Complete Numbness-tingling on left side..please helppppp!!!!

[wiseone]

Hello I hope and pray that there is some out here that can help me..Over 30 days ago I took a nap on a normal day and woke up with numbness on my left side it felt as tho my arm and legs, feet on left side had gone to sleep however they never woke up.  I tried to sleep it off that night but decided to go to the er the following am..they admitted me for fear that i had had a stroke and kept me for about 5 days.  Mt neurologist stated that i had a million dollar work up..they did mri's,ct's,spinal tap and loottsss of blood work and they all came back fine.  I am still have the numbness-tingling to this day on my left side only including face and I have what i call episodes where it feels like under my skin is aching sharp-dull and nothing that i take causes the pain to go away it has to fade on its own, however when i have these episodes it makes me weak on my left side causing me to limp, not use my arm to much etc..the neuro says he doesnt think it was a stroke all test have come back fine I also had a brain study which was normal hoever I am still numb and taking a med lyrica which does not help..I know that this is not in my mind i wanted to know if anyone else out there has had a similar problem or can give me any help as to what other test to have the doc run, or what this may be or could be..i am 28 years of age and w/o this i am 100/% healthy..this came on suddenly and has not moved itself..plse help me with any advice possible..thanks

[wiseone]

Thanks again..Yes they initially had me on neurontin but it def wasnt working so that changed it.  I did have the mri of the brain and spine and it came back fine. Yes I did post on the other forum to also..I will keep you posted on the Evoc test havent gotten those results yet.Thanks for the encouraging words to not give up, my doc has been great and won't really even tell me what he thinks it could be until the test ae completed he just apoloizes for what Im going through..

[Annie62]

I hope you get some answers soon.  I'll be looking for your post after you find out about the results of the evoked potentials and also to see what the doctor on the doctor-patient forum has to say.  I also have a question in over there (couldn't believe I actually got in after four months of trying), but it is backed up by at least three weeks, so it will be a while before they  answer.  I am still waiting to hear from Mayo what the results of my tests are (and if they confirm what the neurologist told me she thought I had) from my trip up there last month--I have been sick 13+ years with no answers--, so I definitely know what the waiting to hear/anxiety is like.

[wiseone]

Annie the doc called me about the evock test and stated that everything came back fine...I have an appt with him on the 15th, and I have no clue what else he can do to see whats causing the problem. I still have the numbness and I belive the lyrica is helping with the pain flare up however its not removin the numbmess. A few days ago my left side including my tongue went numb. Just wanted to keep you posted and am praying that you as well as I find answers but my wait has been nothing like yours..

[Annie62]

Good to hear your evoked potentials were normal.  It will be interesting to hear what the CCF doc thinks it might be when you get your question answered.  I think I also read on the other forum that someone suggested lyme, which I guess is possible, especially depending on where you live.  If it is MS, just remember that the lesions don't always show up on MRI right away (possibly never in some cases?), so having a neg. brain and C-spine MRI does not rule out MS (not suggesting you have it, just that a neg. MRI doesn't rule it out).  Some people are dxd from lumbar puncture when MRIs are normal.  My cousin has MS and hers presented with optic neuritis (pretty common presentation from what I have read).  She was dxd 9 years ago and is doing pretty well apparently.  

I still haven't heard from Mayo yet regarding my test results.  I was supposed to return for a follow-up appnt. last week but the doctor agreed to write me instead and send a copy of my note to my local doctor (so I wouldn't have to drive all the way back up there).  If I don't hear today I am calling them, as they said it would be 10 days-and that was 14 days ago.  I did get the statement, though, and saw a lot of the blood work was for antibodies associated with pareneoplastic syndrome (cancer-associated dysautonomia), so that made me kind of nervous, but I have told myself that is highly unlikely since the first sign of clear autonomic dysfunction was almost 17 years ago.  Keep me posted and I will do the same.  I usually check the board almost every day.  It gets my mind off my own problems (kind of, anyway :).

[wiseone]

hi annie thanx for the reply and sorry for the long delayy..i was placed back in the hospital on this past friday and released yesterday..i wasnt feeling well and went to lay down within 30 min my speech was totally slurred and stil is..they admitted me and did the mri 72 hours later it came back and the doc sayed there was no need to keep me and let me go but something is wrong.i am looking into another hospital, he said i should be able to talk in a few days but we will see not to sure where to go from here things keep happening and they keep happening on the left side just wanted to update you..

[Annie62]

Hi wiseone,

I just came across your post.  I'm sorry about the slurred speech and having to be put in the hospital.  Have your doctors given you any thoughts as to what could be causing your numbness and now the slurred speech, or don't they share that with you?   By the way, do you still have the left-sided numbness or has that subsided?  If I remember correctly your evoked potentials and MRIs (as well as the one you just had done in the hospital) have all been normal.  I'm not a medical person, just a well-read/well-researched layperson, so I can only offer my "two cents" if it's something I've read up on, but if your doctors don't think you are having any type of vascular accident/TIA/stroke,etc., (not sure if that always shows up on brain MRI or not), then have they considered MS in spite of your negative brain MRI?  I have had slurred speech in the past, but mine was mild and intermittent (usually made worse with talking a lot) with the exception of one episode where it came on suddenly and was severe (to the point of initially being unable to speak-due to exacerbations of my neuro symptoms I always experienced during ovulation/hormone-related).  MS can cause slurred speech but so can a lot of other things (myasthenia gravis, etc.)  If you have any other MS-type symptoms (don't know if you do or not), I would not discard the possibility of MS due to negative MRIs.  I've had symptoms for 17 years and my MRIs have been negative thus far, but since all my symptoms don't fit in with the picture of autonomic neuropathy that I've been dxd with, the neuro I saw suggested a lumbar puncture to definitively rule in/out MS.  Let me know how you're doing and if you find anything else out.  And I wouldn't be shy about asking the doctors what they think is causing your numbness and slurred speech.  I wasn't nearly assertive enough all these years.  You have a right to know what they are thinking; it's your life.