Hi,
I am a 49YO female who is experiencing exercise intolerance (excessive cramping after light exercise), dizziness, stiffness,constant body-wide and sometimes painful muscle twitching and polyneuropathy( burning, tingling and intermittant numbness in extremities). When these symptoms occured i was under significant stress. i also have rubbery feeling in legs, unsteadiness that will not go away and a persistant 'buzzing' in my left leg. These sensations sometimes wake me up (muscle jerking, cramping, numbness) and are highly distracting and distressing to me. I am having severe panic attacks as a result of my sensations...Because of my inability to walk well and weakness i was admitted to the hospital for tests...Neurological examinations were normal as were the MRI's of my head and spine. They did find significant degenerative spine disease, which i knew about and discovered a pituitary tumor and 'suspicious' thyroid nodules that will be biopsied at a later time. This news surprised and depressed me because i have always been and like to think of myself as very healthy...so now, i am also dealing with another aspect of ill health...
The neurologists will perform an 'EMG' at a later date to just rule out 'motor function diseases' to cover their butts, but feel my symptoms are soley from depression...They attributed my dizzy and fainting spells to Orthostatic Hypotension and Bradycardia...everything else was ruled out as far as diseases go...my hormone levels are mostly OK with one test showing low cortisol and consistant high proglastins...thyroid levels OK, as well as the rest...
Symptoms arrived suddenly shortly after a workout (twitching, muscle cramping, pain, pins and needles). Have had Symptoms for 4 weeks....not abating which prevents me from going back to work as i have a physical job and i am following up with a psychological evaluation and treatment...
Because this wierd 'spell' has come on so suddenly and devastated my feeling of 'health and well-being' (not to mention my pocketbook) i am having a hard time believing it is 'all in my head' especially since this stuff feels so real and is still happening and not going away even after all the tests and evaluations....if this is true, can medications/ talking to a counseler make this horrible stuff vanish??? (that actually would be a dream come true! as the alternatives look pretty dismal and i would like to continue to work in my field which is demanding on my body, but really great work to have...