muscle weakness

[grace77]

I am a 39 yr old female who recently developed paresthesias in my upper arms which progressed over several hrs to my legs and face. I was seen in the ER and ony thing abnormal at that time was my TSH which was 11.6. I have Hashimoto's and was off synthroid at the time . I am back on Synthroid and my TSH is 1.6. The paresthesia is better but not completely gone but I have continued to have muscle weakness and heaviness of my upper arms and legs. It is worse with exertion such as lifting my arms up to get something,bending down to pick up something but I also experience the weakness/heaviness at rest. I had a MRI which was normal as well as labs-cpk,esr,serumelectrophoresis protein which were normal. I saw a neuro. who said based on my exam which demonstrated lt sided weakness and decreased reflexes on the left, she suspects a myopathy or neuropathy. I am to have nerve studies/emg next week. Could this be myasthenia gravis ? I am concerned because the sxs are lingering and the weakness makes it difficult to do things as normal. I am a RN in labor and delivery and I was trying to support a pt by holding her shoulders during an epidural and it was very difficult to do this because of weakness in my arms. Are there any other labs I should have? I also have dyspnea with exertion. Thank you for your help.

[lucretta]

I came across your blog. I know it has been since 2004 since your entry and was wondering what the outcome was. I have been having ongoing issues that sound like what you r experiencing. At times(always worse right before my period), my legs and my arms feel very heavy. The muscles seem to be asleep and my skin in the areas of heaviness is numb. But, I do feel burning sensation. I am a hair stylist, so the stiffness in my hands and fingers is making my job difficult to perform. I am at a complete loss. I have a 4 year old who is autistic and requires so much attention, I find it hard to keep up at times. I am 35 yrs old and started experiencing neuropothy in my toes first @ 10 yrs ago and its slowly progressed to the point to where I have a hard time maintaining body heat. I have to take a hot bath every day just to feel relief. I keep having these spells where I suddenly get light headed, my head spins so bad, I have actually fallen over, after the light headedness, I feel very weak all over and suddenly get dry heaves, break out into a sweat, and feel itchy all over because of the increase in blood flow to the skin. It lasts for @ 2 to 3 minutes, and then I am fine. I pick myself up off of the floor and am fine. I also was on synthroid and decided to stop taking it @ 6 days ago, and that's when the heaviness got worse. What in the world is wrong w me? I am so desperate for some help.

[SUNSHINE2001]

Hello.... my mother is 57 years old, and she is experiencing problems with her left arm.. about a year ago, she started to not be able to grasp simple things and now it has esclated to her not being able to really use her arm, she can move her hand a slight bit, but not a lot.... there is no pain. Her other arm is slightly the same way but not as bad. She has been to doctors, some have said MUSCLE PROBLEMS, others have said ARTHRITIS AND THYROID PROBLEMS. She is currently taking some type of thyroid medicine and it was supposed to show some results in 3-4 weeks, but it hasn't been any noticable changes yet, I am supposing that is because she let it escalate to the point of her not being able to use her arm fully before she had a doctors opinion. Her thyroid level on the left side was ( the arm she is unable to use) -.01 or -.1 and the other (right) side was .4 or 4...however that side was not far from the right balance. Is there any tips you can give me to give her to help her recovery ...foods, exercises etc. Please help

[SUNSHINE2001]

Hello.... my mother is 57 years old, and she is experiencing problems with her left arm.. about a year ago, she started to not be able to grasp simple things and now it has esclated to her not being able to really use her arm, she can move her hand a slight bit, but not a lot.... there is no pain. Her other arm is slightly the same way but not as bad. She has been to doctors, some have said MUSCLE PROBLEMS, others have said ARTHRITIS AND THYROID PROBLEMS. She is currently taking some type of thyroid medicine and it was supposed to show some results in 3-4 weeks, but it hasn't been any noticable changes yet, I am supposing that is because she let it escalate to the point of her not being able to use her arm fully before she had a doctors opinion. Her thyroid level on the left side was ( the arm she is unable to use) -.01 or -.1 and the other (right) side was .4 or 4...however that side was not far from the right balance. Is there any tips you can give me to give her to help her recovery ...foods, exercises etc. Please help

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

The muscle weakness with MG is typically intermittent and dependant upon activity. It sounds from your description that your weakness is fairly constant. Therefore, I agree with having an EMG performed. If the EMG is normal then perhaps MG should be investigated with a special EMG and blood work. Other blood tests which may be performed include an ANA, and rheumatoid factor. Good luck.