Speech Induced Lingual dystonia

[Rahima64]

I'm a forty six years old, left handed female who has been suffering from a distorted speech for the last 8 months. My dysarthria tends to be persistant and progressive in a stepwise manner. I've been diagnosed with lingual dystonia that tends to affect my speech only. Otherwise, I am completely healthy.

Upon my last visit to a consultant neuorologist from Kings College Hospital in London, I was given a medical report stating the finding of a mild, right carotid bruit from the medical examination of my condition.

I have had two botox injections in the posterior tongue muscle with no effect on my speech.

My question is would the neourologist finding of a mild, right carotid bruit ibe relevant to my speech problem? If not, what does it indicate?

What do you think would help me in improving my speech.

Ra

[Christopher R Newey, DO]

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 can not tell you what the exact cause of the symptoms is. However I will try to provide you with some useful information.

A carotid bruit may be an incidental finding only on clinical examination and have no significance. However, it can also mean that there is stenosis of the carotid artery. I would recommend that you obtain a carotid ultrasound to determine what the carotid bruit means (i.e., stenosis or nothing).

You should continue working with your neurologist for the lingual dystonia. I would continue with the BoTox.

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

[chloegisela]

im chloe,im 16 yrs old,my mom had a stroke last saturday, October 23,2010.she is 54 yrs old.The doctor told as that she had a mild stroke and had a bleeding on her left brain!!She cannot speak well and her left body is slightly cannot moved!!My question is,how can my mother recover,?how can I help her!!??

[Rahima64]

Your answer is not clear with regards to any possible relationship between my dysarthria and the possible stenosis. I'm trying to find out whether my condition has been misdiagnosed with dystonia, especially since my speech difficulty got worse (anarthria) on the third week of the botox injection.