Worried? Pain in neck, tingling on face, Dizziness

[nancyj1922]

Hi.  FOr ages I have been complaining about dizziness and a pins and needles feeling in my left cheek.  (by ages, since 2003)  I have been sent for ultrasound of coratid artery (no problems) and and MRI/MRA (no problems) but the symptoms are not only stil there, they are getting worse, considerably.  I have noticed that this summer, with humidity real high, they are horrible!  

When this happens, I will feel a pins and needles type tingling from actually right below my jaw bone, covering the entire left side of my face to the left of my eye and about a 1/3 of the way into my forehead on same side.  This will intensify as the day goes on.  

Then my neck will hurt BAD!  Again, always the left, from my shoulder blade, sort of up the back of my neck, to behind my left ear.

After that I will be hit with HUGH waves of dizziness, sometimes to the point of almost blacking out.  I have a real feeling something is major wrong!  I feel somewhat sick to my stomach.  When I say dizziness, it isn't like everything spins, it is like I feel out of whack.

This really has me worried.  It comes out of no place, my stress level is probably the  lowest it has been in years ( I quit work a few months ago and am glad about that decision - no $$ issues  because of it)

Does ANYONE have a clue?  My dr. just told me medicine can't fix everything, but THIS IS NOT NORMAL and NOT in my head.  I just don't want to have to have a stroke to prove it!

[joesi]

When you say your stress level is now low, was it high before? Just my opinion but it may be as simple as residual stress. Perhaps, if you carried a high stress level before, your body may have become accustom to expressing what you keep feeling now. You might want to think about taking a yoga class, biofeedback class, full body massages, long warm baths or other things that you feel would pamper your body, mind and soul. Also, try to stop reading the newspaper or watching the news on television everyday. That's enough to give us all a lot of stress. You might be very aware of the conscious mind but sometimes it's what our subconscious mind is doing that can cause these types of problems. The good news is that all of your medical tests came back negative. Maybe it's time you looked inside yourself for the answers. Start by taking a long, quiet walk by yourself. Enjoy the day or evening. Notice the birds, the stars, the moon like you did when you were a child. Try sitting at the edge of a large body of water and simply look around. Pay attention to the sights, sounds and smells of mother nature. Take a few deep breaths and let your mind go.

[nancyj1922]

In response to your question, yes I was in a very stressful work environment before I quit.  I had an extreme amount of responsibility with a huge number of people.  It was a VERY hard decision for me to leave; but it was a right decision.  
Actually, I made that decision in the quite type environments that you talk about.

However,  this is a VERY REAL feeling.  It does not just happen IF I am stressed, it happens all the time and very often at times when I am most at peace; like with my kids or at home enjoying something that I am doing.  

I am not sitting around stressing the decisions that I made and I feel that at this point in my life, I am more happy than I have been in ages; partially because I put myself before my job.  

I appreciate your response, but feel that medically there is something going on here and the only stress that I am feeling is that my concerns, and ultimately my life,  are not being taken seriously by the medical professionals.  That is spooky stuff.  That is why I have made an appointment with a new dr.

I still would like to hear from anyone that might have a clue with the relationship between by face tingling, neck pain, and dizziness.  Please.  

Thanks

[joesi]

You seem to be very concerned that you might have a stroke. You indicated that both your MRA/MRI and your ultrasound came back negative. That's a good thing concerning the possibility of an eminent stroke. Based on my understanding, what I witnessed with my wife's stroke and according to the American Heart Association as well as the American Stroke Association is that there are very few outward physical warning signs a stroke MIGHT happen but when it DOES happen, it happens quickly, i.e. minutes.

c&p from the American Heart Associations and the American Stroke Associations web page concerning strokes;

Stroke Warning Signs
If you notice one or more of these signs, don't wait. Stroke is a medical emergency. Call 9-1-1 or your emergency medical services. Get to a hospital right away!  
Sudden numbness or weakness of the face, arm or leg, especially on one side of the body
Sudden confusion, trouble speaking or understanding
Sudden trouble seeing in one or both eyes
Sudden trouble walking, dizziness, loss of balance or coordination
Sudden, severe headache with no known cause
Take action in an emergency.
Not all the warning signs occur in every stroke. Don't ignore signs of stroke, even if they go away!
Check the time. When did the first warning sign or symptom start? You'll be asked this important question later.
If you have one or more stroke symptoms that last more than a few minutes, don't delay! Immediately call 9-1-1 or the emergency medical service (EMS) number so an ambulance (ideally with advanced life support) can quickly be sent for you.
If you're with someone who may be having stroke symptoms, immediately call 9-1-1 or the EMS. Expect the person to protest — denial is common. Don't take "no" for an answer. Insist on taking prompt action.

Best of luck nancyj1922 and I sincerely hope you find the cause of your issues.

[nancyj1922]

Thanks for the support.  I hope I am wrong.  I just know how much worse it continues to get.  Thanks again.  Nancy

[sam_]

I have experined the same for last 5 months. i have done every thing possible, but no clue. please if u have found the answer let ne know.
sam

[Hartty]

Hi Nancy, and all, this is my first time on this site but I am very surprised that we have so much in common.

I have the exact same symptoms but on my right side.  The symptoms started about one month ago and just pop up out of no where.  I have done the exact thing you have.  I had an Ultra Sound (carotid artery)- Perfect results and no plaque at all, a heart scan, an MRI on my brain and sinus area etc and everything is great.   Last year I had a numbness under my shoulder in the back and I could actually stick it with a pin and not feel it.

The Cause was from me trimming trees overhead for about a week straight - clearing out high branches around my 10 deer stands.  I bow hunt and gun hunt White Tail Deer in Minnesota. Why do I need 10 deer stands? don't ask me, it must be a mid life crisis thing - I am 42 years old.

Anyway I had pinched something and it took over 6 months for it to finally let loose.

This year I trimmed a ton of branches (overhead) at our cabin and more at my deer stands again and now the same symptoms are coming back, but this time I have tingling from the right side of my forehead to my jaw and it feels like my right eyelid is sagging or has more fluid in it but it does not look puffy.  I also have the right side of my chest feeling numb and tingling and a little into my right arm.  At first I thought I was having a stroke when it first started but with all the test I think that is ruled out. - Can you have a stroke even if you have perfectly clear arteries to your heart and no narrowing or blockage in your neck arteries? I hope not or I will be worrying about that all over again.

I do not know what triggers the symptoms but I have really been looking into the effects of caffine or fructose.  I have been a mountain dew junky and I am trying to quit but I keep failing.  It seems like when I have to much caffine, it triggers the symptoms - can this happen or is this just my imagination?  I do feel pain in my  right lower back and pain and tightness in my right shoulder.  Last night I stretched really good and this morning I had no symptoms.  Then I carried a weed sprayer around for about a half an hour and I felt burning and pain in my right shoulder.  About 15 minutes later the whole face tingling, numb side of my chest started up again.  As I type this my right shoulder is tingling and I have to put my hands down once in a while to give it a break.

Do you think we might have problems with our shoulders?  Do you use your computer alot - if so, could this  cause shoulder problems?

I am desperate becaue it really is a freaky thing with the weird symptoms.  

I have strength and movement in my arms and shoulders.  Can there still be issues.  Anyway I hope we can figure this out becuase not knowing whatis causing this is the worst part.

Thanks

Kevin

[Florentyna]

For a week I have had right eye vision problems, almost like my eyes are not in sync when they try to focus.  The side of my nose aches, my eye aches as does a circular area around my eye.  I get dizzy.  Been to the optomotrist, GP, nuerologist and chiropractor.  No relief, even with pain killers.  I can hardly think straight between the pain and not knowing.  Does anyone have any ideas?  Help
Florentyna

[Rachel1974]

Hi all ,
It is comforting, if anything, to know there are people out there who would understand how I feel.
I started feeling dizzy in November 2005. The dizziness was accompanied by a sense of numbness on my left arm to the point that when I slept on my right side I woke up with my left arm completely numb.
The symptoms have varied during this year and the numbness in my left arm was nearly gone till about a month ago, when I started feeling pins a needles on the left side of my face and jaw (and my left arm again). The dizziness has remained during all this time but I have periods of a few days when it disappears.
I have been to all kind of doctors, neurologists (3), ENT (2 MRIs of the head and spine and one of my ear and my temporo-maxilar bone) and even to Accidents & Emergency at hospital, I was so scared I was having a stroke or  there was something wrong with my heart (I think the palpitations were due to me panicking with these symptomps). I have also had a general check up with blood tests, x rays and everything else but they have found NOTHING.
Everyody says I should be happy because I am healthy (apparently) and I guess they are right but I would like so much to know what is wrong with me. When all these symptoms start I really think a stroke is on its way….. I am only 32 and healthy, I exercise, have a healthy diet…. But this dizziness and numbness is driving me mad, it is affecting my life and I feel frustrated.
I am currently seeing an osteopath, it seems to help a little since I feel better on the day I see him but the symptoms come back after a couple of days. Accupunture didn’t work…

Like Hartty I seem to feel better when I strech but only for a short period of time… I don’t know if there is something pinched or it is something else… I’d just love to know what is wrong with me.
Thank you all from London

[Ammi]

I have been to 7 doctors. Ranging from a Neurologist to a podiatrist. After a car accident in 2000 I have had terrible pain in my left hip area as well as neck. After that I had 2 abdominal opertions. After the first opertion where the doctor took out the uterus with fibroid my pelvic area started to fill up with fluids. This fluid kept coming back and they had an external bag collecting this fluid for a month. The doctors then decided to do another abdominal operation to take my ovaries out. They said they were not sure where the water was coming from. Either it was a lymphocele or water from the ovaries. Anyway, after this operation I almost immediately started to have a different type of pain in my left hip (not the kind after the accident) and all the way up and down my left side of the body. It is the most weird sensation. The tightness and pain in my greater trochanteric area is so bad that I can hardly rotate my hip. When that is at its worst I also have tightness under my left shoulder blade, under my left armpit, left side of the neck and under my jaw, tingling in my left cheek,  tightness and pain behind my left eye when I push against the eye. It almost feels like my left side is dying. This also goes all the way down to my knee and ankle. All on the left side. The first time my left cheek started to tingle and my left arm did not have much strength I thought I was having a stroke. Apparently, the emergency room doctors did not think I had anything wrong with my heart either. They did a chest x-ray. Anyway, all the doctors are completely sure that this hip pain has nothing to do with anything else. I am not so sure about that. What if the fluid in my pelvic area was a lymphocele caused by the first operation and somehow the lymph nodes got affected for which this is happening? If any of you have any suggestions please let me know. I feel like if someone doesn't help soon that it might be too late. Also, for some of you with tingling cheeks I would like you to read an article that I read in my research.The website is www.sarapin.com
Maybe it will help someone. Good luck to all. Ammi

[maggs22]

hi everyone, let me start by saying i hope all of us feel better soon! since may 06' i've been having some weird syptoms (symptoms) and im only 22 so its really bothering me. i have a pressure type feeling in my neck area and sometimes i think i feel it up to my ears.i have this terrible dizziness sick type of headache in the front of my head that i get, that might go away for a week and then comes back everyday. im just trying to figure out if maybe i somehow injured something in my neck area? what could cause this weird sort of pressure feeling? its so strange. i went to my dr and he also said it was weird and had no clue, which wasnt too comforting. so hes sending me for bloodwork and then to a ent to see if they can help he also suggested a sonogram of the area i said is bothering me. i do remember though the day before all of these feelings started i was getting ready to go out and i remember feeling something almost like a tapping followed my the weirdest feeling in my thoat/neck area. almost as if something had popped. what could that have been? and then the next day after that happened thats what i had all the strange feelings of pressure and headaches start. i had no clue what to do and i have a feeling im just going for all these tests and no one is going to help! if anyone has any suggestions i would appreciate it very much, these symptoms are impairing everything i do i cant even work or go to my classes, its so aggrevating.

[S.j]

Hi everyone this is Sj.  I have had similar symptoms.  I went to my doctor and he said that it might be stress.  I am very worried.

Please send me your feedback I would really like to hear it.  What date did you symptoms start, are you in a major city or town, what general area.  What work do you mostly do or spend alot of time doing.  One I can guess is time on the computer.
Is there any weather that the symptoms can be associated with, even if its only on normal days.  Is your family or career been more of an issue latly?  Is there a favorite drink like coffee or anything in common.

Alot of what I hear people describing sounds like things I have been experiencing.  I have had the neck tightness, the throat weird feeling and the tingle in the neck and other issues.  Not so much headaches but trouble focusing or remembering.  Also had the jaw soreness and the eye feeling irritated. A bit of dizzyness and  tingle in the face and now in the hands.  Alot of times it will be more than one at once but not always. General feelings of being uncomfortable on the computer and issues with my throat.
For me I started noticing the first set of symptoms of dizziness and tingles around September - October 2006.  The newer one's are from around June - August. and
are tingles in the minders and numbness in the arm. Try mouth and sour throat.  Some trouble sleeping.

There is stress in my life over what to do with my life, and I have some fights with people I care about but the feeling I have feels like it is agitation and is not emotional.

[TMinton]

Hello, I'm a 42-year-old African American woman with high blood pressure (I take hct 12.5 mill since I was 27 years old). My job is very stressful and my sister age 45 is a recent survivor of  two heart attacks (June 2007 and July 2007). Over the past two weeks I have been experiencing really weird pains. Sharp pains in my legs (around the inside of my knees) it feels like it's in my veins or something. My left arm has experienced paralysis or became numb on several occasions and now I have numbness and pain up my left arm and the left side of my neck; sharp throbbing pains up my neck and into the back of my head. I also have throbbing in the inner side of my legs...around the artery... numbness in my left big toe...then sharp little pains that come and go in my fingers, left foot, forearm and neck. Today I have a off and on throbbing in my head, towards the left side and a headeache…I'm not sure if this is stress or not...but I’m going to seek immediate medical attention….Any suggestions on the types of test I should ask my doctor about?

[I hate it]

Last week when I was at work all the sudden out of nowhere I lost partial vision. To explain a little better; If I were to look at the clock I could not see half of it (the 3 to the 6 were blurred out) But I could see everything around it. This lasted for about 15 minutes and the blur slowly moved up in both of my eyes. About 5 minutes after my sight came back I started to feel very unusual. I believe that my eyes were dialated. I was in and out of not being able to understand what people were saying and occasionally words would come out of my mouth all jumbled. I experienced tingling/numbness on the right side of my face, behind my eyes, and behind my nose. My arms went numb and my hands felt cold although they were warm. I finally started to normal out after about 2-3 hours but I have had a headache ever since. It's been over a week!! I'm miserable! I've seen a few doctors that said it was either a migraine with aurua (sp?) or a mini-stroke. I had a cat scan and I just had an MRI last friday. I've been trying to contact my neurologist all day to find out the results of my MRI and he wont call me back. The lady at the front desk said not to worry and that it came back normal. But this doesn't get rid of my insane headaches and it doesn't tell me why I experienced these symptoms... Any suggestions?

[Frohike]

I'm having similar symptoms.  They've put me on anti-anxiety meds for the panic attacks, but I'm absolutely sure the physical distress precedes the mental distress.

It starts as a burning/numb/itchy sensation in the right shoulder blade, spreads up the right side of the neck and behind the ear. On bad days, the right side of my face and my lips feel numb.  And of course there's the dizziness, which isn't really dizziness, or even vertigo for that matter.  It's just this yucky feeling that everything is distorted somehow.  It's very disorienting and quite scary.

I've found that Ibuprofen reduces whatever inflamation (inflammation) seems to be causing this and reduces my symptoms within an hour or two.

The balance and drooping eyelid problems people have might be related to the Sternocleidomastoid muscle getting out of whack in all this mess.  All the muscles on the affected side of my shoulder are knotted and tense, to the point of making a nasty popping sound if I try to spin my arm around to loosen up the tension.

Very weird stuff.  This is my first week on the anti-anxiety stuff, and it's reducing the panicky feeling, but I need to report the rest of these symptoms to my doc when I see him in a couple of weeks.

[Creid]

I am a 56 year old male in good physical condition. Keep my weight down, eat right and exercise regularly. For the past few days I have had similar symptoms. It started as a strange tingling sensation behind my right shoulder blade that would quickly spread down the right side of my back to my waist and up to my neck.  As it spread, the dizziness or light headedness would come on. This would happen intermitently over the cource of the day and only last about 45 seconds to a minute each time.  It never happens when I am sitting.  Always when I am walking, climbing stairs or other forms of mild exersion. Today I has less tingling but was basically dizzy everytime I stood or walked for as long as I stood or walked.  There is no pain of any kind. Just this odd dizziness or disorientation. Went to an Urgent Care office last evening and they agreed it was an odd set of symptons and suggested it could be stress or "vascular" but provided no advice or medication.  Suggested I wait and see if the symptoms change.  I am currently in a very stressful situation caring for my wife who is ill, caring for a 92 year old parent that lives with us, recent expensive ($9k) car repaits and in a new very demanding job facing critical deadlines. So... it very well could be stress but I have never seen such a physical manifestation. Have an appointment to see my regular doctor tomorrow morning.  Hope to get some answers.

Sounds similar to a couple of previous postings.  Does this sound familar to anyone?

[Frohike]

OK, so after a couple of weeks of anti-anxiety meds, the feeling is gradually going away.  They have me on an SSRI (Citalopram) which I take daily, and will continue taking for about 6 more weeks, so I'm told.  I'm actually surprised, but this does seem to be anxiety related.

Here's what convinced me it was anxiety & tension.

The first few days of taking the SSRI sucked big time.  The side effects for me were dizziness and confusion, which triggered a couple of panic attacks.  The numbness and tingling in my shoulder blade, back of the neck and back of the head got worse and spread to my scalp in general.  It was bad, and I was freaking the hell out.

So I took the emergency Alprazolam (basically Xanax) they gave me for these types of attacks.  I thought, "fine, this will kill my panic attack, but that damn numb tingly feeling and the dizziness will still be there."  Well, guess what.  They weren't.  Within the few minutes that it took for the drug to kick in, I was left with only a lightheaded feeling (probably from either drug), no tingling, no intense dizziness.

It was kind of a revelation for me, and I'm determined to kick this as an anxiety issue now.

Bear in mind that the doctors had already run the gamut of tests on me before: cardiac, bloodwork, MRI, CAT scans, Neurology exams, the works. So it really came down to this, and I finally acknowledged it.

This past week has been much better.  The tingling comes back now and then, but doesn't spread like it did before.  When I mentioned it to my doc, he told me muscle tension in the trapezius causes those symptoms.

Based on my own knowledge that this can also affect trigger points in the sternocleidomastoid muscle, which can cause dizziness, disorientation, lacrimation, and "drooping eye", I'm starting to understand that the anxiety is triggering a lot of these problems, even if I wasn't aware of any such anxiety before.

So when the doctors can't find anything physically wrong, I'd advise asking about anxiety problems, and what your options might be.

[tishaboys5]

I have had some very similiar symptoms as many of you.  I assumed mine were sinus related.

Usually I have issues with the right side of my face tingling and hence once thought I was betting belles palsy agin--yes I said again.  I did have it 11 years ago or so.  It is can be stress/anxiety related.  However mine was related to having shingles in my ear.

Anyway, I currently have tingling and extreme sensitivity on the left side of my face.  It hurts and aches really bad.  My ear drum aches and my ear lobe tingles.  I have had A LOT of uper should blade mucle aching and paid recently too.

I have had a lot of back/neck issues over the years.  Everyone has different reasons why.  Could be the car accidents I had when I was younger, could be gaining weight or carrying (4) children 9 months.  Maybe it is working on a computer for 8-9 hours daily.  Whatever the cause, it is there.

So along with the tingling, aching, and shoulder pain.  I have neck pain and terrible heacaches.  When the headaches gets terrible, I get nautious.

Maybe it is anxiety related as I know I am absolutely overwhelmed at work.  I am raising (4) boys on my own with no financial support and very little physical support of their father.

I know I am very emotional and a bit depressed and although I do not have panic attacks I can have anger outbursts when I get overwhelmed with my kids at the end of a day.  (sorry run on sentence)

I do know the pain is very real.  I do experience a sort of weird focusing feeling.  Not so much vertigo or blurry vision but like being distant in my eyes or looking at life thru a tunnel.

I appreciated reading others thoughts and issues as it helps me feel normal in a weird sort of way.

Thanks!

tlmb

[Trish0725]

I've currently had  (1) T.I.A.'s one June 04,2008 while I was driving to work, a T.I.A. caused me to wreck I have no memory of the wreck nor what went on around me until later in the afternoon in my hospital room. My Lt. from the Sheriff Office where I work stated I slurring my words, confusion, trouble keeping my balance and no memory of what was happening. Headaches was a consent companion for 2 months. I have migraines anyway so I really didn't think much about it until a couple days before my first mini stroke.  The (2) T.I.A. Sept. 15, '08 (mini stroke) happened while I was working. Slow speaking, balance off and my eyes was heavy (actually doc discovers right eye looking in and up and left eye straight) and weakness in left side of my body. Actual stroke symptoms. Test ran after each T.I.A.(mini stroke) CAT SCAN MRI/MRA/MRV/MRI with die and EEG/TEE: the conclusion on some test was I was normal other test showed-I have the heart of a 20 yr. old and the veins of elderly person. There is some plague in the veins on one side of the brain and older looking blood vessels on the other side of my brain for the age of 50. No determination on why nor where these (mini strokes) are originating from. Vanderbilt in Nashville, TN. is my next stop for hope of finding out where these T.I.A.'s (mini strokes) are coming from and what can be done if anything to stop them.

[JMUPatrick]

Wow... This forum finally makes me feel like I'm not crazy!  I am an otherwise healthy, fit 26 year old male.  I am a singer with a cruise line.  Been on stage practically my whole life and been on ships for nearly 5 years, so I definitely have my sea legs and no stage fright.  All of a sudden I've had similar symptoms to what people here have described -- out of focus/dizzy vision as if I'm wearing someone elses prescription glasses, headaches, nausea, a faint pins and needles feeling in my left hand, and chronic neck pain.  Also, now the lights from the show are too intense for me too handle, as are the bright lights around the mirrors in my dressing room.  On top of it all, I've had intense anxiety and panic attacks which I've never had a problem with before.  I don't necessarily think I'm just freaking out about my symptoms. I think whatever this is triggers that "fight or flight" response and thus makes panic attack onset easier.  I am actually signing off the ship medically today to have an MRI and other testing done.  I have a feeling after reading posts from people who are having similar symptoms that my MRI is going to come back normal and that I am going to find no concrete evidence of brain tumor, stroke or MS which are the 3 biggies I'm worried about.  I wonder if this isn't some kind of pinched nerve... probably something so microscopic inside the human body that it is damn near impossible to detect, but which has detremental effects.  I'm curious to hear from the people who HAVE found out what is causing their symptoms.  

[tinbeantown]

Check out the "complicated migraine at 33?" thread in this forum and see how similar your experience is to theirs. I had many of the same symptoms described here, mine is a complicated migraine initially misdiagnosed as a TIA. Has to do with neurotransmitters and serotonin causing all these stroke like symptoms, now taking tricyclics which made a big difference. Everybody is different, someone here said it was stress for them, but no way was that me. You need to follow through with the Docs and tests and if it's still in doubt, find the best, closest neurology hospital and park yourself there. When it feels serious and in doubt, call 911.

[becca030858]

I am a 50yo female that have had all the things u are all goining though finaly I found out my neck has disk problems that are pinched off the nerves my head my left arm I have migrains tingleing in my face arm is numb mri showed disk disese (disease) it even affects my vision  and I also have panick attacks and my ears and sinus all ways hurt pinched nerves can do alot of problems who would have thought  hope u all get well.

[2tall]

Hello,

Reading this thread already makes me feel somewhat relieved to know I'm not insane. Been experiencing tingling in different parts of my face for a couple months now, it usually only lasts a few seconds but its disconcerting. Over the past few weeks, the tingling is more frequent and now it's coupled by this foggy/dizzy feeling. Not a spinning, more like a haze or that I'm about to lose my balance. This is more frightening. I'll be watching TV and for a few seconds I'll feel like I'm going to pass out and then it goes back to the haze. I have chronic sinus problems so my doctor sent me off for scan. It came back this week positive for chronic sinusitis. My doctor told me I had several abnormalities but wouldn't go in to details, I'm seeing a specialist next week. Anyway, I too have muscle pain in my neck that has really been acting up over the last few weeks. I've had it off and on for years but it seems to have been worse for the past couple of weeks. I never would have thought there was any relation to what's been happening but after reading all of these posts it would seem logical that there's some association. Finally, at the beginning of this year I was diagnosed with Plantar fasciitis. I took Advil regularly for most of the year. I stopped about 45 days ago. Lack of anti-inflammatory could explain why my neck is acting up now. I'm going to take a couple of Advil for a few days, try to exercise more and see what happens. Thanks to all for sharing, I feel like an idiot telling my wife this because it sounds nuts but glad others are out there sharing their experiences.

[ginahoust]

WOW...  I'm glad I found this site as my symptoms are similar also.  I went to the dr yesterday and am sheduled for an MRI on Monday.  I was rear-ended 16 years ago and always had neck problems and was rear-ended again about a month ago and have had numbness in hands, arms, legs, face, feet just about daily now - getting progressively worse and also dizziness (feeling unbalanced really) every day.  Will report any findings as I get more testing done.

[heavenlyitems]

Trust your body.  You know when something is wrong.  I have numbness and tingling from a minor stroke eight weeks ago.  They said it was in my cerebellum from small vessel disease.  

Hope you get better

[devhawk]

I had something simular to what you are describing. did all the CT scans ..MRIs ..etc. i lived with it for another 6 months before i went to my dentist to find out that i had a badly infected tooth that was infected into my sinus cavity which was causing the tingling, shooting pains.. etc

[MandyB316]

Some of the symptoms people are describing in this forum are similar to my problems with neck tension.  Mine started about 8 years ago in association with some emotional trama which started tension headaches.  These headaches have developed into chronic neck tension and associated headaches which, left untreated, become migraines.  My symptoms usually start with soreness and tension in my neck muscles.  Usually this is accompanied by a mild headache in my temples, and a feeling of tightness in my face muscles and skin.  I describe it like a bungie cord attached to the back of my skull and someone is pulling on it.  Very uncomfortable.  If I don't address the muscle tension immediately, or if it happens when I sleep, the full progression of symptoms becomes intense "headache" pain radiating from the back of my skull to my temples, up the sides of my face and head, downwards in my eyes, behind my ears, and even into my sinuses.  Typically the right side is worse, or all the pain could be on my right side.  I will have sinus congestion, trouble with blurry vision or trouble focusing my eyes, dizziness, vertigo, and loss of vision (vision going black) when I move too quickly.  All of this will be accompanied by a feeling of pressure or tightness in my face and neck mucles, and often nausea.  Sometimes I will also have dry mouth.  Sometimes I will have tingling in my face, or down my arms.

What most people don't realize is that the muscles in the upper back and neck are attached through a series of muscles and tiny ligaments to nerve bundles in the base of the skull.  These nerve muscles travel behind the ears, across the back of the skull, through the jaw, the sides of the face, the temples, and the eye sockets and sinuses.  Essentially all the surficial nerves in your head travel to the spine in your neck through these nerve bundles.  When your muscles are tense, they pull on the ligaments that attach those muscles to anchor points, such as the base of the skull.  This tension causes inflammation in the ligament nerves, and those nerve bundles.  This in turn affects all the nerve systems that are attached and in sync with those neck mucles.  Its a long chain of cause and affect that results in referred pain and muscular tension.

THis is information that I have come to through many years of seeing physical therapists, message therapists, doctors, and chiropractors.  Through xray it was discovered that I have a spinal misalignment caused by scar tissue.  Any physical or emotional stress can cause the muscles that are constantly fighting to re-align those vertebrae to fatigue, and tense up.  The resulting tension causes all my associated symptoms, headache, migraine, pain, blurry vision, difficulty focusing, sinus congestion, and nausea.  My "cure" is massage and chiropractic therapy, once every two weeks, probably for the rest of my life.  But it works!

I'm not saying any of you have the same situation as myself.  But I do want you to realize that all of the nerve sytems in the head and even brain are connected, and inflammation in any one region (sinus, eyes, teeth, jaw, muscles, spine, etc.) can in turn affect many other areas.  And what may seem neurological (migraine symtoms, tingling, dizziness, nausea, etc.) could be physical, such as chronic inflammation from stress-related tension or physical trauma, or pinched nerves from problems with spinal alignment or a "slipped disc."

So don't panic... try to narrow down your focus to one re-occuring or "source" symptom and see where that leads you.

And hang in there...I found a treatment that works, and maybe so can you!