Member Comments are provided by individuals and reflect their personal opinions only. Under NO circumstances should you act on any advice or opinion posted in this forum. ALWAYS check with your personal physician before taking any action regarding your health! MedHelp International and our partners, sponsors and affiliates have no obligation to monitor any comments posted on this site, or the content and/or accuracy of such exchanges. MedHelp International does not endorse the views of any user.
Neurology (Expert Forum)
night time leg and hand tingles
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
night time leg and hand tingles
by bengalcats, Mar 18, 2006 12:00AM
for several months now i have been having night time tingling in my legs and hands. most of it goes away when i get up but sometimes i can mildly feel it in my right hand and right leg.i had one of those electrical tests done on the right side which showed carpal tunnel and a mild pinched nerve in my back.If I had MS and told the DR about it would he have said that it was because of MS and not carpal tunnel and a pinched nerve in my back? I have not been told that I have MS but I had AN MRI of my head which showed a very small number of punctate T-2 bright signal foci in the subcortal white matter bilaterally.I did not have contrast for this MRI and I had it done because i was having many headaches , I also has 2 additional MRI done in 96 and 1999 which were normal.Is it normal to have spots show up? the report did not say they were lesions or anything to do with demylenation.Also several times throughout the year i get a tingly pain in the opening I believe of my bladder before I urinate and sometimes with this i have very sensitive areas of skin that seem to tingle on my legs , thigh areaa only.this only lasts for a day or so, when i was a teenager it happened many times a year and i always saw a urologist for it to be tested for an infection but none was ever present, it seemed to subside after i had 2 kids and now mabey occurs once a year. I have read that bladder problems can sometimes be a sign of MS.that has been happening to me now for about 28 years.is that type of tingling associated with MS?
thankyou for any light you can shed here.
thankyou for any light you can shed here.
Doctor's Answer
by CCF-Neuro-M.D.-PW, Mar 23, 2006 12:00AM
Tingling due to transient nerve compression (such as leaning or lying on a nerve) is much much more common than MS related sensory dustrubances
Bright signal intensities in the white matter are quite common in the general population especially as we get older. They usually represent age related hardening of the arteries or some atherosclerosis in the small brain arteries (similar to coronary atherosclerosis). They can also be caused by migraine. There are certain characteristics that suggest MS rather than these other causes which allow doctors to differentiate between the two most of the time, such as signals that are perpendicular to the ventricles, and with a slit like shape rather than a dot, and that also involve areas such as the corpus callosum (the part of the brain connecting the two hemispheres) which are more likely to be MS.
Bladder problems with MS develop as a result of spinal cord dysfunction - in this case there is always some spascticity and increased reflexes also of the lower legs. However just tingling in the baldder is not very suspicious for MS. Being unable to pass urine, urgency, passing only small volums frequently, overflow incontinence - these are bladder symptoms suggestive of spinal cord dysfunction. If your doctor does not detect increased reflexes et c in the legs, any bladder dysfunction due to spinal cord disease is unlikely
Good luck
Bright signal intensities in the white matter are quite common in the general population especially as we get older. They usually represent age related hardening of the arteries or some atherosclerosis in the small brain arteries (similar to coronary atherosclerosis). They can also be caused by migraine. There are certain characteristics that suggest MS rather than these other causes which allow doctors to differentiate between the two most of the time, such as signals that are perpendicular to the ventricles, and with a slit like shape rather than a dot, and that also involve areas such as the corpus callosum (the part of the brain connecting the two hemispheres) which are more likely to be MS.
Bladder problems with MS develop as a result of spinal cord dysfunction - in this case there is always some spascticity and increased reflexes also of the lower legs. However just tingling in the baldder is not very suspicious for MS. Being unable to pass urine, urgency, passing only small volums frequently, overflow incontinence - these are bladder symptoms suggestive of spinal cord dysfunction. If your doctor does not detect increased reflexes et c in the legs, any bladder dysfunction due to spinal cord disease is unlikely
Good luck
If the lesions turn out to be demyelinating they will most likely be reported as non-specific/suspicious.
Depending on your symptoms you may want to look into Lyme Disease. If you live or have visited any of the Northern States East/West Coast or Central US or Canada.
Lyme mimics MS, lesions and all.
You should also know that the most common 86% presenting symptoms of MS are extreme fatigue or optic neuritis (inflamation of the optic nerve). Occasionally Lhermitte's Sign (shock/or buzzing thru spine on neck flexion fwd). This is also not specific to MS.
Good Luck!
I don't have an answer for you but I have a question for you if you don't mind.
What is the difference when talking about a MRI with contrast and without contrast? Is one more accurate than the other? I had one with contrast and the doc said he noticed a small area that had plaque but the person that read the MRI said that the location of the plaque wasn't consistant with where MRI plague is located yet my neurolgist is speculating MS? Can the MRI be incorrect even when done with contrast? I have been under a tremedous amount of stress for about 6 years and all my problems started after I acquired a hospital based staph infection and was put on Leviquin for a month, 750 mg. daily. I kept telling my doctors something was very wrong and they didn't listen to me until I ended up in the hospital emergency room. I too suffer from arm and leg tingling and numbness at night. After being told I might have MS I have felt more axiety and have experinced these symptoms during the day and felt them my feet get warm sensations. I don't know if they are real or just tension. I suffer no other symptoms.
Have you taken any medications or had any viral or staph infections or been injured prior to the onset of your symptoms?
I understand about the worrying. I can relate. Too bad docs cannot tell us more conconclusive info.