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Complete Numbness-tingling on left side..please helppppp!!!!

Hello I hope and pray that there is some out here that can help me..Over 30 days ago I took a nap on a normal day and woke up with numbness on my left side it felt as tho my arm and legs, feet on left side had gone to sleep however they never woke up.  I tried to sleep it off that night but decided to go to the er the following am..they admitted me for fear that i had had a stroke and kept me for about 5 days.  Mt neurologist stated that i had a million dollar work up..they did mri's,ct's,spinal tap and loottsss of blood work and they all came back fine.  I am still have the numbness-tingling to this day on my left side only including face and I have what i call episodes where it feels like under my skin is aching sharp-dull and nothing that i take causes the pain to go away it has to fade on its own, however when i have these episodes it makes me weak on my left side causing me to limp, not use my arm to much etc..the neuro says he doesnt think it was a stroke all test have come back fine I also had a brain study which was normal hoever I am still numb and taking a med lyrica which does not help..I know that this is not in my mind i wanted to know if anyone else out there has had a similar problem or can give me any help as to what other test to have the doc run, or what this may be or could be..i am 28 years of age and w/o this i am 100/% healthy..this came on suddenly and has not moved itself..plse help me with any advice possible..thanks
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Avatar universal
See a neurologist. Can be a pinched nerve.
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I had similar symptoms right before I got shingles. I woke up one morning with my entire left side numb.  Is it possible that might be happening to you?
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I have had numbness on my entire left side for over a year.  I have had multiple MRI's, EKG, EEG, CT, Heart Catheterization and every blood test out there.  I have seen cardiologist, neurologist, pulmonary, Spinal surgeon.  I have issues with my back but nothing there is causing the entire left side of my body to be partially numb all the time.  I have moments where my left arm and leg don't work, I always walk with a limp.  I have had fluctuating blood pressure with dizziness, chest pain, shortness of breath,  severe headaches, migraines, racing pulse, ringing ears, jaw painand every test has come back normal.  Most of the blood work is either at the lowest end of normal or at the highest end of normal.  I have been treated for fibromyalgia but none of the medications for that do anything.  The chest pains have gotten worse and shortness of breath so back to the cardiologist and seeing another neurologist next Friday.  I won't go the  ER anymore, the ER always says panic attacks but that has been ruled out by the other doctors and shrink they sent me to thinking it was all in my head.  I am always tired and always in pain and partially numb.  If anyone has any ideas I am ready to listen.  I have been tested for MS three times.  
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Avatar universal
About 3 months ago I started having numbness and tingling in left arm and leg and it went away shortly after trips to emergency room thinking stroke. Had ct, MRI, blood work, egg and nothing showed up. Did not have during June and first half July. For 2 days now it has come back and have it maybe a little on left side of face. No slurred speech or drooping. Any ideas?
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this has also happened to me and i went to physical therapy chiropractor and eventually ended up doing strengthening exercises as my whole core was weak and i was loosing my blance too...this went on for a really long time but i was able to work full time and go to school and continue at home i just kept getting sicker..ended up a chiropractor did something with my neck my axis was out or something and i started getting better i also got some massages..in the beginning i thought that i had a tick bite but i don't really think that i did..so i geuss what i am saying is don't give up because i made it through all of that stuff but it was really kind of hard and at times i thought that i had had a stroke too.  now i have moved on to much different issues..hand in there but i don't run anymore and my entire life style has changed..i am no where as agile as i use to be and wouldn't dare exercise the way that i use to i also can now take medications and when i was going through all of that they had a hard time getting me on anything my body just didn't want me to take anything..i think now i actually need about 3 surgeries..lots of things that weren't even medications helped as well...make sure you are eating right don't get toxic on anything and make sure that you are drinking lots of water and your system is getting flushed..i also at one point thought that someone had tried to poison me because i just felt like i was toxic was the weirdest thing ever but i don't think anyone tried to give me anything bad it just must of been something that was suppose to happen and i will never know why...
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Avatar universal
I just wanted to add what helped me. I am a 41 years old and woke up with the same feeling of numbness on my left side most intense in my entire left leg. I was barely able to walk straight. I always seem to find relief for headaches and muscle tightness through chiropractic adjustments. So, I went to the chiropractor, got a whole body adjustment and massage. The numbness was nearly 25% better immediately afterwards. He prescribed light aerobics (walking for me), stretching and kneading the muscles in my left leg/hip with a rolling pin. Now about 5 days later, the numbness is 85% better and has migrated mostly to part of my left foot!!! I highly recommend chiropractic. So many ailments can be caused by pinched nerves or tight muscles and misalignments.

I think it was another attempt at running that caused me past pain in my left hip and again this numbness happened 2 days after another couple attempts to run for fitness. Now I am just walking and strength training for fitness. No more running for me. The numbness after running probably stemmed from an injury I had when I was 10 years old and broke my left leg after a jump off a barn (yeah not smart). Just wanted to share what helped me and I hope this helps someone else. It's scary to lose feeling on an entire side of the body. I dislike medications as they can tend to cause more problems in the long term and never really fix the real problem. So any natural remedies are golden in my book. Hope this helps! God Bless All!
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Avatar universal
The Dizzy feeling returned, It took me a week to figure out that it was due to my wife switching us to a "more Healthy" low fat soy based coffee creamer.  This caused the right side of my face to start going numb.  Quit the creamer and dizziness stopped, but the face remains numb.  For some reason the numbness caused by soy in milk or creamer in permanent with me.  
  Many of the side effects I got from the Simvastatin still linger on.  But some are gone and others getting better.  Sleeping better, but still only 4 hours a night (better than 2).  The tiny blisters I was getting on my feet are now gone.
Anal leakage gone (Yes).  not tired all the time anymore.  Memory better, getting much more work done around the house and cars.  Peyronies still here (worst of all the side effects).  No longer trust my Doctor at all.
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Interesting that I stumbled onto this discussion.  I am 62, male, about 3 years ago I started having dizzy spells, they one morning during sex, the room started spinning around at 90 mph, I laid there until it stopped and then noticed Numbness on my left side that goes straight down from head to toe.  I went to the ER and had tons of tests.  They found nothing but concluded I had a stroke.  My strength is fine, no pain, no speech or sagging problems.  When I was 30 I had dizzy spells and they went away when I quit caffeine.  Just before these dizzy spells started, My wife switched me to soy milk.  I quit the soy milk and the dizziness went away.  However the numbness is still with me 3 years later.  My Dr. put me on Statin drugs for the presumed stroke.  I took them for 2 years and developed every negative side effect (peyrones disease, anal leakage, only sleeping 2-3 hours a night, mussel weakness).  I quit the Statins about 3 months ago and am slowly getting back to normal.  But My Dr. is not happy with me quitting them.  If your Dr. wants you on Statin's read the side effects first!
  I have gotten use to the numbness, except for my nose and it has creeped over onto my right side to take over my entire nose and my upper lip.
About 8 years ago, I was diagnosed with prostate cancer and cured it myself by drinking Hydrogen peroxide, (another story), although I quit drinking it at least a year prior to this happening, I have wondered if it caused this.  Reading all these stories now makes me thing otherwise.
  For those who are Dizzy, try cutting out all caffeine for a month and see if that helps.  Think about anything in your diet that changed within a month of when this happened to you.  
I may try a chiropractor just for the heck of it, since a little pressure on a nerve in the neck could be causing the numbness (I do not remember and injury, but it can't hurt).
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Avatar universal
I think we have a lot in common here, ladies!! I was on Mirena but had it removed immediately once I was taken to the ER for what I thought was a stroke. My vision first got very fuzzy and slowly, perfectly asymmetrical, my left side went numb. I was dizzy and tried to ask for help at the grocery store but my speech was severly slurred while this was all happening. I was checked for clotting factors and other blood tests but the physician said I probably had a complex migraine. I had several more episodes for the following three weeks and then a multitude of other complications that begin to worsen during certain parts of my cycle- foggy brain, loss of vocabulary , squeezing left arm muscle pains, vertigo, blurred vision, heart palpitations, facial muscle pain and inability to raise eyebrows. This list goes on and on. I was diagnosed with autonomic dysfunction, POTS. I was encouraged by the lessening of symptoms over the years, almost 3 now. However, I had intense symptoms of feeling drunk, syncope, nausia, extreme mental fog, muscle spasms, facial muscle weakness and so forth on the exact moment I ovulate. It is very clear this is tied to hormones but I want to feel normal and healthy again! It is very very hard to function as a school teacher when I feel like this.
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Avatar universal
I just spent the last 4 months with this problem and the exact same symptoms the OP wrote about.  To add to that, my numbness was starting in on the right side from the head down.  My left side of my face was almost paralyzed, and I was starting to have chest pains and what felt like pre-heart attack symptoms.  All my tests, MRI, EKG, blood tests, came back totally healthy and normal except for indication of migraines.  But I don't get any headaches!  I was told it was psychosomatic and brought on by stress.  Now of course there is such a thing as hysterical paralysis, but I had NO previous history of such things in my family or relatives.  I was under a lot of financial stress though, so I couldn't disagree with the stress issue and started seeing a nutritionist to build me up against stress (psych meds will just weaken your defenses, trust me!)

Yesterday it was finally SOLVED!!  Doctors have a tendency to make you think that because they can't see anything wrong, it must be mental.  THIS **** IS REAL PEOPLE!  After working with a chiropractor I had been referred to, for two weeks, he found the compressed nerve in the right side of my neck, just above the shoulders.  As soon as he adjusted it THE FEELING RETURNED TO MY LEFT SIDE!!!  I was in disbelief, but after about 3 minutes couldn't help but cry.  I thought no one was going to be able to fix me.  Now granted the left side was weak and still needed some time to heal after the nerve had spent four months completely crushed.  I have discovered that a pinched nerve can create some crazy symptoms. It's not always brain related, sometimes it's lower down.  I hope someone finds this information helpful.
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Thanks a lot. This gives me hope. How do I reach you......
Avatar universal
Unilateral tingling....please everyone...do yourself a favor and check out POSTURAL PHYSICAL THERAPY.   You are neurologically wired to walk a certain way and if it gets slightly altered it can cause a whole myriad of neurological symptoms, numbness, tingling, pain, etc.  Please find the closest POSTURAL PT in your area.  I went to one yesterday and he explain why everything was happening.  
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Hi All!  I can't believe that there are so many of you with the same symptoms that I have.  I have been diagnosed with Hashimotos Thyroiditis.  I was put on a very small dosage of Synthroid and about 5 weeks into taking it, I started to notice tingling in my left hand and then in my left foot.  Occasionally in my right foot, but not my right hand.  I have shoulder pain on the left side as well as some neck pain...all on left side.  I broke out in a itchy rash on my left side on my legs about a week ago and that has subsided.  I was the twitches all over my body as well.  I had a cervical MRI, brain MRI and a shoulder MRI.  All clean.  They have done countless CBCs (a little anemic) and I overmedicated myself on B12 so that was high.  I started taking something called Pharma Gaba, it seems to help a little with the tingling and the anxiety around the tingling.  Anyone else out there have their antibodies tested for Hashimotos Thyroid?  It is a test that is separate from the regular thyroid workup, T3, T4 and TSH.  How about Gluten tests and Fibromyalgia work up?  I am stuck thinking that my thyroid is the culprit here.  Any other thoughts?
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wow.after reading all of these i belive that the symptoms most are having are real..about 40 percent should check out pirimorfis syndrome, about half are symptoms produced from sheer fear,mostly of having a stroke, and some are from ambien and xanax....the rest need to persist with the medical help,the ambien and xanax will lead to trouble sooner or later.
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If you think it is a migraine (true migraine with flashing lights before eyes, and the feeling a horrible headache is coming on -- and often does, with nausea), some people get this from FOOD ALLERGIES.  =====A Scripps hospital La Jolla, CA doctor recently put ONIONS (raw or cooked) on his list of migraine triggers.  ====I CURED myself forever of migraines 20 years ago by completely eliminating onions, especially raw.  =====I kept a chart for several months of foods eaten, weather, stress, etc.  ===I could have days of terrible stress, but no migraine.  Or wonderful days and THEN a migraine.  Food allergies accumulate.  One onion, maybe no problem.  Two/three days in a row of onions, WATCH OUT !!!  l
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Avatar universal
I experienced the numbness on my entire right side. The first time it happened, I awakend from sleeping. I thought I was having a stroke, but changed my mind to believe it was a pinched nerve in my spine because it went away so quickly. It kept reoccuring. I had MRI of spine, brain and had my corotid (SIC?) artery checked. I also wore a heart monitor. I was told I had had a mild stroke for unknown reasons... all my bloodwork and heart tests were fine, Mine keeps happening when I wake up. I can't stand for a moment until it goes away. I have been told the stroke would not cause symptoms that come and go, neither would MS. I had a sleep study, apnea when I sleep on my back. I sleep on my side or belly now to avoid the invasive CPAP machine. I wish someone could tell me what is going on as well. I can relate to your discomfort and worry.
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I have most of the same issues going on now mine started in May this year and I'm still numb. I have been to 2 head doctors, who have now sent me back to a neurologist who will be seeing me next week. My doctor said I have a conversion disorder, both head doctors said I don't in the meantime, I'm still numb, tingling, and can of bugged. I have had every test out there and still have no idea why I'm numb, the real sucky part is now when I touched stuff on chargers my left side feels like it's being shocked? If anyone else has the shocking thing please let me know and how long did it last? I am a diabetic but don't know if neuropathy can affect one whole side of my body?
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I have the same problems total left side numbness and the pressure in the head and a lot behind the eyes.  Three different doctors no answers.  One doctor told me I had the brain MRI of an 82 year old man, I am only 42.  MS has been brought up but it is difficult and timely to diagnose.  Keep looking it gets hard not to just give up, but just keep looking.
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Avatar universal
I know that I am really late in this posting but this same thing happened to me. I was at work and all of a sudden my left side went numb and i was paralyzed for a  few days. They ran test after test and everything became normal. Then they had me see a psychologist because they began to think I was crazy. Everyone refuses to help me and says this is all in my head. I have seen doctor after doctor and its been over a year since it happened. I have episodes where I will get really dizzy and my face will have a stabbing pain. Nothing helps. I was wondering if you have found out what was wrong or do you know anyone I can see or any answers? Please help
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Avatar universal
I have the same tingling and numbness on my left side. I was recently diagnosed with MS about 2 months ago but my neurologist thinks I may have nerve damage and the numbness and tingling is not related to the MS.  He has scheduled me a EMG/NCS test to determine if it is nerve damage.  My numbness is so bad at times my leg drags and my fingers feel like they have frozen to death but never unthaws. It is an awful feeling and I hate it!!! I am a active 40 year old and the MS has not been the problem its the numbness and tingling that has me down!  
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I hope you are still checking this board.  At age 37 I stopped taking the Yasmin birth control pills I had been on for 3-4 years.  I didn't replace them with anything.  In about 5 months my periods were completely normal again, however, I began having most of the symptoms you are describing and all of the tests.  Nothing came up on any results either except that I had my gallbladder removed a month later.  The same symptoms returned a few months after the surgery.  Now it has been 5 years dealing with these symptoms, but the good news is that they are less.  Now I mostly have numbness for 2-5 days a month - on the left side of my body (left cheek, arm and leg) - mainly during the time ovulation occurs - there's definite pattern.  My symptoms seem to be hormone, peri-menopausal related, perhaps complicated by the hypothyroidism I have been taking medication for for 20 years.  I think it is a type of neuropathy - affects circulation, digestion, and more.  Eating more fresh fruits and vegetables instead of red meat and cheese has had a great benefit in lessening the symptoms.  It has really been a pain in many ways to go through all of this, but I am relieved that it has gotten better with time instead of worse.  I hate it when docs brush it off so so much, especially women doctors, you would think they would listen a lot better.  
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I can't believe that I have found people that can relate to me! I have waves of numbness that take over my left side about every 10 minutes and last for about a minute. This has been going on for 3 straight days. I had a brain tumor 12 yrs ago and take seizure meds and haven't had any problems in several years....this started out of no where. I think my neurologist thinks I'm crazy. I don't know how to describe it to him. All he wants to do I'd increase my meds. Its so frustrating to explain to someone what is going on!!!!

About pressure in the brain....before I knew I had a brain tumor, I had what I called ' Brain Squeezes' becauses that is what it felt like. Also throbbing in my ear. That is the only symptoms I had...no headache. Please tell your dr about pressure. I didn't think anything about it and the next thing I knew I was at home with my kids alone and had a seizure. Best wishes to you all
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Any update?  My wife seems to have the same symptoms.  A lot of stories on here... anybody want to follow up, being the original question was frm 2007.
Thanks
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Hi all

As someone else stated before i also thought i had written the note when i read the original post.Thanks to all who have given information. I noticed that noone mentioned about problems at thinking and reasoning process and feeling of pressure inside brain. When i have this left side numbness problem i also have feeling of increased pressure inside the brain (on left side) and i also loose ability to think properly.I start living like robot. Making new decisions is almost impossible.Anyone experiences those or does my case look different than yours? thanks.  
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Hi I am 24 years old and I was reading this forum to get some sort of help.  I too have tingling and numbness only on my left side, extending from my face to my toes.  The doctor said I have a bulging disc/pinched nerve in my neck and that this may be whats causing the numbness/tingling.  I was wondering if this was the cause of anyone elses numbness/tingling.  I have panic attacks constantly because when it happens I think the worst, like stroke.  I am tired of having to stay medicated to keep from panicking, is there any advice as to what to do when the numbness/tingling comes about?  So that I won't panic and have to take a Xanax? Thank you for any help.
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