Is there a name for...

that buzzy, tingly, electric-y, sensation that goes on in the head (mine is sometimes accompanied with some facial numbing). When I have tried to explain this to my neuro he looks at me like I'm from another planet. I have another appointment coming up which will follow my 2nd MRI and I would like to be able to be more descriptive if I can.
Thanks! Linda

[Lulu54]

We had a post this summer trying to put words to symptoms.  Maybe something here will be of help...

http://www.medhelp.org/posts/Multiple-Sclerosis/Describing-symptoms---putting-it-in-words/show/1288644?personal_page_id=865800

[COBOB]

The name for them is paresthesias.  Check out:
  
http://www.medhelp.org/health_pages/Multiple-Sclerosis/Paresthesias---Things-That-Go-BUZZ-in-the-Night/show/378?cid=36

Bob

[jensequitur]

Gracie, is yours on the scalp?  I get a tingling/buzzing sensation at the back of my head.  Evidently it's caused by poor nerve conduction.  And yeah, definitely read the article Bob posted.

[Lulu54]

The last thing we want to do in seeing the doctor is use words like paresthesias because then they think we have been researching the disease on the internet.  It is much better to use simple descriptions.  

Parasthesias is one of the hardest things for me to describe.

[Audrey_M]

I don't know if I'm speaking out of turn for LuLu, but I do agree that paresthesias are one of the hardest things to describe.

It has to do with the the different ways that paresthesias feel. There are so many different types!!! I guess if a doc has never experienced one or more, yes, she/he may look at you like you're nuts.

That may explain why Linda wants to find one word that can be her umbrella to describe all of these weird feelings that can go all over the map and on different parts of the body.

"Numbness and tingling" doesn't even begin to scratch the surface of paresthesias.

"I don't like spiders and snakes" crawling all over my body....along with other weird sensations, like feeling I've wet myself, cell phones vibrating in my leg, bugs biting, and on and on. I've gotten so used to them, that I ignored a feeling of something dripping on my shin only to find that I was bleeding.

So, Linda, after writing this and rereading it, maybe what you say to the doctor is that you have all kinds of weird sensations and then begin to list them off. That way you're not using a "doctor" term, but laying it out generally and then going into specifics.

Audrey

[Quixotic1]

I definitely agree with Lulu and Audrey.  In describing things to our doctors, we MUST use our own words, as weird as they may sound.  If it is appropriate, we can use the big medical words and say something like, "My other doctor said this was a paresthesia."  Or, my friend that is a doctor said this sounded like a paresthesia per myoclonic jerk or problem with the Trigeminal nerve.  That way you are letting them know that someone  "in the know" gave you that terminology.

It is true that doctors, in general, do not like to think that you are diagnosing yourself on the internet.  Some get so hostile about it that they lose any open-mindedness and will see only the need to show that you are wrong.  This is a shame, because the info on the internet is a "given" in most people's mind and I would guess it is the rare person who doesn't get some health info from online.

Quix

[GracieBee]

You have been wonderful! The article on paresthesia was extremely helpful because there I also found another symptom I had about a week and half ago. Weirdest thing! All day I kept smelling the odor of a tobacco shop. It was very distinct and followed me wherever I went! I told my husband and mom about it and then found on that site that it wasn't a crazy thing!
I think a huge percentage of my paresthesia goes on inside of my head. It's my vision, my nose (hurts like a sneeze I can't get out), the electric shock thing (something I've had for years) extreme tingling right below my nose and pain in the nerves in teeth, like a cavity, but goes away. Most of these are on the right side too. Does it typically pick one side over the other? I do have the phantom pains and the itching as well as the rock in the shoe feeling.

Jensequitur, I've had the buzzing in my scalp a few times, but it's just one of the many sensations.
My plan is to wait until after the MRI results come back and see what that shows. If it shows new areas, then I might use the word "paresthesia" and then talk about which areas of that I have and describe them. If my MRI is unchanged I won't mention the word at all.
Thank you all so much!! I've been away from our group because we are currently on a search for a living liver donor for my husband. We are on the phone, email, facebook and in person passing out donor packs, etc. Please keep us your prayers!
Linda (Gracie)