Symptoms as of March 15, 2008

My Symptoms

Numbness: Face, arms, hands, fingers, legs, feet and/or toes (Sometimes just a decrease of sensation, for example if I touch my bare arm it feels like I am touching it through a coat.)

Tingling: Face, arms, hands, fingers, legs, feet and/or toes
(Legs tingle almost daily sometimes all day).
If they are not tingling already, when I touch my hipbones or lower abdomen it makes my legs tingle.

Muscle spasms or twitches: Legs (almost daily), feet (almost daily), hips, face, rarely in back, shoulders and abdomen.

Pain: Sometimes like stabbing or like tearing or cutting or like crushing in the face (jaw), arms, fingers, legs feet, and toes, rarely in the eye.  Sometimes it’s just a dull ache. A lot of the time when I open my mouth, there is pain in the right jaw and over the right ear.

Shocking and/or stinging sensations: In my elbows, face, arms, hands, fingers, legs, feet and/or toes.
(Sometimes when I get tired and bend my head down, there is a shocking sensation that goes thru my legs and feet and sometimes thru my arms)

Buzzing or vibrating: Face, legs and feet (almost daily), and sometimes feels like my brain is vibrating. Sometimes it feels like the floor is bouncing up and down.

Visual: Things not in my direct line of sight will wiggle, (i.e. dash wiggles when looking at the road while driving or when looking at the TV, the shelf it’s on and the floor will wiggle). Sometimes everything wiggles and jumps. At times when reading I must constantly refocus and it seems like the page is jumping. Occasional flashes of light. Occasional disturbances like I am looking thru a prism. Sometimes I see flashes of light when I hear a loud noise or get startled.

Ears: Echoing like thunder in left ear after each sound (about 70% of the time). Right ear at times feels like something is pushing into it and feels like things are crawling on it and on my cheek.

Headaches: It feels like an ice pick is being inserted into my right temple, then it feels like something inside my head is expanding. Then the right side of my face with get numb and tingly and my right eyelid will feel heavy. Much of the time this is accompanied with pain in the jaw. When this happens, my mouth usually starts to water (not to the point of drooling) and there is sometimes a metallic taste in my mouth.
Sometimes it feels like a tingling rubber band is around my head and is getting tighter and tighter.
Sometimes it feels like my head and my face is being crushed and like my jaws are wired and the wires are being tightened.

Walking: Legs feel like they are asleep sometimes. Legs feel heavy and stiff. Sometimes I am wobbly and have to put thought into walking. My daughter says I sometimes walk like I am tilting forward with legs far apart and like I am stiff.

Shaking: My hands sometimes shake when I try to reach for things or pick up things or when styling my hair or putting on makeup.
Sometimes most movements are shaky or jerky (when bending, reaching etc.) like movements aren’t as fluid as they used to be.

Concentration: Much of the time I feel like I am in a mental fog. Sometimes I can’t think clearly. I get very forgetful. If more than one person is speaking I can’t focus on either or if there is a lot of background noise I can’t concentrate.

Exhaustion: Very large general lack of energy. Sometimes it feels like a wave of exhaustion goes thru either my legs or arms… like I just can’t take another step.

Other:  Hands sometimes won’t cooperate when trying to work with small things…like it takes a few tries sometimes to pick things up…hard to explain…they just won’t cooperate.
Sometimes I feel like I am in slow motion when doing things. My daughter says my speech becomes slow at times.
I frequently drop things or knock things over. Running into things. Tripping on things.
Sometimes I am dizzy and uncoordinated. Sometimes my legs seem very restless or anxious.

Chills: At times chills run down my back into my arms and legs. Sometimes it’s just my legs.