Rapidly mounting list of symptoms

[WoRkZ]

Hi all!

I'm a 39 years old man with no special medical history. I began feeling very strange about 2 1/2 years ago. I feel like I am never fully awake... like I'm in a weird fog all day long. My former family doctor didn't know what to do with these symptoms, so she asked for blood work, got me to see a cardiologist and even another colleague. She never found an explanation for the way I was feeling... and her colleague clearly wanted to convince me that I was imagining things!

I have been living with these symtoms ever since. I suppose that all this could be unrelated to my present problems: A month ago, I began feeling a tingling in some fingers on my left hand. Those fingers are almost always cold. 3 weeks ago I began feeling a numb pain in the upper section of my left arm. Yesterday I felt the same thing in my right arm for a brief period. But more importantly, this week is turning into hell. Now I've got sharp pain coming at me from all parts of my body... then disapearing as fast as they came. It's like I'm being poked with needles. It seems to be mostly in the muscles...

Now that I think of it, one of my legs felt numb for a couple of days back in December... but it went away afterwards.

The supposedly universal health system is crumbling here in Quebec... so it's not the best time to be sick. Yesterday, after calling four medical clinics where I was told they didn't take any new patients, I went to the nearest hospital. They told me I would have to wait at least 8 hours (!)... so I went home.

Suffice to say, things didn't improve that much since yesterday. I get more and more tingling from all over the body... and I feel like my legs wheigh a ton. Actually, I feel kinda numb all over... and a bit dizzy too.

Anyway, if anyone has ever heard of anything of the sort, please let me know. That would at least point me in the right direction... I don't even know what kind of problem I may have (hormonal, circulatory, neurologic...).

I found this site on Google and saw that there are doctors on staff... but I think you have to pay for this and I don't even know in which category I should post my question anyway...

So any help or advice (on my condition or the workings of the site) would really be appreciated. Thanks in advance!

[WoRkZ]

My neurologist doesn't seem to think that an MRI would be helpful in my case. I tend to trust his judgment. It looks like my private insurance would cover the cost of an MRI in a private clinic if I were to need one though. Which is a relief when you know the time it takes to actually get one in the public health care system!

I can't wait to see the rheumatologist! I've had only bad days since my last post... so I'll take any help I can! I had about 4 hours of decent sleep last night... so I feel like **** today! :+(

But yeah, I'm not desperate enough to go to another country for a couple of weeks so I can be diagnosed there. Anyway, I couldn't even afford the stay... let alone the medical costs.

[caregiver222]

In the United States, in any municipal hospitaI have been involved with, you'll get an MRI the same day if you walk in with those symptoms  and they won't ask you if you can pay. Don't listen to the nonsense about medical care here. Every illegal alien on the planet walks in speaking no known language and gets top-shelf care. In New York City they have a "free MRI" truck that rolls around and you get a free diagnosis,plus a CD rom of the MRI.

Eight months? God save the queen.

You need a good work-up. Get on the bus and head south.

[WoRkZ]

I know it's been a while... but I wanted to update this so others might benefit from it:

All seems to point to fibromylgia. After countless tests in neurology (including some very unpleasant ones!), my neurologist has finallly decided to have me see a rheumatologist. My appointment is schelduled for the end of the month. On the request form, my neurologist noted "possible fibromyalgia"... but he admits that he's not a specialist of the desease and thus cannot properly diagnose it.

So it's a mixed bag really: I'm glad to know I don't have some terminal condition... but I am now working hard on accepting the fact that this will be with me for life. Some days I'm feeling fairly well, but others I feel like ****. What incidence this will have on my professional life is hard to predict. But I suppose it can't be such a good thing. On the personnal side though, my wife and children now have gotten acustomed to my condition and understand that I can't always do all that I previously could.

[WoRkZ]

Oh, I forgot to say that I've had problems sleeping for years now... mostly due to acid reflux. :+/

Maybe this is something I should mention next time I see a doctor...

[WoRkZ]

Hello sickgirl83 (honestly, I don't like calling anyone "sick"... I have too much empathy for others... but I respect your choice of nickname nonetheless),

First off, many thanks for your comments... in times like these, it is touching to see that someone actually cares a bit.

I think the most unlikely culprit would be my heart in itself. I've seen a cardiologist 3 years ago and she said my hard is strong as a horse. Also, in the course of the last 5 years, I've built my own house and everyting around it mostly with my own hands... so I'm pretty sure my heart is solid.

Note that altough my heart is probably in perfect health, the cardiologist didn't investigate any further. So I'm thinking that many of my symptoms could be due to some sort of circulatory problem. Since my diet is far from the recommended one, arterial calcification could be a factor here. There is a history of such problems in my family... so I think this could be an area to investigate.

Fibromyalgia could be a possibility... but since it is far from being a clear diagnostic in itself, I'm not sure it would be of much help as a diagnosys. Furthermore, I don't constantly feel pain in any specific area... so I don't think this is it.

I had thought of multiple sclerosis, but that condition mostly appears in young adults and is more prevalent in women than in men. So I would think that chances of a male aged 39 to suddenly develop MS are close to nil. And honestly, that's kind of a relief...

I have had a long hystory of hypoglycemia symptoms though... ones that seem to match the "sudden drop in blood sugar" way of looking at the deases. Some researchers believe that a least some form of hypoglycemia is in fact caused by the body reacting to rising levels of sugar in the blood by releasing too much insulin. This way of looking at the disease leads to an expectation that insuling-producing pancreatic cells could be overtaxed in the long run... thus leading to diabetes. So this possibility might have to be explored... and that possibility should be confirmed or dismissed once I get my blood work done next week.

I have read briefly about restless legs syndrome (I too am a buff of all things medical/scientific) and am pretty sure this is not what is affecting me.

It should not be thyroid problems either, as previous blood work would have shown a hormonal imbalance. Or would it? I'm thinking that a lot of these symptoms could be caused by a hormonal imbalance... so I might discuss this further with a GP (next time I actually have the priviledge to see one).

And as for the migraine hypothesis, I can't see it causing such a large array of symptoms... at least not constantly present over a period of a week (already!).



So here are the most probable suspects so far:

- Neurological disorder of some kind
- Diabetes
- Some circulatory problem

...and maybe we should add poisoning to the list? After all, maybe there is something in my environment that is slowly poisoning me? Formaldehyde in the quick-snap flooring? Funguy hidding somewhere in the house? Something I ate lately... or am eating often and don't suspect to be that bad for my health?

I work from home... so I'm home an average of 23.5 hours a day. So if there is something harmful in my environment, I'm sure getting a generous dose of it.

So in essence, there's so much possibilities here... I clearly need the tools that modern medecine provides in order to eliminate some of them. Blood work is a good start, I can't wait for this to be done. Then the neurologist will probably be able to rule out a lot of things... and hopefully there is an actual diagnosis to be made in the end.

Thanks again for your care and support... it is really appreciated. :+)

[sickgirl83]

Hello,
I'm am not a physician but just thought i might try to help.
Firstly, I think it's great your getting an MRI as this could be an neruological problem.
I would also think that if your limbs are going numb, you are dizzy, tired, and have pain in your arm your heart needs to be looked at also! How is your vision, speak, balance, when this happens? Is the pain and or numbness on only one side of your body?

I also think that you may have a sleep disorder, such as sleep apena, which many doctors honestly do not know to much about. How is your sleeping? Anything unusual?

Honestly your symptoms could mean a million things but things i would get ruled out would be;

fibromyalgia (random pain, tingling)
sleep apnea
MS
diabetes (for the munbness and tingling)
thyroid (for the sleepyness)
Restless leg syndrome (for the pins and needle sensations)
Mirgraine (which can resemble neruologic problems, it's called an aura and sometimes it can happen even without a headache)

You can search the internet to read more about these things

Again i am not a physician I just have an odd obsession with reading about medicine

[WoRkZ]

Follow-up: I was finally able to see a general practician today (after 4 hours!). Of course, he ordered blood work... but most importantly, he wants me to see a neurologist ASAP and would like me to have an MRI. The problem is that I know for a fact that there is a waiting list of about 6 months for an MRI here... so in 6 months I could either be dead, paralysed... or completely cured. I can't see how an MRI can help when it can't be done when it's needed.

My father-in-law lives here but he's French. He needed an MRI done about a year ago... and was told he would have to wait at least 6 months. So he flew to France, called his old GP, got an MRI done a couple of days later, then came back here with the results! That's the state of the health system around here...