MS or Lyme or what

[zombie32]

I am a 32 Male and have the following symptoms for the past 6 months:
1. July 2007: Pain in left arm started in left pinky finger and then went above all the way to armpit. Off and on I have had this pain.
2. When the pain goes away then other symptoms catch up like Dizziness, weakness in legs and arms, used to have this sudden weakness attacks which would die down after a few minutes. Not any more.
3. Weakness is now much lesser however, arms both left and right are showing signs of weakness like I can lift things but its like not normal.
4. Tightness in neck now started, stays a few hours then goes away.
5. After neck tightness is followed by ears getting weird sounds as if you are sitting at 30000 feet above sea level in a plane.
6. These episodes dont last for more than 2 hours and then they happen next day.
7. Used to have weakness in legs but not anymore. Its just this area above neck that is tight.
8. Sometimes in the morning my neck is painful if I make certain movements to right or left.
9. No Vision or bladder problems, however I have IBS.

Testing:
Stress Test, Ultrasound of Heart valves, Ultrasound of Abdomen, 2 MRI's , Lumbar Puncture, tons of blood work lyme disease.....Everything Normal. Only abnormality was B12 borderline deficiency. I am not stressed so cant be attributed to stress.

Any clues of what is going on. I have seen 3 neuro's and 2 cardiologists and 2 PCP's in the last 6 months. Life is really a mess since I think its a neurological disorder however my neuro says your nervous system and your heart are beautiful. any thoughts....

[Abhijeet Deshmukh, MD]

Hello.

Please read my response on your recent post.

Regards

[zombie32]

hi there-
Thanks you for such a detailed response. I have had 2 MRI's conducted in the last 3 months. The following is the report of the MRI done on Dec 5th 2007:

Clinical Indications: Cervical Cord lesion ( Based on 1st MRI there was a 5mm focus of suspected signal at C2 Level)

Technique: W/Without Gaolimium. Comparison made to prior study

Interpretation: Vertebral body alignment is normal. There are no marrow signal abnormalities. The cervical cord is within normal limits. A vague 5 mm focus of suspected signal abnormality in the cord at the C2 level on the pripr exam is NO longer apparent. There is no pathalogic enhancemet.

There are tiny posterior disc protrusions at C4-5 and C5-6. There is no central stenosis, foraminal stenosis or cord impingment.

Impression: No evidence of cervical cord lesion. It was stated in the previous study that it could be artifactual. Disc protrusions are unchanged from previous study.

Now guys, this study basically tells me that I am probably crazy. Since all the test results are clear and I still have pain and current like feeling flowing from my neck to both arms and sometimes in leg also. Weakness is not there anymore for some reason. Thats one reason I have not seen a Doc in 3 weeks. However, I called the Hopkins neuro (My 2nd neuro) last week and told him about this new neck stiffness symptom which comes and goes, and he said unfortunatly I have to wait and see. He never told me but I suspect he thinks that I have probable MS but doesnt wana tell me unless any lesions appear in brain or cervical spine. And since there are NO lesions at all (Old or new) the LP test is clear, he probably thinks its in my head.. Help Help!!!

[ohioprof]

Hello zombie32

It sounds to me as if you might have some cervical spine problem.  You presented with neck stiffness and pain; you complain of sensory symptoms in your left arm (pain that radiated from finger to armpit) and then motor symptoms in both arms; you also complained of leg weakness.  All of this could point to cervical spine compression (cervical myelopathy) . . . google it and see what you think.  This can occur because of a herniated disk, for example . . . among other causes (bone spurs or a congenital narrowing of the area where the spinal cord is located, known as spinal stenosis). . . and can present with solely motor symptoms, or . . . if the herniated disk is also pressing against a nerve root . . . sensory symptoms as well.  Leg weakness is another symptom of cervical spinal cord compression.  I would ask for an MRI of your cervical spine to see what kind of condition it is in.  As far as your the sensory symptoms you're finding in your ears and head: stress and discomfort that you feel when your neck gets tight could certainly explain those.  Bottom line: you need to know what's going on so you can fix it, and I think an MRI of your cervical spine would be the next thing to do.  Take care and good luck.

[zombie32]

Could you please give your thoughts. I like the way you have addressed the issues on this forum. I will appreciate all your help. Thanks