Unexplained Neurological Symptoms

[Nation9]

I am a 31 year old male and have had undiagnosed symptoms off and on for 5 years.  The symptoms were fatigue, tingling in my limbs, a feeling of loss of dexterity in my hands, trouble taking a deep breath, and chest pain.  I had an MRI and countless blood and urine tests, but nothing was found.  About three months ago I started feeling the lack of dexterity again along with a feeling as if something was stuck in my throat.  I made an appointment with my doctor and made the mistake of researching online.  I was worried that I might have ALS.  I started feeling terrible at that point.  My doctor thought it might be depression and gave me Zoloft but also had me make an appointment with a neurologist.  While taking Zoloft I felt so horrible that I thought I might be dying, so I stopped taking it.  The neurologist did a standard exam and told me that I shouldn't be worried about ALS, Parkinsons, or MS.  In the last two months since these events, I have had a burning/tingling/numb sensation in my entire body including arms, legs, back side, stomach, face, and neck.  My dexterity in my hands has not felt right either.  I have also felt shaky and a little off balance.  It has been a struggle each day to get through because I can't get my mind off of the symptoms and what they might mean.  I am about to start taking Cymbalta for the possible depression.  My doctor also thought if that does not work that I could go to a specialist at the hospital to analyze everything that has been done to this point.  Any additional help on what the problem might be would be appreciated.

[brandon1982]

A related discussion, what do i do when your doctors quit on you was started.

[slick50]

I have noticed a twitching in my upper stomach area.  Just below my diaphram muscle.  Laying on my back seems to make it more active, and it sort of comes and goes, but has been around for about a month now.  Have also noticed some shaking in my fingers when I try to do delicate things.  I will have short momments where a certain finger will move nervously by itself when I am using it.   Makes me nervous when driving.  Afraid my hands are going to spas and I will over correct the wheel at a bad time.

[john lake]

Back in November I started having rapid left upper eyelid twitches. They subsided after a month. I was under a lot of stress at school. The doctors ran a CAT scan, which came back negative.

HOwever, I have been having twitches all over my body since that time. Could it be Fasciculation? I have slight tremors in my hands.

The Dr. thought it might be from supplements I was taking and energy drinks + stress. Who knows.

Any thoughts out there what it might be?

[RhondaRae]

Just had left temporal lobectomy surgery Jan 05, to prevent Epilepsy. Thank the Lord (and Dr.), it went well. Had 7cm of left Temporal removed, haven't had a seizure since.

Having tingling and twichting of nerves and muscles, started in my legs last Fall when Dr. took me off Neurotin (4000mg a day! No Joke). Wasn't concerned with tingling in Oct 04, has greatly increased this summer.

Legs painful and constant tingle, has climbed up to back and face on left side. Right hand does the same. Muscle spasms have kicked in big time, not painful though.

Had MRI on spine, nerve test on legs, every "A" ok. Go back for MRI on brain and EEG (thought I was done with that after surgery) in January 06.

Not complaining, 36 years old and will be able to drive in two months for the first time, due to Epilepsy. So, people in Florida WATCH OUT!!

Anyway, need to know what research to look into. Took me ten years to talk a Dr. into Brain Surgery! There are so many diseases with these effects.

[spudsmom]

went to my neuro yesterday because of the previous evenings er visit..it started with my feet feeling like they were going to fall asleep..then crept up my left leg..somewhat in my right leg.  My neuro made a reference to my but being flabby..muscle loss..I have lost a lot of weight and am underweight..i have been like for 15 years..hard to gain weight..2 weeks ago he said i have a strong butt..he did not do a muscle test yesterday on my tushy..after all the pins and needles monday, my legs feel like jello. He said i also had no reflexes in my elbows..i have had pain in my elbow joints for years..thought it was tennis elbow and never went to dr for it..i am very scared because he doesn't know what is wrong..muscles are twitching pretty bad in my legs now..he says no als because all my emg's come back normal..can someone please help me..why are they not testing for b-12 defiencency ?  i think it's more nutritional than anything..i did lose this weight on purpose but have been diagnosed with anxiety because of all of this..any response would be wonderul..i have a baby and want to see him grow up..

[silverwings]

I have had many diagnosis,from lupus to ms,frankly i dont think they know.i have severe muscle bunching,cant stand on my legs over 30 min i have no balance left,i trip alot,my thighs are covered in severe blood splotches,it makes the pattern of my blood vessels,they doctors look at me in amazement and have no clue,the worst thing is my fingers,if i hold a pen to write more than 10 min or use on my hands in anything over 10 min. all my fingers bleed,they literally seep blood,i went to er when it 1st started but they again all in amazement and have never seen this before,and that was 3 top nuerologist in texas.now if i rub my face in shower im bleeding.i have alot of muscle loss,i have seizures.my hands will club up,and i lose from my neck down all control of my body,but my test all come back ok.so this has all puzzled.pain is unreal in my legs,the more i walk the worse it gets.i have alot of vision trouble,double vision,blurred and i see awesome colors in big circles that spin,they call them halos i think.my kids can see the white of my eyes turn yellow,we have no idea what this is.we have taken pictures of my legs and my hands bleeding and sent to big clinics and awaiting responces,my problem is none of the doctors seem to know what type of doctor i need to be under?i dont have twitches  i have severe large knotted muscles and you can watch them go up my spine,any suggestions  anyone?

[spudsmom]

Do you have to be bitten by a tic to get Lyme?  I'm new to all of this, but the buzz sensation is something no one has seemed to grasp.  I could have been bitten, wouldn't I have noticed.  This all did start when I was doing some pretty serious landscaping.  I all of a sudden started feeling weak, didn't even finish landscaping, started panic attacks because of all symptoms..Like I said, i've been to neuro without result. I'm getting frustrated because people treat me like a hypocondriac (?) and I have never displayed this behavior before.  I just feel crummy and nervous now because of no answers.  Thank you so much for your support..

[spudsmom]

I am 36 year old female.  I have constant muscle twitching and have seen neuro, an mri, 2 emg's in the last 3 1/2 months.  Said benign twitching..I don't buy this..Every muscle twitches, it started with lip and left leg..it's everywhere.  I have a feeling of a lump in my throat, it went away for a while but is back as of this week..I took zoloft and seemed to work a little, side effects were horrible..anyone else suffer from this? blood work for muscle enzyme imbalance came back ok.i feel like i'm going crazy i wait for the other shoe to drop that i am suffering from something..how does a body do this and nothing wrong..please let me know if anyone else suffers from this..Thank you..have a beautiful day

[perloria62]

To all of us who have lived in pain and discomfort with no explanation from medical doctors and scientific testing...
I have done some research on Candida Albicans ( an overgrowth of yeast that releases toxins effecting all body systems)  I am getting ready to due organ cleansing and changing my diet.  Anyone else out there come across this information or interested in learning more?

perloria62

[CCF-Neuro-M.D.-PW]

I cannot give you a clinical diagnosis over the internet unfortunately. However I do not see any symptoms in your description that fit a problem with a localized area of the nervous system. There is also no clinical suspicion on my part of ALS. Therefore, more systemic imbalances should be looked for such as thyroid dysfunction, calcium and electrolyte disorders, drug side effects etc. Also, I suspect anxiety is playing at least a role in part - symptoms such as trouble taking a dep breath, chest pain, and something stuck in th ethroat are suggestive of panic attacks (as long as you have no structural heart disease etc). It may help to see a neurologist and have a formal neurological examination and opinion.

[NURSELPN]

Have you had your thyroid checked. I had many of your symptoms & I too thought I was dying. I thought I had many different ailments including a brain tumor. But after seeing a Dr. I was found to have high thyroid caused by Graves Disease & Low B-12 which is causing me numbness & tingling of my extremities & face. The symptoms were awful & I too was originally treated for depression. Well who wouldn't feel depressed when they feel this crappy? :-) Good Luck to You...& God Bless!

[Ian Joe]

in 1969 , whwn I,lived in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, I had an operation for a slipped disk...100% successful

Prior to surgery, the surgeon noted an oddity in both of my hands.

Both hands do the same thing at the same time....Dr Schatz called it a "Mirror Movement", and I cannot stop it.  It was so odd to him that he sent me to the St Michael's Hospital Medical Lab and they made a movie about it.

I can arm wrestle with my right hand, and my left hand will cramp in the same position.  When I write with my right hand, my left hand moves like it is writing.  I can almost legibly write with my left hand, with not too much of an effort.   I can use tools in both hands....great for tight corners...

When I fire a pistol, whether left or right hand, I shoot the same side of center with both hands, as though I had not changed hands.

Anyone ever run across something like this?  Is it treatible?  How odd is this?  

many thanks


Ian

[wmac]

Hi, this is my first time to this forum. Well im freaking pretty good right now just had a bunch of blood work to rule things out or maybe its something simple. But if my blood work is fine then I have to have all the nuero. test. Two years ago I had an mri for ms and it was fine thank god. The nuero wanted to do more test at the time but I said no because I was having heart arrthymias and wanted to get to the bottom of that which was vt. But now all of a sudden I am having body cramping and lots of muscle twitching. The twitching is very anynoying. So of course I looked up those two things on the net and of course ALS comes up. I just went and saw the doc and he said he would suspect ms more than als and I said I had an mri for ms and it was fine and he said I see that. So now im freaking out. Its like I really dont want to know because im scared to death. I would take the ms over als any day of the week. But they are checking thyroid which they check every year plus lupus blood protiens, all sorts of things and im very nervous to get the call. Can dehydration cause twitching and muscle cramping. Its more like dull achey cramping rather than the charlie horse cramping. I just feel like im falling apart. HELP!!!!
WMAC

[MICH2604]

Hello,

I have similar symptoms to yours.  Ive had tons of tests done, mri of head, neck, CT of stomach/pelvic area...countless ER visits...blood draws...all fine....  Its so frustrating.  

I think you should look into Lyme as well just to rule it out.  that is what I am doing.   My frist  symptoms were tingling in the arms and legs and weakness...i just felt shaky.... One doctor thought i was depressed...but I am not depressed...my body just wont allow me to do the things i want to do.  hang in there, but do look into lyme.

[patsy10]

If you haven't done so already, I would get tested for Lyme.  You have many symptoms of lyme.  Do a google search on it and go to lymenet.org.

I have all these symptoms too and have gotten no answers either.

If you don't feel depressed, you probably aren't.  It's normal to be upset when you have horrible symptoms and no one can give you answers.

Good luck!

[joviyach]

I don't want to alarm you, but please for your sake, and the sake of those you love, get as many opinions as you can on this.

I started having weakness in my arms Tuesday 11/8 and went through a couple of Dr. appointments, an MRI, and a couple Neurosurgeon appointments to find that I have what appears to be a tumor that will reauire surgery for certain.

Like you I was thinking ALS, Parkinson's, MS, and my Dr. thought I was crazy and told me I had muscle fatigue. Tomorrow I am going to see Dr. Leonard Cerullo at the Chicago Institute of Neurology and Neuroresearch to find out what's next for me.

take care,

Jim

[mike1105]

i had some weird upper trunk muscular pains that no one could diagnose about 2+ years ago. I did what you did--- I researched online and drove myself crazy. I also got extremely frustrated with my doctors, their lack of communication, and the long times spent in waiting rooms and between appts. I needed answers and I needed then NOW. Her's my advice. drop everything, place your health first and call either the Mayo clinic in Minnesota or the Clevelan Clinic in Cleveland. Find out how to get started and go. I for one went to ther Mayo as a walk-in and got seen after only 2 days of waiting. Once I got seen by an internist, I had every test done and saw every speicalist I needed to see within a week. You even get a schedule with All your appts. on it. Hopefully you'll get answers or at least some reassurance. good luck

[no_hands]

You definitely need to get some further tests done as there are a wide range of things that could cause this. Arnold-Chiari formation could be another but you don't have a stiff neck/headaches so it is only another possible cause.