absolutely worst thing the doctor thinks is possible - NOT what he really thinks is going on. This is for the purposes of getting insurance to pay for things. It is - or should be - a means of looking out for the patient's best interest. However, not talking to you about it was cruel.
Lung cancer would indeed be extremely rare at your age. Far more rare than MS. I think that traveling to see another neuro is a good idea. The next appropriate steps in working up your problems would be a spinal tap, and evoked potentials, along with a whole laundry list of blood tests to test for other causes of myelopathy, which is what your neuro exam seems to show.
That's all I can write tonight. Good luck, Quix
I have had two MRIs, one of my brain and one of my cspine, however they were not even a month apart without any exacerbations between them. In the past week a new feeling has appeared, my muscles feel like they are on fire. I got up last Sunday and couldnt walk, lay down, or sit up (all was extremely painful), the pain was unbearable. I have read on several forums, that MS can be difficult to diagnose, especially since no two cases are exactly alike. I though that pre-diagnosis was horrible, that is until I saw lung cancer as a pre-diagnosis from my Neurologist. I am considering going to Savannah to start seeing a group of Neurologists. Do not get me wrong, I think the Neurologist I have been seeing was not all that bad. But when his nurse came up with a sheet of paper from him, saying that I possibly had Lung Cancer really bothered me. Especially since he had mentioned nothing of the kind during our visits.
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