Aa
Severe tingling pain
Hello all...
I was diagnosed with fibromyalgia last year and after trying neurontin & cymbalta for a while... I decided I was going to try taking vitamins & a few supplements like ginkgo biloba for my memory problems... 5-HTP which helps the neurotransmitters in the brain work faster... Sort of like serotonin. My vitamin D is always low so I have to take that too. I have felt better since last summer. But about 2 months ago... I started having problems focusing at times disoriented... A few times have had slurred speech...& the most disturbing new symptom is the severe tingling mainly on my left side... I feel patches of tingling on my face, head, arm, hand, leg, feet. My rheumatologist sent me to see a neurologist to rule out MS. I had an MRI but have not seen the doctor again for the results, I go next Thursday. My concern is: that the MRI shows nothing and I'm back at square one. My rheumatologist said it could be due to my fibromyalgia. Since these symptoms are new to me... Does anyone else experience severe tingling lasting for more than 8 weeks or even just occasional? Please help.
I was diagnosed with fibromyalgia last year and after trying neurontin & cymbalta for a while... I decided I was going to try taking vitamins & a few supplements like ginkgo biloba for my memory problems... 5-HTP which helps the neurotransmitters in the brain work faster... Sort of like serotonin. My vitamin D is always low so I have to take that too. I have felt better since last summer. But about 2 months ago... I started having problems focusing at times disoriented... A few times have had slurred speech...& the most disturbing new symptom is the severe tingling mainly on my left side... I feel patches of tingling on my face, head, arm, hand, leg, feet. My rheumatologist sent me to see a neurologist to rule out MS. I had an MRI but have not seen the doctor again for the results, I go next Thursday. My concern is: that the MRI shows nothing and I'm back at square one. My rheumatologist said it could be due to my fibromyalgia. Since these symptoms are new to me... Does anyone else experience severe tingling lasting for more than 8 weeks or even just occasional? Please help.
I'm not sure about the numbness and tingling, whether it's intermittent or constant. I have had patches of numbness in my hand and arm, with reduced hand function, but it was all due to a radial nerve palsy which resolved in about 2-3 months.
Your episodes of disorientation/ confusion and slurred speech are much more alarming and are symptoms of TIA's (transient ischemic attacks) which can be a precursor to having a stroke - this is what the neurologist should be evaluating first, probably first with an ultrasound to the arteries in your neck and possibly an angiogram of your head and neck.
I would also suggest that you discuss all of your supplements with someone very knowledgeable, either a doctor or maybe even better would be a dietician. Some vitamins are water-soluble, which means that your body gets rid of any extra that it doesn't need. Other vitamins are fat-soluble and get stored which means that, if you are taking high or excessive doses, they can build up to even toxic levels.
Otherwise, my advice is to 1) not make too many changes at once (hard to tell which thing is making things better or worse), and 2) approach your disease and symptoms from many angles - meds, supplements, physical activity (from stretching to walking to more vigorous exercise), and alternative therapies - massage, accupuncture, meditation, etc.. Be open to anything - you can never tell what might make a significant difference.
Best Wishes!
Your episodes of disorientation/ confusion and slurred speech are much more alarming and are symptoms of TIA's (transient ischemic attacks) which can be a precursor to having a stroke - this is what the neurologist should be evaluating first, probably first with an ultrasound to the arteries in your neck and possibly an angiogram of your head and neck.
I would also suggest that you discuss all of your supplements with someone very knowledgeable, either a doctor or maybe even better would be a dietician. Some vitamins are water-soluble, which means that your body gets rid of any extra that it doesn't need. Other vitamins are fat-soluble and get stored which means that, if you are taking high or excessive doses, they can build up to even toxic levels.
Otherwise, my advice is to 1) not make too many changes at once (hard to tell which thing is making things better or worse), and 2) approach your disease and symptoms from many angles - meds, supplements, physical activity (from stretching to walking to more vigorous exercise), and alternative therapies - massage, accupuncture, meditation, etc.. Be open to anything - you can never tell what might make a significant difference.
Best Wishes!
Hi Gloria and welcome to the forum.
I copied and pasted from my reply to another member in the A/I Community, with a couple omissions which weren't relevant to you.
One HUGE RED FLAG is your low Vitamin D level.
Ideally your level should be 50nmol/L or higher (20ng/ml or higher.)
Your vitamin D deficiency must be corrected as it affects greatly so many parts and systems of your body.
The deficiency could be due to inadequate intake, insufficient sun exposure,inability of the kidneys to convert vitamin D into its bioactive form, impaired absorption or Vitamin D receptor polymorphisms.
Beware that obesity, high cortisol levels (from chronic stress), low fat diets, low fat absorption, gallbladder or liver disease , many
common prescription drugs , inflammation of any kind may reduce the amount of vitamin D, either in the production, the absorption or the bio-availability of this vitamin.
Please, urge your doctors to help you correct this very vital deficit in your body, before attempting other explorations. You simply cannot have this ignored and expect significant health improvement.
On your own you can try sublingual Vitamin D3 drops, and there's seems to be no toxicity issues with high doses, but I think 5000UI/daily should be fine.
Another suspicion to rule out is low adrenal function and low thyroid function -even if you were tested for thyroid, the standard serum tests
are often inadequate to indicate accurately cellular thyroid function where it counts. If you were not tested for free T3, free T4 and reverse T3, perhaps you should look into these tests (not conventional)
As for low adrenal, conventional Endos will not test, nor treat what they determine as sub-clinical, until it becomes a crisis situation called adrenal failure! Too late to my opinion!
So, the best option is to go outside conventional doctors for testing and treatment. An ND or functional medicine doctor, knowledgeable in endocrine disorders should be able to help you with this.
For self testing you could try Dr. Barnes Basal temperature test.
Just follow the simple online instructions precisely.
Also it would be good to have your B12 levels checked.
In Japan and most of Europe, the lower limit for B12 is between 500-550 pg/mL, so anything much lower than this raises another red flag, even if labs and doctors here in N.America, accept as normal??? between 200 pg/mL and 350 pg/mL.
There are just too many neurological symptoms experienced at those lower ranges!
Of course there are more possibilities, but these are specific suspected imbalances, which could be checked & addressed right away!
I hope this helps, however, please note that my comments are not intended as a replacement for medical advice.
Please keep us posted.
Best wishes.
Niko
I copied and pasted from my reply to another member in the A/I Community, with a couple omissions which weren't relevant to you.
One HUGE RED FLAG is your low Vitamin D level.
Ideally your level should be 50nmol/L or higher (20ng/ml or higher.)
Your vitamin D deficiency must be corrected as it affects greatly so many parts and systems of your body.
The deficiency could be due to inadequate intake, insufficient sun exposure,inability of the kidneys to convert vitamin D into its bioactive form, impaired absorption or Vitamin D receptor polymorphisms.
Beware that obesity, high cortisol levels (from chronic stress), low fat diets, low fat absorption, gallbladder or liver disease , many
common prescription drugs , inflammation of any kind may reduce the amount of vitamin D, either in the production, the absorption or the bio-availability of this vitamin.
Please, urge your doctors to help you correct this very vital deficit in your body, before attempting other explorations. You simply cannot have this ignored and expect significant health improvement.
On your own you can try sublingual Vitamin D3 drops, and there's seems to be no toxicity issues with high doses, but I think 5000UI/daily should be fine.
Another suspicion to rule out is low adrenal function and low thyroid function -even if you were tested for thyroid, the standard serum tests
are often inadequate to indicate accurately cellular thyroid function where it counts. If you were not tested for free T3, free T4 and reverse T3, perhaps you should look into these tests (not conventional)
As for low adrenal, conventional Endos will not test, nor treat what they determine as sub-clinical, until it becomes a crisis situation called adrenal failure! Too late to my opinion!
So, the best option is to go outside conventional doctors for testing and treatment. An ND or functional medicine doctor, knowledgeable in endocrine disorders should be able to help you with this.
For self testing you could try Dr. Barnes Basal temperature test.
Just follow the simple online instructions precisely.
Also it would be good to have your B12 levels checked.
In Japan and most of Europe, the lower limit for B12 is between 500-550 pg/mL, so anything much lower than this raises another red flag, even if labs and doctors here in N.America, accept as normal??? between 200 pg/mL and 350 pg/mL.
There are just too many neurological symptoms experienced at those lower ranges!
Of course there are more possibilities, but these are specific suspected imbalances, which could be checked & addressed right away!
I hope this helps, however, please note that my comments are not intended as a replacement for medical advice.
Please keep us posted.
Best wishes.
Niko
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