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Neurology (Expert Forum)
Can you help me ?
This forum is for questions and support regarding neurology issues such as: Alzheimer's Disease, ALS, Autism, Brain Cancer, Cerebral Palsy, Chronic Pain, Epilepsy, Fibromyalgia, Headaches, MS, Neuralgia, Neuropathy, Parkinson's Disease, RSD, Sleep Disorders, Stroke, Traumatic Brain Injury
Can you help me ?
by Les, Jul 03, 2000 12:00AM
7/98 I had an allergic reaction to a high dosage of PTU to treat my diagnosis of Graves Disease. This resulted in anaphalatic shock and ephenephren shots. During same time my hands went numb, became swollen, difficulty breathing/swallowing, soon paralysis and spread throughout my entire body. My arms and legs were excruciatingly painful. This lasted about 3-4 weeks before I began to recover. I was put on steriods and anti-inflamitory drugs but I never recovered my strength or energy and was never referrred to a neurologist.
About 1 month ago I saw a woman speak who had Guillain Barre Syndrome and she described exactly what had happened to me. My family doctor was not receptive to my request to see a neuro and this was communicated to the neuro doctor by him. Over the last three weeks I have experienced numbness and tingling in my hands and feet, extreme exhaustion (most time spent in bed), headache in my eyes with sensativity to light and sound, weakness, muscle spasms, leg pain (cramping), muscle spasms, mental confusion, complete loss of appetite ( have dropped one complete clothing size),dizziness as well as incontenance and the need to urinate about every 1/2 hour. At the beginning of this my legs buckled underneath me and I found myself sitting in the middle of a busy intersection before I even knew that I had fallen.
I had a neuro exam in the ER which they said was abnormal and exressed a concern of MS and got me in to see neuro doctor right away. He did an exam which he felt was normal, his findings of an MRI on the brain, EMG and Nerve Conduction which he felt were normal. Didn't want to do any more testing and concluded that I had no possibility of any neuro problem.
I got my graves diagnosis because of raising concerns with my doctor that turned out to be right on. Can you help. I feel strongly that I have a problem in this area. My symptoms are very real and I just really am looking for some help and possible lines of thought to plumb. Could the graves disease mask other symptoms or are there other illnesses that can mimick neuro disorders? Also, family doctor had me on syntroid, ortho-tricyclen, docyclene and zoloft (don't know if this combo could have reaked havack on my body, but most were fairly new additions). Thank you in advance and I'm sorry it's so long.
About 1 month ago I saw a woman speak who had Guillain Barre Syndrome and she described exactly what had happened to me. My family doctor was not receptive to my request to see a neuro and this was communicated to the neuro doctor by him. Over the last three weeks I have experienced numbness and tingling in my hands and feet, extreme exhaustion (most time spent in bed), headache in my eyes with sensativity to light and sound, weakness, muscle spasms, leg pain (cramping), muscle spasms, mental confusion, complete loss of appetite ( have dropped one complete clothing size),dizziness as well as incontenance and the need to urinate about every 1/2 hour. At the beginning of this my legs buckled underneath me and I found myself sitting in the middle of a busy intersection before I even knew that I had fallen.
I had a neuro exam in the ER which they said was abnormal and exressed a concern of MS and got me in to see neuro doctor right away. He did an exam which he felt was normal, his findings of an MRI on the brain, EMG and Nerve Conduction which he felt were normal. Didn't want to do any more testing and concluded that I had no possibility of any neuro problem.
I got my graves diagnosis because of raising concerns with my doctor that turned out to be right on. Can you help. I feel strongly that I have a problem in this area. My symptoms are very real and I just really am looking for some help and possible lines of thought to plumb. Could the graves disease mask other symptoms or are there other illnesses that can mimick neuro disorders? Also, family doctor had me on syntroid, ortho-tricyclen, docyclene and zoloft (don't know if this combo could have reaked havack on my body, but most were fairly new additions). Thank you in advance and I'm sorry it's so long.
Doctor's Answer
by CCF Neuro[P] MD, RPS, Jul 03, 2000 12:00AM
Dear Les:
Sorry to hear about your problem. I am not sure what to tell you. The normal neurological exam, MRI, and especially the EMG pretty much rules out Guillin-Barre disease (unless the EMG was done in the first couple of weeks of symptoms, but even then it will be abnormal). The normal MRI would also speak against MS, but not entirely as MS is a clinical diagnosis, but here the neurological exam should have been more diagnostic (by the neurologist not the ER doctors). The diagnosis of GBS or Guillian-Barre syndrome is pretty much always found on neurological exam. So, again the normal neurological exam would preclude the diagnosis of GBS. It may be that your thyroid treatment is off. I would check back with your doctor to make sure that this isn't going on. The medications you are currently taking should not give you the symptoms that you describe. But, medications effect people differently so there is always a possibility. I am sorry that I am not able to really clarify things for you.
CCF Neuro MD
Sorry to hear about your problem. I am not sure what to tell you. The normal neurological exam, MRI, and especially the EMG pretty much rules out Guillin-Barre disease (unless the EMG was done in the first couple of weeks of symptoms, but even then it will be abnormal). The normal MRI would also speak against MS, but not entirely as MS is a clinical diagnosis, but here the neurological exam should have been more diagnostic (by the neurologist not the ER doctors). The diagnosis of GBS or Guillian-Barre syndrome is pretty much always found on neurological exam. So, again the normal neurological exam would preclude the diagnosis of GBS. It may be that your thyroid treatment is off. I would check back with your doctor to make sure that this isn't going on. The medications you are currently taking should not give you the symptoms that you describe. But, medications effect people differently so there is always a possibility. I am sorry that I am not able to really clarify things for you.
CCF Neuro MD
