Strange Symptoms

[steve]

On Jan.11,2001 I had Gallbadder surgery.5 days later I noticed that my left arm was weak.4 days later I started feeling weakness in my left leg. 2 days later My right arm was weak. Within a week and a half all my extremities were weak. I now have other strange symptoms. My Left leg has numbness, On occasion I have burning skin sensations on my face. The sensations of my skin on my entire body seems to be dull.I have twitches all over my body, mostly at night.I also have tingling on ans off in my extremities. I have developed  fine tremors in my hands when they are at use. Within the last week my tongue has the feeling of being weak or uncoordinated.When these symptoms first started I could not sleep. Now I am able to fall asleep but I always wake up after 2 to 3 hours. These are the major symptoms I have but other exist. I have been reading the post concerning Post Viral Syndrom. These symptoms more closely match what is going on with me than anything else I have been told or read. I had a flu shot about 5 weeks before my Gallbladder surgery and some type of 24 hour virus about two weeks before the surgery.  I have been to PCP and Neurologist. The Neuro has ruled out MS and Parkinsons and doesnt think I have ALS.  I have had many blood test,MRI's of my brain and spine. CT Scan, Myelogram and Spinal Tap. All the test have been normal. The doctors are puzzeled and have no answers. I am 44 years old and previous to the Gallbladder problems I was  healthy with none of the above symptoms except intermittent right leg weakness for about 3 years that would come and go. It usually was noticeable after exercise. My Questions are, would this seem to fit Post Viral or any of the similar conditions I have read in this forum?  Does this fit ALS? Do you have any suggestions of where I can go from here? Is this related to the Gall Bladder surgery or just a terrible coincidence? Will this go away? One Doctor who I shared the information from this forum about PVS, wondered if a anti viral drug such Tami FLu has ever been tried?
Thank you for this forum!

[cissy]

Hello Steve,
   I found your message searching for information myself. I am 1 month recovering from a nasty bout of symptoms similar to yours. I ,too, had a gallbladder surgery then  3 recurrent bouts of urinary tract infections , followed shortly by constant flu/ brochitis ..(bad bug) type stuff. Within this time frame I also had a flu vaccine shot. Then I kept thinking I was weak from the flu..weakness, lethargy ,visual problems, motor problems ( could not do my make up or keyboard) ..balance and gait screwed up..I kept saying "weebles wobble but they don't fall down" but when my speech got impaired and the right side of my face felt like it was novacained I decided it wasn't funny anymore. So after hospital and tons of tests as you mentioned...the diagnosis for me was Acute Diseeminated Encephalomyelitis..from whence it came they do not say. I find your history a very intersting parallel. I was treated with mega doses of steroids while in the hospital and felt symptoms abating rapidly. I am not 100% yet BUT..... There is a that it could be MS but they don't think it is from the profile and I hope thay are right on this. I wish you luck and health and hope my story helps.If you would like to contact me I would be glad to help if I can.

[Carol]

Has anyone explored the possibility of these symptoms being related to the anesthetic you received?  Neuromuscular blocking agents have been known to cause some strange muscular effects over time.  Just a thought.

[Judy1]

http://neuro-mancer.mgh.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/Ultimate.cgi?action=intro&BypassCookie=true

Check out the mass general neurology web forum - peripheral neuropathy. There is a woman there named Rose who can point you to literature regarding neurological symptoms following surgery due to B12 deficiency. If I remember correctly, this is most likely if nitrous oxide was used for anethesia.

I hope this is post viral and just goes away.
Judy

[steve]

Thyroid test were done and were negative. I am on no medications and an EMG is scheduled for March. Thank you for your response.

[CCF NEURO[P] M.D.-RPS]

Dear Steve:

Sorry that your having such problems.  First, sensory changes with muscle fasciculation is not ALS.  I would agree that MS and Parkinson disease are unlikely, given the extent of your symptoms and other negative testing such as CSF and MRI of brain.  This could be a post viral syndrome but difficult to tell over the internet.  I am not sure what medications your on, but one has to rule out possible medication side effects.  Probably they did a thyroid test so I will assume your thyroid is working okay.  Usually post viral syndrome is not caused by the virus itself but how the body reacts to the virus and the immune process that evolves from the initial infection.  Anti-viral medications in this scenerio would not be effective as the body has basically cleared the virus.  It is difficult to tell you much over the internet, sorry.  But your symptoms could be consistent with a post viral disease.  What did the EMG show?

Sincerely,

CCF Neuro MD