Tingling and Numbness

[jtmlion]

I am a 28 year old stay at home mom of two.  Both births were done by caesaran.  For five weeks I have been experiencing numbness and tingling.  The numbness and tingling started in lower arms and legs and has progressively spread to entire arms and legs.  Also I feel tingling on the top of my head and sometimes the sides of my face.  A couple of days ago the left side of my face including left nostril went numb for a few minutes like I was getting a cavity filled.  This happed twice in the same day.  When I sneeze I feel tingling all over.  Sometimes the tingling feels like electric shocks and pins and needles.  My youngest is almost 10 months old and weighs 26 lbs.  I hold him on my left side.  On a daily basis a have a traveling numbness/pins and needles pain from the right side of my chest up to my shoulder and down to above the center of my back. All of my symptoms are progressively getting worse and getting my intense.  The past few days when my baby lays on my arm it has been "falling asleep" and this never happened before.  I don't think fatique or stress is causing symptoms because I am more rested now than I have been in months.  My PCP suggest a MRI but I have read that different things can cause symptoms.  My mother has MS.  Also my symptoms occur in motion and at rest.  Thank you for any advice you can give me.

[Neen2]

Hi again,

I forgot to say that 2 months ago I also started getting these round red crusty patches on my skin. I've had 1 on my shin and 3 on my upper arm, and not at the same time. Each came out one at a time and lasted about 10 days.
Thanx,
Neen

[Neen2]

Hi,

I'm new here and I can't beleive there's others like me! I thought that I was going crazy! My Symptoms started 4 years ago.
I started having slight numbness in my arms and legs. I freaked and thought I was having a stroke so I went to the ER. All test came back ok. I felt like a jerk for going. As the years went by I still got my 2 or 3 migraines a year. This feeling would not go away. I just got worse. I have suffered from Vertigo since 1992 and would get attacks about 1 time a year lasting 1 day to a week. I also had hearing loss over the years. I started having severe back pain in 2002 and taking alot of pain meds. I decided in 2004 to have my back fused in July. Everything went great. My symptoms seem to be gone while I was on pain meds. By August I was off all meds except for Birth control. I got severe vertigo that lasted for 1 month. I also lost 80% of hearing in my right ear and 25% in my left. So I now at 40 were hearing aids in both ears. The numbness and tingle has spread to my face and seems to move around. I have felt so sick and tired for a year I can't stand it. I have had several MRI's in the past 3 years of my brain I glow! I went to my Neurolgist, he just scratched his head. All MRIs and test came back negative. Then I started having weird feeling in my eyes. Eye Dr. said things look good.
I went back to my Neuro, he sent me to the Cleveland Clinic.
Went through more test. All came back NEGATIVE! That was in March of this year, so I gave up and am coping with whatever this is. The Cleveland Clinc said it's probably stress. STRESS!
I have no stress. I have an easy life! Now what? I am so tired of feeling the Numbness, Tingles, Severe Fatigue, Tightness in my muscles, Sick feeling, Eyeballs feeling weird, Shoulders and neck hurting and tension headaches.I'm so glad I found you guys. Hopefully someone will give us an answer.

Thanx 4 listining,
Neen2

[mcg99]

Hi everyone;

I am going through the same thing! But mine has been going on for TEN YEARS. It all started in 1996 with slight tingling in my fingers, and some numbness in 2 fingertips. I was just out of college, starting my new job, etc, and didn't even know about MS. I blew it off, but when the tingling and numbness recurred over the years in my feet, toes, hands, and legs, I picked a nuero out of the yelow pages in 1999 (big mistake!). First he told me I had "female hysteria" (ya gotta love that), and then he called me THREE MONTHS LATER, at work nonetheless, and said "I reviewed your MRI again and actually think you have MS. We need to start you on medication right away." This was over the phone, at my job. He was a real winner.

I immediately sought a second opinion--and saw a specialist at the Cleveland Clinic's Mellen Center. He was wonderful--and also said "absolutely NOT MS." At that point, according to the Cleveland Clinic, I had a very normal MRI (brain and spine), borderline VEPs (108 and 112), and normal evoked potentials. They explained the VEPs as possibly caused by my astigmatism, and said they weren't delayed enough to be concerning.

Over the years, my sx continued to wax and wane: a small spot of numbness on the bottom of my foot would last a month, then disappear. My palm would burn for a few weeks. A small tingle in my face. I live in Seattle, where the MS Centers are excellent, and have been seeing the Director of an MS Center here since 2001. I have had 3 more MRIs of brain and spine, all clear. My VEPs remain mildly abnormal, though I have never had optic neuritis. This summer, I had what seems to be my first real exacerbation--it all started in August, and is STILL going on--lots of patchy numbness, tingling, in feet, legs, hands and face, mostly on the right side of my body-- and this time, fatigue that feels like 10 trucks hit me and then backed up to park on me. I repeated all tests (normal), including b12, lyme, thyroid, and now I have my first LP scheduled in a few weeks.

My neuro is evasive about answering me directly. She calls this "very possibly MS," but when I asked what this could be if NOT MS, she had no answer. With clear and stable MRIs of brain and spine over 10 years, I am somewhat reassured, yet my symptoms are classic MS and can be explained by nothing else. Grrrr. So frustrated, so hard to live with such uncertainty. I am female, 31, about to get married. I like my job, eat well, exercise, take supplements, and do everything I can to minimize stress in my life. I am doing acupuncture, yoga, gentle chiropractic work, and meditation. What else can I do???

Is anyone else in a similar situation? Sorry this post is so long--I am just tired of living with this "probably MS but we may not know until it gets really bad and shows up" condition.

[lozza83]

Hey dreamlife,

sorry to hear of your problems as well, i understand exactly where you are coming from. In the past 4 months I have been to 4 GP's, optomertrist, ER twice, a ENT specialist and my own GP about 5 times. Its interesting that some days I feel great and people tell me how well I look and then I have these days where it is a struggle just to get out of bed and no one understands, people think im lazy. I live with my parents and they are always worried about me, especially when I get home from work at 5.00 and then im in bed by 7pm. I keep thinking that the worse thing I ever did was google my symptoms, for several weeks I was CONVINCED 100% that I had a brain tumor and now I am convinced that i have MS. Its funny you seem to look at the symptoms and then say to yourself, "well two weeks ago I noticed that I had this, and this and this" and you convince yourself that you are sicker than you probably are. I have now convinced myself that i have urinary frequency and urgency (another symptom of MS) becuase I go to the toilet about every 2 hours during the day, but then I realise that I have done this my whole life!!!!

I guess my only worry is that having a tingling sensation in the extremeties is NOT normal and that it indicates something no matter how minor or major is wrong. But its funny because the whole time I have been writing this I have not had any tingling sensations, as soon as I thought about it I noticed that i do!! Strange.....

If you want to discuss  any problems further I am more than happy to hear from people in a similar situation (in fact I want to, so i know that I am not abnormal) please email me at ***@****

[dreamlife]

My twelve year old son and I have been sick, as you say since August of this year. We've been to regular MD's, eye doctor's, infectious diease doctor's and all the blood work comes back normal. I've seen a neuro for a quickie reflex test, watched me walk, talked to me and said he did not believe the problem was neurological in origin. We have joint pain all over, tingling or what you would call quick starburst type of sensations all over even on the back of our heads. We had headaches, fatigue, low grade fevers from time to time. We were tested for Lyme among many other tests, all negative. Both my infectious disease doctor and mine said as long as the symptoms are not getting worst and they are slowly leaving the body they beleive it to be post viral syndrome. If the symptoms get worst or plateau they suggest seeing a neuro. Slowly we are getting energy back. We were told that it could take two months or maybe a year. I also have Hashimoto's Thyroiditis which could cause these symptoms, my son however, does not. Our symptoms came on around the same time. We both noticed that when we are active we don't notice them as much. In fact I wonder sometimes are we concentrating on them? Both of us were sick for a while with a virus prior to these symptoms. The majority of symptoms came two weeks after being sick and have lingered till today. After all these symptoms I did much research on MS and it is not the death sentence I made it out to be. Of course we don't want MS however, I don't believe I am as scared as I once was. Over 70% of people never need a wheelchair. Many times patients use canes, braces and chairs to battle fatigue and help them get around. Don't be so afraid, we are all going throught he same thing. We are here for each other. Talking is a great way to feel better. Feel free to email.

[lozza83]

Hi all,

I know exactly how you all feel. I too have been experiencing constant tingling and numbness in my hands/arms and feet/legs. I have been sick now for several months, had all sorts of blood work done and all that came back fine except for elevated white blood cells which were attributable to a viral infection. My biggest symptom was SEVERE fatigue, could not get out of bed for a week. After a complete examination by an ER doctor I was told I had 'post viral fatigue' and that slowly I should start getting better. I did for a week and now I have this tingling and numbness and the fatigue has returned. The whole time no one has even suggested a MRI and Im so scared that I could have MS.

But, my only symptom that makes me think MS is the numbness/tingling. I only have slight visual disturbances which manifest themselves as eye discomfort (not focussing issues)and sometimes when I go out grocery shopping my legs get heavy and I feel tired. However I have also been told that numbness/tingling is a side effect of post viral fatigue. Anyone else in a similar situation???

I hope all goes well Rena, and keep us posted on the outcome.