17 yr. female -dizzy, numbness, tingling, etc

[Sharon]

My 17 year old daughter has been experiencing daily since Jan. 10, dizzy, lightheadedness, vision problems, i.e. blurred, sees little black spots, and numbness and tingling in limbs, and fatigue. She has also, since 14, a yet to be determined, autoimmune sys. disorder. With this she experiences chronic joint inflammation and pain to the point at times she must go to bed for a week or more. She is and has been on anti-inflamatory meds since the age of 14. Her drs. have had test after test after test done and  all results have been good, except the ANA, which always comes back very high. Presently, we are waiting on an appt. with an immunologist to do a study of her immune sys., as per pediatric neurologists reccomendation.  She has everyone baffled. Also, there other kids from 13-17 years of age in the area with same symptoms.  These symptoms are severe enough to be disabling, in that the kids with these syms. are unable to attend school, they are being seen by the school sys. homebound teacher.  I might add, too, these are not kids who are into drugs, alcohol, or trying to get out of school, etc. These are good kids, who are conscientious (sp?) students, and have always been active in various extracurricular activities.  Any help or advice will be greatly appreciated.

[CCF Neuro[P] MD, RPS]

Dear Sharon:

I am not sure I can help.  The symptoms are not specific (not your description but the type of symptom) to a specific entity.  They are things that one can see in anything from, vestibular basilar insufficency, migraine, epilepsy, post viral syndrome, fibromyalgia, stroke, CNS collagen-vascular disease, autoimmune disease, etc.  I am sure that you have looked at such a list or liteny of etiologies with your pediatric neurologist and family physician. The ANA test is fairly non-specific.  What did the double standed DNA antibodies come back as, high or low?  If there haven't been an increase is illnesses during your daughter's life, the chance of a disordered immune system is a low yield chance.  Unless there is a toxin or emitted gas in the neighborhood, there is likely nothing to be caught from the other kids in the neighborhood.  I would do a little detective work, but I bet the parents already have, what are the things in common?  

Sorry, but I am not much help.

Sincerely,

CCF Neuro MD

[Sharon]

Thank you for your response.  Yes, we have gone over all the things you mentioned.  Ped. Neuro. believes it is all related to the autoimmune sys. disorder.  Drs. have mentioned lupus numerous times, but not enough definitive syms to make a diagnosis.  As you can imagine every thing the syms. could remotely be associated with has been discussed or thought of.  We are trying to find the commonalities all of the kids have who are experiencing same problems.  Thus far, the only commonality is  all live in the same quadrant of the city. I'm  not sure if I mentioned this, but as per neuros advice, I contacted state EPA office and they put me in contact with the state epidemeologist(sp?).  He had a local public health nurse contact me and she is foolowing through with questions to the others.  The supervisor of special services and the homebound teacher for the school sys. both have expressed concern that these problems are located in one quadrant of the city.  Again, thanks.

[CCF Neuro[P] MD, RPS]

Sorry I couldn't help.

CCF Neuro MD

[Stephanie Lee]

I suffered from these same symptoms for many years. I was diagnosed with neurocardiogenic syncope while on a tilt table. i suggest that your daughter be tested on a tilt table.

[CCF Neuro[P] MD, RPS]

thanks for your comment.

CCF Neuro MD

[Chet Bush]

Sharon, The symptoms sound similar to those of my 35 year old Daughter.  After several trips to the emergency room and three days in the Hospital, the conclusion, after running every test in the book, was Anxiety disorder with intermittent panic attacks.  Rx:  Paxil (SSRI) and counseling.  She is now back to normal after 2 weeks on meds.  Anxiety and Panic attacks can directly affect other bodily functions.  While she was in the emergency room, her blood pressure and heart rate were all over the place.    

Good luck,  Chet

[CCF Neuro[P]MD, RPS]

thanks for the comments.

CCF Neuro MD

[[e-mail]]

For some time I have been having trouble with my hands going to
sleep.  I must shake and shake them to try and wake them up. This
happens both during the day and at night when sleeping.  Although
I really cannot see it, it seems that there might be some swelling.  Additionally my arms ache and feel strange.  I have
always had restless legs, but now they are always restless and
it is difficult to get them comfortable.  If anyone has any
information of these I would appreciate this information.

Thank you. C.

[Michelle]

I wouldn't think to offer a diagnosis in this case, but I noticed someone else mentioned her 34 year old daughter was diagnosed with Anxiety Disorder.  Stress and anxiety are capable of causing a large number of scary physical symptoms, and it can often be difficult to persuade a person suffering from anxiety that it is, in fact, anxiety that is at the root of the problem, and not some  other cause.

  I speak from experience.  I am a 33 year old competitive cyclist.I was experiencing twitching, as is often discussed in this forum, as well as daily debilitating headaches,a feeling that one of my hands was getting clumsy, palpitations, blurry vision and "lights" and other symptoms, such as insomnia, a "fullness" in my ears,tingling in my fingers, a "spaced out" feeling, muscle spasms from time to time, and nighttime "jerks." I was sure I had a neurological disorder-- probably ALS or MS, of course.  Maybe I was having TIA's, or I had a seizure disorder.  My mind was reeling at the possibilities!

  I went to this forum and found a lot of other worried people with twitches, and I decided to relax about that. In fact, I thought to myself, "It sounds as if all these people are really stressed out.  That's probably what's causing their symptoms." And then I realized I should listen to myself!

  Since I was worried about the headaches, I went to a family practitioner who sent me to an ENT.  She did a sinus CAT that ended up normal, and she told me I probably had allergies.  She prescribed Zyrtec.  The headaches went away, as well as everything else. I also enlisted a VERY good, very reputable chiropractor, and with a flick of my arm,and my neck, he was able to relieve the tingling in my fingers.

  I realized I had been pretty over the top with worry, and that my anxiety about being sick was actually making me sick.  I have a pretty reactive nervous system-- just like my mom and other women in my family-- and we're prone to panic attacks, have "flippy", reactive hearts, and a susceptibility to Irritable Bowel Syndrome.  We all are productive, educated, and fun to be around, but we've all had to learn to deal with our anxiety.  

When it started happening to me, I absolutely did NOT believe anxiety was causing my symptoms.  It is important to go to a doctor to rule out physical abnormalities, of course, but I just want to tell everyone out there that anxiety mimics a lot of neurological illnesses.  People who are having a full-blown panic attack--meaning lots of nasty chemicals are being released into the bloodstream and causing symptoms--can do a pretty good imitation of a stroke victim, or may have chest pains that mimic a heart attack.  If you've had many, many tests and they're all normal, you should consider addressing a possible anxiety disorder.

Anxiety can really do a number on your central nervous system and the vital organs affected by it, so is it really any wonder we often feel as if we have a neurological disorder?  Having a panic attack is like getting a bottle of pure fear injected right into your bloodstream.  If you could bottle fear, it would literally be what you're producing when you're having a panic attack.  In a general anxiety state, it's more like a time release of the same stressful hormones/chemicals.

Finally, life is no fun when you're worried about every little ache, twinge, and twitch.  Anxiety disorder can be every bit as debilitating as a "real" neurological disorder, but there's help out there for you if you suspect you might be one of the millions suffering from it.

[CCF Neuro[P] MD, RPS]

Thank you for your insightful comments. I am sure it will help others.

CCF Neuro MD