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Neurology (Expert Forum)
Severe numbness in ball of feet
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Severe numbness in ball of feet
by jgfsav, Mar 07, 2007 12:00AM
I have severe numbness in the ball of each foot. Toes are barely affected. I have had this for over 3 years and seems to slowly be getting worse. I have also had problems with involuntary muscle twitches in my eyelids, arms and legs over the same period. My doc has done blood work and ruled out diabetes. He suggested magnesium and calcium supplements and increased water intake. This has helped somewhat with the twitching, but the foot numbness has remained constant.
Is this peripheral neuropathy? MS?
Thank you for your help.
Is this peripheral neuropathy? MS?
Thank you for your help.
Doctor's Answer
by Forum-M.D.-SH, Apr 02, 2007 12:00AM
First of all, keep in mind that I am unable to diagnose you because I am unable to examine you, this forum is for educational purposes.
The symptoms that you describe are non-specific, but I can give you a range of possible causes and suggest some more testing. The feet are the site of the longest nerves in the body(they travel from the brain, down the spine, down your leg, and into you feet). Thus if any process affects all of your nerves (the feet are the first to show signs of the damage). Common processes that damage nerves are diabetes, alcohol, vitamin deficiencies, thyroid problems, some cancers, and genetic conditions,etc. In addition to processes that affect all the nerves, some causes specifically affect the region of the feet. The lumbar spine (lower back) can degenerate causing discs to protrude onto the nerves traveling to the feet. I would suggest that you have some additional blood work including glucose tolerance test (3 hour GTT), B12, TSH, Monoclonal protein analysis, Hu protein and paraneoplastic panel, ESR, CRP, ANA, RPR, vitamin E level, and copper level. I would also have an EMG (nerve muscle test) to evaluate the health of the nerves going to you feet. I would also suggest an MRI of your lumbar spine to evaluate for any structural lesion (disc, tumor, spinal stenosis etc.) If the above are negative, I would suggest a lumbar puncture to evaluate the spinal fluid for any signs of inflammation or cancer cells. I do not think the symptoms that you describe are consistent with MS.
I hope this has been helpful.
The symptoms that you describe are non-specific, but I can give you a range of possible causes and suggest some more testing. The feet are the site of the longest nerves in the body(they travel from the brain, down the spine, down your leg, and into you feet). Thus if any process affects all of your nerves (the feet are the first to show signs of the damage). Common processes that damage nerves are diabetes, alcohol, vitamin deficiencies, thyroid problems, some cancers, and genetic conditions,etc. In addition to processes that affect all the nerves, some causes specifically affect the region of the feet. The lumbar spine (lower back) can degenerate causing discs to protrude onto the nerves traveling to the feet. I would suggest that you have some additional blood work including glucose tolerance test (3 hour GTT), B12, TSH, Monoclonal protein analysis, Hu protein and paraneoplastic panel, ESR, CRP, ANA, RPR, vitamin E level, and copper level. I would also have an EMG (nerve muscle test) to evaluate the health of the nerves going to you feet. I would also suggest an MRI of your lumbar spine to evaluate for any structural lesion (disc, tumor, spinal stenosis etc.) If the above are negative, I would suggest a lumbar puncture to evaluate the spinal fluid for any signs of inflammation or cancer cells. I do not think the symptoms that you describe are consistent with MS.
I hope this has been helpful.
I have that numbness in my feet behind my toes.... it used to drive me crazy... couldn't sit.... couldn't sleep..... my neurologist put me on Topomax (topamax).... I still have the numbness.... but it doesn't drive me crazy like it did..... if you come up with something better let me know...