Hi!
Thanks so much for being here! I'm a 42 year old woman, fairly active and not
overweight. Have been healthy up until 2 1/2 year ago when this all started.
My doctors are at a loss, except to say that I have a condition of an unknown
cause affecting my nervous system.I am hoping you might help me by suggesting
possible conditions that might cause these problems I have been living with.
Symptoms have been: Feeling in legs that fluctuates between feeling weak to
feeling that the muscles are slightly stiff (right much more than left), pain
in upper arms that feels like the muscles won't relax (right more than left),
soreness in muscle that extends from shoulder to neck and feeling that
shoulders are pulling up (again more on right), much twitching in all
muscles that can be seen (more when relaxed), some eye blurriness
(only lasts a few minutes), feeling of tightness in throat and akward
swallowing, cognitive, recall and short-term memory problems, pins and needles,
and strange sensations on skin, hot needle-like sensations only in left side
of face, occasional semi-numbness in tongue, feelings of hundreds of little
bursts of electricity in right hand, sharp shooting pains in right foot and
hand, occasional sharp pains deep inside left side of head and left eye.
Whenever I use my muscles, even for mild exercise, they are very sore for days --
much more than normal.
Tests I have had -- MRI and Visual evoked potentials 1 1/2 years ago which
were normal. Don't know the name of this one, but they attached wires to my
hands and feet and shot electrical pulses through me. That was normal, also.
Spinal tap one year ago was normal. All of my office visit tests for strength
and coordination have been normal. I have had many blood tests which were
all normal. The poor doctors have all but given up. Can you offer any clues
to help?
(Oh! This may be a clue for you - I had very aggressive vitiligo that took
most of my pigment away in less than 3 years. So there was some auto-immunity
going on.)
Thanks for your time and thought,
Christy
Dear Christy:
Your symptoms are numerous and multifocal. It is difficult to formulate a unifying diagnosis. Possibilities that I can think of as explaining some of your symptoms are as under:
Multiple sclerosis, peripheral neuropathy, mononeuritis multiplex, carpal tunnel syndrome, systemic lupus erythematosus, vasculitis, polymyalgia rheumatica, fibromyalgia, vitamin B12 deficiency, Addison's disease, hypocalcemia, hyperthyroidism, hypothyroidism, hyperparathyroidism, somatoform disorder.
This list is far from exhaustive. Some of these have apparently been excluded with varying degrees of certainty by the tests you have already undergone.
In case a second opinion is desired, any of the neurologists at the Cleveland Clinic would be mast happy to examine you. Appointments can be made by calling (800)223-2273, or (216)444-5559 locally.
