Brain zaps - pins and needles inside the head! again...

[Gio77Italy]

in 2010 I caught an infection, incredibly coincidentally I had a really bad stress episode that included a really bad psychological trauma. few weeks later my legs would give out, sweating profusely, when I started to get better many months after I started feeling what I thought were like electric shocks in the head or the way I would call them "thorns" inside the brain. something definitely neural. I told everyone that I had some infection/inflammation but nobody listened to me because it was coincidental with the psych. trauma.

because I had been given high doses of psychotropic drugs in 2010 (coincidentally with the infection) and I had PTSD I thought it was all due to that. the doctors had lied about my blood tests they said there was nothing important I found out more than a year later. in the weeks preceding the infection I had been exposed to many different things, possibly contaminated water and food, an open wound exposed in newly moved soil, unprotected sex, and fleas bit me (they came from rats to my neighbors dog). I know it's incredible but it all happened within only a few weeks!  

this year again I caught some infection, by legs were partially paralyzed then after a few months I started to recover and AGAIN these pins inside the head! I can't stand them, I just feel like doing nothing when I have them I can barely watch TV.

now I know that it had nothing to do with a psychiatric trauma or the drugs they gave me! I suspect that I have a latent infection that is woken up when the immune system is aggravated by something else.

what is it then? what can cause this and why is it always coincidental with infections? I thought these pins in the head would be a specific medical symptom then why is that any Doctor I ask about it just shrugs ? all they did was MRI brain-spine all the radiologist could see was mucous in the sphenoidal sinus.

thank you.

[Gio77Italy]

Thank you so much for your answer.

the paralysis got the legs first in October and it peaked in February to regress almost completely in June. everything started with headache and water leaking out from the nose!

when I finally understood it was a neurological problem I did EMG to the legs in May and they did find a remodeled muscle in one leg (it actually hurts in a freak way now), the rest was OK.  

before the weakness in the legs manifested itself I had half-face partially paralyzed, numb and tingling. and the progression of the paralysis included the arms in May and something went on with the heart too.

I mentioned GBS to the Professor at the Teaching Hospital he said LP is risky and unnecessary and all my symptoms were psychogenic or non neurological any ways.

fortunately I seem to be recovering spontaneously but still dealing with weakness and pain in extremities on one side of the body mostly, and the annoying "brain-zaps".

I'm negative to all common STDs. I think I had caught a flu from that woman.

I suspect that I'm also weakened by some chronic infection maybe parasitic in 2011 I was found with Eosinophilia which was not checked again. it was ignored by the shrink who I told to check for infections he said there was nothing significant. it would have conflicted with his idea that I was having blood tests because I was depressed.

Thank you again for your answer, I'm comforted that after months browsing the internet looking into any possible explanation  from Malaria to Rabies, Lambert-Eaton, Shiga-toxins, Alien abduction :), etc. eventually I had come up with something that did make sense like GBS.


ps

two days ago they had a press conference in the Senate about some West Nile epidemic in Italy which is brought by mosquitoes, I thought it was strange such interest for a couple of dead horses.

[Jeffrey Kim, M.D.]

Thanks for using the forum. I am happy to address your questions, and my answer will be based on the information you provided here. Please make sure you recognize that this forum is for educational purposes only, and it does not substitute for a formal office visit with a doctor.

Without the ability to examine and obtain a history, I cannot tell you what the exact cause of the symptoms is. However I will try to provide you with some useful information.

There are neurological disorders that are caused by inflammatory changes in the brain after an infection. One such entity is ADEM, or acute disseminated encephalomyelitis. It is a demyelinating disease associated with vaccination or a systemic viral infection.  It has been suggested that microbial infections elicit an immune response that attacks myelin (sheaths covering our nerves), resulting in ADEM. The lesions seen in the brain in ADEM resemble those of MS or multiple sclerosis. The brain lesions may also show perivascular inflammatory infiltrates as well as demyelination.  

You also mentioned that you had an episode of paralysis after an infection.  Sometimes, immune-mediated processes after an infection can damage our nerves.  One of these immune-mediated neuropathies is AIDP (acute inflammatory demyelinating polyneuropathy) or Guillain-Barré syndrome (GBS).  It usually presents with symmetrical ascending weakness and may be associated with autonomic dysfunction and respiratory depression. Sensory systems may be involved and may present with numbness or tingling. If the patient's symptoms continue to progress beyond 4 weeks, the illness is termed CIDP.  The occurrence of AIDP has been linked to many infectious diseases, including C. jejuni, herpesvirus, Mycoplasma pneumonia, and many other bacterial and viral infections, as well as vaccinations.

With your history of recurrent infections and unprotected sex, another concern would be possible HIV infection.  HIV disease can produce a variety of effects on both the brain, and on our nerves.  HIV can be tested for with a simple blood test.

In most cases of ADEM or an HIV related central nervous system disorder, there would be changes seen in MRI imaging.  It is reassuring that your MRI of the brain and spine was normal.  I am unsure what additional work-up you received when you had your episode of paralysis, but if GBS was a consideration, a workup may also involve a lumbar puncture, or EMG/NCS.      

If you continue to have your sensory symptoms or weakness, it would be recommended to seek an evalution by a neurologist for a formal evaluation.  Further workup would be decided upon depending on the clinical examination and historical findings.

Thank you for this opportunity to answer your questions, I hope you find the information I have provided useful, good luck.