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Neurology (Expert Forum)
A whole lot of problems goin' on....and on.....and on
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
A whole lot of problems goin' on....and on.....and on
by nerve, Mar 30, 2001 12:00AM
I am a 28 y/o female with 3 children. The last of which was born November 14,2000 & died November 20,2000 of Hypoplastic Left Heart Syndrome. I found out about this condition when I was 6 months pregnant. It has been a long, hard road. Four weeks after he died, I grieved real hard one night. Afterwards I realized my RIGHT eye was extremely swollen. I went to the doctor 2 days later & he did a sinus x-ray and said I did have a bad sinus infection on the LEFT side. He gave me TEQUIN, a new quinolone drug, to take once daily for 10 days. To my knowledge, I have never taken a quinolone. I took the first pill and woke up the next day with a numb arm & hand on the RIGHT side. The next day I started having tingling & some numbness on the RIGHT side of my face. I got scared. They did a CT scan of my brain to check for a tumor, but it was normal. The radiologist told me maybe Bell's Palsy as my face was a little droopy, not much though. I then had a MRI of my brain to rule out MS. The impressions from the radiologist doing the MRI was 1) left maxillary sinus infection 2)multiple white lesions in the copus callosum. might be perivascular spaces, migraine, complicated migraine, vasculitis, or other condition of unknown etiology. The Neurologist said these did not look like MS lesions b/c other things were normal that would be present with MS. Also the radiologist noted that the 7th 8th cranial nerve was slightly more sensitive. May be some form of neuritis. At the time I had the MRI, the doctor gave me paxil & naprozeum(sp)
to take. I did take the paxil for 4 days & the naprozeum about twice. I didn't like the feeling either gave me so I didn't take anymore. Now I was just taking the Tequin. Then on about the 7th dose of Tequin I started having cold water shooting through my body, it felt like my veins were dilating, the bottom of my spine felt like it was vibrating and I was still having the numbness. So I went to the ER. The ER doctor asked what I was taking. He looked up Tequin on the internet and told me it could cause paresthesias & to quit taking it, so I did. The tingling and numbness was not as severe, but it was still there. My GP sent me to a nuerologist who done a MRI of my c-spine and l-spine, both were surpisingly normal, he said. He did an NCV on my RIGHT side & only found ulnar entrapment in my RIGHT arm. He said this explains the tingling in my RIGHT arm, but not in my leg and face. He said he thought all was fine neurologically. He said if I twisted his arm he would do a CSF, but that if it was him, he wouldn't do it. He mentioned nothing about a EMG. I asked him about the 7th 8th cranial nerve & he said yes it was slightly larger but not enough for anything he thought. He said if I wanted to get another MRI in 6 months fine, but there would probably be nothing different.
In December 2000 I had a Chem 7 & all was normal. In January 2001 I had a Chem 7 & all was normal as well as a negative ANA and a normal TSH. I had 3 sed rates (dec, jan, march) and all were normal 6,7,9 respectively. In March 2001, I had another negative ANA & a normal RA profile. I have had an IVP and it was normal. The one thing that has been consistent is my eye. I have had eye pain. I went to the eye doctor (MD) & he said I had allergic conjunctivitis in my RIGHT eye, gave me patanol. I had 20/20 vision & nothing else. I have had headaches (or head pains) on and off through this. I even returned to the eye doctor and he said I still had some allergic conjunctivitis in the RIGHT eye. I asked him about dry eye & he said not any dryness of significance, don't worry.
In February I started having some joint pain in fingers and wrists of both hands. I have had a dry mouth here and there. Burning pain on top of my head off & on. Numbness on roof of mouth off & on. I will wake up with a numb hand most mornings. It started out in my ring & pinky finger, now it is the whole hand. Recently my left hand did it a couple of times.
I have even went to see a Rheumatologist. He could not find anything specific, said may be fibromyalgia. HELP.
1) Could I have a connective tissue disorder (Lupus, vasculitis, rheumatoid, etc) even though the blood has come back normal twice?
2) Could this be stress related?
3) What 'neuritis' could cause the 7th 8th cranial nerve to be slightly larger?
4) Do you feel like MS can really be eliminated?
5) could this be fibromyalgia?
6) Could I have had an adverse reaction to Tequin, and if so when will all this stop?
to take. I did take the paxil for 4 days & the naprozeum about twice. I didn't like the feeling either gave me so I didn't take anymore. Now I was just taking the Tequin. Then on about the 7th dose of Tequin I started having cold water shooting through my body, it felt like my veins were dilating, the bottom of my spine felt like it was vibrating and I was still having the numbness. So I went to the ER. The ER doctor asked what I was taking. He looked up Tequin on the internet and told me it could cause paresthesias & to quit taking it, so I did. The tingling and numbness was not as severe, but it was still there. My GP sent me to a nuerologist who done a MRI of my c-spine and l-spine, both were surpisingly normal, he said. He did an NCV on my RIGHT side & only found ulnar entrapment in my RIGHT arm. He said this explains the tingling in my RIGHT arm, but not in my leg and face. He said he thought all was fine neurologically. He said if I twisted his arm he would do a CSF, but that if it was him, he wouldn't do it. He mentioned nothing about a EMG. I asked him about the 7th 8th cranial nerve & he said yes it was slightly larger but not enough for anything he thought. He said if I wanted to get another MRI in 6 months fine, but there would probably be nothing different.
In December 2000 I had a Chem 7 & all was normal. In January 2001 I had a Chem 7 & all was normal as well as a negative ANA and a normal TSH. I had 3 sed rates (dec, jan, march) and all were normal 6,7,9 respectively. In March 2001, I had another negative ANA & a normal RA profile. I have had an IVP and it was normal. The one thing that has been consistent is my eye. I have had eye pain. I went to the eye doctor (MD) & he said I had allergic conjunctivitis in my RIGHT eye, gave me patanol. I had 20/20 vision & nothing else. I have had headaches (or head pains) on and off through this. I even returned to the eye doctor and he said I still had some allergic conjunctivitis in the RIGHT eye. I asked him about dry eye & he said not any dryness of significance, don't worry.
In February I started having some joint pain in fingers and wrists of both hands. I have had a dry mouth here and there. Burning pain on top of my head off & on. Numbness on roof of mouth off & on. I will wake up with a numb hand most mornings. It started out in my ring & pinky finger, now it is the whole hand. Recently my left hand did it a couple of times.
I have even went to see a Rheumatologist. He could not find anything specific, said may be fibromyalgia. HELP.
1) Could I have a connective tissue disorder (Lupus, vasculitis, rheumatoid, etc) even though the blood has come back normal twice?
2) Could this be stress related?
3) What 'neuritis' could cause the 7th 8th cranial nerve to be slightly larger?
4) Do you feel like MS can really be eliminated?
5) could this be fibromyalgia?
6) Could I have had an adverse reaction to Tequin, and if so when will all this stop?
Doctor's Answer
by CCF Neuro[P]-M.D.-RPS, Mar 30, 2001 12:00AM
Dear Nerve:
I am sorry to hear about all your problems. I think that your parathesias could be due to the medication. It is time locked with the medication, and quinolones are known to cause symptoms like you have. The time for the symptoms to resolve are very individual, but they should go away in time. The concerning thing is the corpus callasum lesions. Perivascular spaces in the white matter of the corpus callasum would be extremely unusual. I wouldn't believe it, so I would recommend that you get the MRI films and get someone else to look at it. There are not many things that cause corpus callasum lesion, so I would get someone good to look at the films. Second, sinus infections can be difficult to eliminate and usually need 3-4 weeks of antibiotics. When you stopped the quinolone did you begin another medication? I don't think that I would worry about the size of the 7th and 8th nerves, because the same person who told you about the perivascular spaces told you about the size of the nerves. Likely this is just a normal variant.
Yes, one can have an autoimmune disease with normal labs. Yes, stress can give many of the symptoms you have had and are having.
I am very sorry about your latest child with HLHS. This is one of my areas of expertise (the neurological complications of children who undergo pallative surgery for HLHS). I can understand your broken heart. Hang in there, you made the best choice you could and what happened was no fault of yours.
Sincerely,
CCF Neuro MD
I am sorry to hear about all your problems. I think that your parathesias could be due to the medication. It is time locked with the medication, and quinolones are known to cause symptoms like you have. The time for the symptoms to resolve are very individual, but they should go away in time. The concerning thing is the corpus callasum lesions. Perivascular spaces in the white matter of the corpus callasum would be extremely unusual. I wouldn't believe it, so I would recommend that you get the MRI films and get someone else to look at it. There are not many things that cause corpus callasum lesion, so I would get someone good to look at the films. Second, sinus infections can be difficult to eliminate and usually need 3-4 weeks of antibiotics. When you stopped the quinolone did you begin another medication? I don't think that I would worry about the size of the 7th and 8th nerves, because the same person who told you about the perivascular spaces told you about the size of the nerves. Likely this is just a normal variant.
Yes, one can have an autoimmune disease with normal labs. Yes, stress can give many of the symptoms you have had and are having.
I am very sorry about your latest child with HLHS. This is one of my areas of expertise (the neurological complications of children who undergo pallative surgery for HLHS). I can understand your broken heart. Hang in there, you made the best choice you could and what happened was no fault of yours.
Sincerely,
CCF Neuro MD
