muscle twitching, heart palpitations, numb left arm I got it all..

[guessing]

IM a 30 yo, male in the military and I’ve lost complete faith in military docs. In May 03 my wife and I went on a vacation (honeymoon of sorts), I developed something a military doc called "honeymooners virus". At the time the doc ran blood and urine test, with negative results of any infection. We did not do a urethra swap because the other tests were negative, that had me guessing. I don’t want to endure the pain of that test but looking back if it would have helped, I would have done it. I had a swollen lymph node that gradually went down after a few days. The swelling and all symptoms went away. I relocated in Aug and in Sept I developed slight muscle twitching near my left eye. In was slight at first then slowly spread to both eyes, my face, arms, legs and abdomen. I’m not a highly stressed person so its not stress related. I thought it might be the computer I use at work, but I limited my time on it and increase the distance between the monitor and my face. Shortly after that, I developed very slight muscle numbness occasionally in my legs and often in my left arm. More recently, I have started having heart palpitations, feeling like my heart is skipping a beat. Some days it occurs once some day 5-6 times. Now with all these symptoms, I visited a doc and his reply was "its all normal". EKG = normal, heart and lungs all sound normal. I’m sorry, but this is not normal. I could understand if I had some strange influence on my body but I don’t think I have. And after a little research on the net, some of these symptoms can lead to ALS (Lou Georges disease), heart disease, MS..etc. I can’t help but to believe that all of these symptoms are related in some way. So with all these things going on and the "medical diagnosis" I was given I’m left guessing at what it could be. There is nothing I can do to stop these symptoms; I’ve tried hot baths, massages, sports drinks (it was suggested that perhaps my electrolytes were off balance and a daily sports drink my help compensate). I do feel like Im loosing a little strength in my arms.

Military Docs are sometimes over worked and underpaid. Perhaps you could give me a direction to kind of push them in. I’m clueless and the symptoms are increasing in frequency.

[Kevin Pho, MD]

There may be several issues going on.  Regarding the urethral symptoms - I would of course make sure no obvious causes are present.  This would include a urethral swab and urinalysis to make sure infection isn't present.

The presence of urethral symptoms, eye symptoms, and muscle complaints, you may want to investigate the possibility of Reiter's syndrome.  This is a rheumatological disorder that consists of arthiris, urethritis and conjunctivitis.  A rheumatology referral should be considered if this is suspected.

Regarding the heart palpitations, the next step would be an event monitor.  This is a portable heart device that is attached to your body for a month.  Whenever the palpitations are felt, you activate the device so it records the heart rhythm during the episode.  This can be arranged through your primary care physician.  

Followup with your personal physician is essential.

This answer is not intended as and does not substitute for medical advice - the information presented is for patient education only. Please see your personal physician for further evaluation of your individual case.

Thanks,
Kevin, M.D.

[bk4man]

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