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postpartum neurological symptoms
What could be the name of the syndrome experienced
by many women who have posted here?
There must be a connection between giving birth and
neurological complaints that do not fit other
neurological diseases.
My daughter is three months postpartum with numbness
and weakness in her arms and legs, fatigue, and visual
disturbances. Her MRI (done when the baby was 3 months) is perfectly normal.
Her baby weighed 10 pounds at birth. She had an epidural during her delivery. When the baby was 2 months old she had an IUD inserted. Four days after the IUD was put in the symptoms appeared.
There has got to be some connection. There have been almost
no studies of postpartum neurological syndromes.
HELP!
by many women who have posted here?
There must be a connection between giving birth and
neurological complaints that do not fit other
neurological diseases.
My daughter is three months postpartum with numbness
and weakness in her arms and legs, fatigue, and visual
disturbances. Her MRI (done when the baby was 3 months) is perfectly normal.
Her baby weighed 10 pounds at birth. She had an epidural during her delivery. When the baby was 2 months old she had an IUD inserted. Four days after the IUD was put in the symptoms appeared.
There has got to be some connection. There have been almost
no studies of postpartum neurological syndromes.
HELP!
Hi, I began having neurological problems in Sept. `02, about 2 weeks having my daughter.I post on here often, also as Andrea`s_mommy. She was 9 pds 7 oz. I had an epidural and she was my first child. I had her vaginally. I have had tingling, numbness, and twitching along w/ intermittent eye pain, and one episode of visual disturbance. All my tests, including MRI`s have been normal up to this point. I still have some mild symptoms, and no diagnosis. I have met many other women w/ these problems, and many of them took the epidural. I have thought for some while now that it caused all of this. I am 23 from Southwest, VA. How old is your daughter?? Was this her 2st birth?
A related discussion, Postpartum Neuro Symptoms was started.
A related discussion, Need answers for daughter. was started.
Does anyone have any updates on their condition? I still titch and tingle. I only tingle in the back of my thigh when I sit or bend. Does anyone have a similar experience? I am so stressed at this point, I wonder how much anxiety has to do with these weird symptoms.
Does anyone have any updates on their condition? Doctor comments ect...My symptons continue, tingling and twitches but I have so much anxiety about all this, I am not sure if that is causing all my symptoms now!!!
Hello all, been reading all your messages and my wife is having similar symptoms. She just had our son about 4 months ago. She had a brain and spine MRI and they had white abnormalities that are symptomatic of MS. She then did a spinal and it came back negative. But, we have read and been told by our neurologist that just because you get a negative MS test back it does not mean you do not have MS. This one is a tough bugger to diagnose. MS is obviously not something anyone wants but with the symptoms many of you are describing, they are definitely symptoms of MS. I have been told by a few folks too that some people have MS and none of their tests every come back positive. Here is a website with a message board that a MS expert will respond to questions. You might check it out, it has been very informative for my wife and I. I hope you all get better. :)
Have any of you received meds for labor? I have had many symptoms described, starting about 8 years ago after my first was born.(vaginal birth,but with some meds. no epidural.) I have just had a fifth child-now 7mo.(tried the epidural)
Years ago I started feeling numbness and tingling on my left foot. It progressed to hand,arm,lip,cheek, and now eye. I also experience blurred vision in this eye off and on. Lately I have started stuttering, having memory loss, forgetttting words in the middle of sentences, and balance problems. I just had an MRI, and it was fine. I'm off to see the neurologist in Feb. He will probably say what he said three years ago. It is probably stress or painless migrains. My insurance is an HMO and I don't feel they are doing all they can.
Years ago I started feeling numbness and tingling on my left foot. It progressed to hand,arm,lip,cheek, and now eye. I also experience blurred vision in this eye off and on. Lately I have started stuttering, having memory loss, forgetttting words in the middle of sentences, and balance problems. I just had an MRI, and it was fine. I'm off to see the neurologist in Feb. He will probably say what he said three years ago. It is probably stress or painless migrains. My insurance is an HMO and I don't feel they are doing all they can.
I too have had similiar symptoms. Mine started 2 months after the birth of my second child. I have tingling toes and back, twitching, shaky hands. I've also had a clean MRI of the brain, EMG/NCV, bloodwork for thyroid troubles and such. I am going to request a test for Lyme disease and a spinal MRI just to be sure. If anyone finds out anything more about this, please let me know.
Hi I`ve had neurological symptoms for 15 mos now, after having my baby. I had an epidural too. They had to place mine twice! It didn`t numb me that great, made me dizzy and I threw up and shook with it. It did relieve a lot of the pain, but it also scared me to get it. I had my daughter vaginally. The nurses and doctors kept moving me around like spaghetti. I think they caused some nerve damage. My symptoms also flare up around my period. I think hormones are related some how too. I`ve had a lot of tests, all normal so far. Well take care....
Ive been searching for some similar, symptoms for some time,Im now 41 and live in Australia, my daughter is now 13, I have three children, my daughter being my last.
13 years ago my life changed, I had an epidural,when given I felt intense pain, I knew something was wrong , as Id had two before, with no problem,The doctors told me they had punctured a nerve, as I couldnt feel a part of my back around that area.
That was only the start of my nightmare, as the sensation started to come back and I could feel tingling, thats when everything else started, Ive had horrific symtoms,ones that come and go with no set pattern, they include,tightness in the left side of my face, a feeling like my brain is moving,feelings of my jaw is moving, tingling in my left arm,a feeling like my tounge is swollen, and so on , all tests are fine, blood and MRI, you name it, Ive had it,its easy for doctors to pass this off as stress,The only stress I have is knowing what they did and cant do a thing about it.
I feel for all you women out there, there is something wrong and it needs to be addressed....take care Michelle
13 years ago my life changed, I had an epidural,when given I felt intense pain, I knew something was wrong , as Id had two before, with no problem,The doctors told me they had punctured a nerve, as I couldnt feel a part of my back around that area.
That was only the start of my nightmare, as the sensation started to come back and I could feel tingling, thats when everything else started, Ive had horrific symtoms,ones that come and go with no set pattern, they include,tightness in the left side of my face, a feeling like my brain is moving,feelings of my jaw is moving, tingling in my left arm,a feeling like my tounge is swollen, and so on , all tests are fine, blood and MRI, you name it, Ive had it,its easy for doctors to pass this off as stress,The only stress I have is knowing what they did and cant do a thing about it.
I feel for all you women out there, there is something wrong and it needs to be addressed....take care Michelle
Hello,
Can you tell me what kind of neurpathy you experienced? Was it variable or persistent in the places it affected?
I am having lower lip, cheekbone and left arm & hand paresthesias. The first thing, lower lip tingling, showed up when my son was 5 months old. He turns a year old this week, and I get an MRI and bloodwork done then, too. Jaw x-rays have been fine, but that's all I've had done so far.
My son is still nursing and obtaining at least 90% of his nourishment that way. I am wondering if the hormonal state of extended breastfeeding predisposes one to neurological problems because of the low estrogen levels. No one I've questioned so far can do anything but shrug.
And I have heard that several months after having a baby, the immune system almost overcompensates for the depressed immunity state of pregnancy. Perhaps at times it could overshoot the mark and attack the central and peripheral nervous systems through whatever mechanisms . . . just wondering.
Have you or has anyone heard about nursing or postpartum immune system changes possible factors?
Beth
Can you tell me what kind of neurpathy you experienced? Was it variable or persistent in the places it affected?
I am having lower lip, cheekbone and left arm & hand paresthesias. The first thing, lower lip tingling, showed up when my son was 5 months old. He turns a year old this week, and I get an MRI and bloodwork done then, too. Jaw x-rays have been fine, but that's all I've had done so far.
My son is still nursing and obtaining at least 90% of his nourishment that way. I am wondering if the hormonal state of extended breastfeeding predisposes one to neurological problems because of the low estrogen levels. No one I've questioned so far can do anything but shrug.
And I have heard that several months after having a baby, the immune system almost overcompensates for the depressed immunity state of pregnancy. Perhaps at times it could overshoot the mark and attack the central and peripheral nervous systems through whatever mechanisms . . . just wondering.
Have you or has anyone heard about nursing or postpartum immune system changes possible factors?
Beth
I am about nine years into my neurological problems. I just want to say that mine began when breastfeeding, when my daughter was 9 mos. old. She was born at home WITHOUT an epidural. I do not think the range of problems most of you are experiencing could be due to the epidural. My problems included visual disturbances, neuropathy (twitching, cramping, and parasthesias), fatigue, mouth sores, and migraines. I went to at least 20 different doctors, neuros, neuromuscular docs, oral pathologists, neuromuscular doctors, internists, Infectious disease, you name it I went! No one ever came up with anything definite to explain my symptoms. I had normal MRI and bloodwork repeatedly. I do know that at the time my symptoms surfaced, I was very very very overly tired (my daughter was a very difficult baby; but now she is "perfect" :-) I also had two boys 5 & 3 and was in school! I have a few theories: one, some sort of infectious disease (probably viral) that surfaced because my immune system was shot due to the stress & fatigue, two, an autoimmune syndrome as yet unnamed, three, perhaps Lyme Disease. I have read that sometimes autoimmune syndromes surface postpartum. Here's the good news: over the last 9 years I have slowly recovered to the point of being 80%, 80% of the time. This was done with vitamin supplementation esp. B complex, essential oils, acupuncture and chinese herbs, nutrition, and other alternative therapies. I also take .25 klonipin every night for deep sleep. There was a time I was on effexor, and that did really help the neuropathic symptoms. I truly feel for all the moms going through this now. I wish there was more I could do to help you, as I know firsthand how hellacious it is to feel bad with young children. God bless you all.
Hi, I haven't had the energy to read through your whole post ... but I wanted to ask if this is all still a problem and if it is, make sure she is tested for myasthenia gravis. While numbness isn't a typical symptom it IS not unheard of (especially in the MG we support groups, it seems to be a common complaint).
I walked into the hospital to have my first son perfectly healthy and walked out with Myasthenia Gravis. I was not diagnosed until my second son was 2 1/2 months old.
The major symptoms of MG are
double vision
difficulty with smiling, chewing and swallowing
shortness of breath,
weakness in arms and legs and sometimes neck (trunk weakness is possible but not common and usually not an early symptom ... it is normally one of the last symptoms to show up if it does show up).
The double vision is most often the first symptom, those that don't have double vision as first symptom typically will have mouth fatigue as their first symptom.
Myasthenia Gravis weakness gets worse with use of the muscles, better with rest. It gets worse around an illness, period or anthing that can cause a stress to the physical body.
One of the most common times for the onset of MG ... childbirth and or pregnancy. Flu and car accidents are the next leading triggers.
I walked into the hospital to have my first son perfectly healthy and walked out with Myasthenia Gravis. I was not diagnosed until my second son was 2 1/2 months old.
The major symptoms of MG are
double vision
difficulty with smiling, chewing and swallowing
shortness of breath,
weakness in arms and legs and sometimes neck (trunk weakness is possible but not common and usually not an early symptom ... it is normally one of the last symptoms to show up if it does show up).
The double vision is most often the first symptom, those that don't have double vision as first symptom typically will have mouth fatigue as their first symptom.
Myasthenia Gravis weakness gets worse with use of the muscles, better with rest. It gets worse around an illness, period or anthing that can cause a stress to the physical body.
One of the most common times for the onset of MG ... childbirth and or pregnancy. Flu and car accidents are the next leading triggers.
I am so glad I found you guys! I had posted on the"symptoms still lingering" thread to TabA several times but missed this one. This is wherer I need to be I think. I am in the same boat as you all. I am 6mo PP with my second baby. My symptoms(tingling/vibrating in hands, from knees down, upper back and a sort of restless leg feeling at night) started about the time of my menstrual cycle resumed a month ago. My BP is an issue too but I think that is unrelated(on Toprol for that). I also had Broup B antibiotics - Clindamycin(Cleocin). Do any of you know what you were given. Penicillin, Amoxicillin, Keflex, are popular ones I think. I have had 2 vaginal deliveries without epidurals. I also had rough pregnancies with terrible nausea and vomiting (was on Zofran for that). Wondered if anyone else was really sick - could have a tie to the nutritional thing....? I have not been on the pill for years except the minipill after my first baby 2 years ago while nursing.
My family doc thought stress at first too and quizzed me about "anything under the surface" that was bothering me. I defiantly told him NO - just this tingling! He has now referred me to a neurologist so we will see what he says.(Dec 17) From what you have all shared I am not expecting answers but hopefully ruling some things out, somewhat anyway. I seem to have MS on the brain BAD. Being a nurse you know enough to freak yourself out but not enough to diagnose yourself either. I really wonder how much more of this is out there - it really is a fluke that I even found this site. Good luck to you all. I will be following your posts. ***@****
My family doc thought stress at first too and quizzed me about "anything under the surface" that was bothering me. I defiantly told him NO - just this tingling! He has now referred me to a neurologist so we will see what he says.(Dec 17) From what you have all shared I am not expecting answers but hopefully ruling some things out, somewhat anyway. I seem to have MS on the brain BAD. Being a nurse you know enough to freak yourself out but not enough to diagnose yourself either. I really wonder how much more of this is out there - it really is a fluke that I even found this site. Good luck to you all. I will be following your posts. ***@****
Hi, I have been having neurological problems for 15 mos. now. I experience that gurgling sensation you`re talking about too. I have seen 2 neurologists though.... No diagnosis, just stress they say...
Having numbess in face and leg and arm on right side and alot of leg cramps ...My daughter is now 7 months olds old PLEASE HELP E-mail at ***@****
I had my daughter 14 months ago and my symptoms began when she was 6 months. leg pain, nubness, now I just experience twitching and a gurgling sensation almost like a gas sensation in the muscle. I had c-section and this is my first child. I too, would like to have another but am quite afraid of not knowing what my condition will result. I experience muscle twitching and almost like a gurgling sensation in the leg muscles. I haven't been to a neurologist yet but if this persists perhaps I should go. My doctor put me on Wellbutrin--antidepressents, I only used for 3 weeks and I didn't like the other side affects that went with it. According to him I am experiencing "stress and fatigue" I do notice it is worse around my period. I've decided that since it's only bothersome close to my time of the month that it's because I'm more stressed and fatigued. My doctor also recommended tonic water for this --I haven't tried yet but I'll try anything. I hope to post with good results in a few weeks.
no, i did have an epidural, actually two since the first one never worked. I don't know where to go from here, another neuro, internist. What are you doing???
I had to have the epidural placed twice too! The 1st one didn`t work on me either. So far, all I have done is run back and forth to doctors w/ no answers. I am being sent to a University hospital next. What about you? Would you like to email me? We could compare notes. My email is: ***@**** Tell me your story, I`d like to hear more about your situation and I`ll tell you mine... Thanks bye!
Have any doctors told you what it could be other than stress? They haven`t me.... Did you take an epidural during delivery? I did....
I have a similar situation. I had my son a year ago. He was two months old when it began, I had a tingling sensation in my head that was on and off. Months later, I had a burning sensation in the back of my thigh. I have had muscle twitches and shaky hands. I went to a few docs including neurologist, eye doctor, internist. All normal results. The docs believe it is stress but it is odd that we all share the same experience. Where do we go from here?
If anyone would like to email me about post partum neurological problems they have had, and compare notes, please email me at: ***@**** Thanks....
Hi Skate, Amymt, and everyone.... I know how you all feel. I had my baby in Aug. `02, and my symptoms are still here. As a matter of fact, I`m going to the neurologist today for a check up. I`ll let you know what he says.... I`d like another baby in the future too, but since I still have this with no diagnosis, it makes me nervous about another baby. I had an epidural and Group B Strep meds w/ the delivery. I had her vaginal, and lost a lot of blood after the birth. I began to have tingling, numbness, twitching, and vibrations under my skin about 2 or 3 weeks after her birth... I`ve had an MRI of the brain and neck, nerve conduction tests, evoked potentials measuring the path of the nerve from the foot to the brain, and blood tests, and they`ve all been normal. I`m at a loss.... I think this is hormonal or something. I was reading an article somewhere, and it said that women can experience stuff like this for years with no explanation. But it can often be linked to the baby taking a lot of the woman`s nutrition, causing the woman to be malnutritioned not even knowing it, and causing problems. But who knows really.... Good luck all......
Did you get these symptoms after the birth of your first
baby, or after the second? I got symptoms after having my
baby (my first) in September 2002. I would like to try to get
pregnant again, but am afraid since my symptoms haven't
led to any diagnosis yet. If you got the symptoms after your
first baby, did they get any better or worse while you were
pregnant the second time?
baby, or after the second? I got symptoms after having my
baby (my first) in September 2002. I would like to try to get
pregnant again, but am afraid since my symptoms haven't
led to any diagnosis yet. If you got the symptoms after your
first baby, did they get any better or worse while you were
pregnant the second time?
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