Head Vibrations/Tingliness, numbness, clamminess, lightheadedness/dizziness, etc...

[DragonTU84]

Hello, let me introduce myself. My name is Crystal, and I am a 23 yr. old female, and for the past 3 months I have experienced bouts of clenching chest pain, head vibrations/tingliness, my face feels like it goes numb, there is usually pressure or pain in one spot of my head, I get extremely lightheaded, the numbness/tingliness usually spreads to other parts of the body, and sometimes there is knot pains in the back of my neck and even middle and lower back. The clenching chest pain seems to have subsided in the past month, yet the other symptoms (particularly the head vibrations/tingliness, numbness and severe tingliness/numbness in other body parts) continue. The problems come on sporatically/spontaneously at any time of day..

They are NOT CONSTANT: they usually last in bursts from anywhere from 10 min. to an HOUR or more! As you can imagine, it is EXTREMELY stressful when I feel the physical symptoms come on so abruptly! It

[DragonTU84]

One other thing I forgot to comment: I have been OFF THE ZOLOFT for 2 or 3 weeks now. And the problems continue..

[Christy H]

Hi Dragon Seizures can come on suddenly and no a cat scan may not always pick up a seizure disorder. I have seizures and was not diag. until I was 25 and I was having episodes for at least 11 years before we found out. There are many different types of seizures and not all make a person pass out and fall to the floor. I suggest that you read up on the different types of seizures that range from less then a second eye blinks to unconsious and convulsions. A EEG and MRI might be helpful.
Have you noticed what if anything makes it worse or better? For me stress and lack of sleep will bring on a seizure.
Let me know what the doctor says and good luck.
Christy

[DragonTU84]

Thanks for your comment. I dunno if it could be seizure disorder though. When I got the CAT scan, had I had seizure disorder wouldn't it have picked it up?? Or no??

Anyway, these problems were SUDDEN and now are persistent. They occur in spells, and I usually get an attack at least once a day to once every few days.

As I said before, they last from 10 min. to an hour or more.

Also, I am 23 years old, and I think had I had seizure disorder I would have picked it up a LONG time ago, right?

I want to see a neurologist, just to be sure it IS all anxiety, and not something more severe.

Some of the symptoms for seizure disorder fit, yet I REMEMBER everything as I am having it, NOR do I fall on the floor and pass out as in people with seizures/epilepsy. I just feel the lightheadedness/dizziness, vibrations/tingling, etc. I have a friend who has epilepsy, and she usually falls unconsious and goes into convulsions, yet when she awakens she has to acknowledge where she is.

Any other comments are greatly appreciated!

[Annie62]

If I were you I would try to get in a question on the doctor-patient forum to see what they have to say.  Did you have an EEG done?  You might want to read up on seizure disorder.  Just type in your symptoms and see if you think they fit at all.  You could ask your doctor about that possibility.  

You might have a couple different things going on; might be having panic attacks plus something neurological.  You can have tingling with panic attacks.  You can also have numbness and tingling and sudden strong emotions with seizures.  Also, Zoloft can exacerbate seizure disorder.  I'm not suggesting you go off it (!), just that there might be some connection.  I might be off the mark, but you might be surprised when you type in seizures and your symptoms and see what you come up with.  Let me know what you find.  It will be interesting to hear.

[DragonTU84]

I want to clarify a few more things, yet since the post restricted me to how much I could write, I am going to try explaining more:

BEFORE starting on the Zoloft, the problems were situated more with the heart clenching pain. It was then that I was put at FIRST on Toprol XL since I had been previously diagnosed with Mitral Valve Prolapse, and my doctor, assumming possibly the MVP would be causing my symptoms, put me on the Toprol.

It seemed to work GREAT for awhile, and there was maybe a whole week I had NO PROBLEMS since the start of the symptoms. However, the problems continued, so they UPPED my med. to 50 mg of the Toprol from 25 mg. Again, the problems seemed to decrease, yet STILL the problems continued...

This all started back in November, and the heart related problems continued well into December. It was at this time that my doctor recommended being put on Zoloft, since ALL my bloodwork, echo, and EKG's were coming back fine, so she assumed it was Panic Disorder or Anxiety. The ONLY thing that had come up was a slight hear murmor, along with my minor case of Mitral Valve Prolapse.

I started on the Zoloft sometime at the beginning of Jan. About 2 DAYS of taking the Zoloft is when I began experiencing my FIRST symptoms of the head dizziness, tingling, numbness, my body and limbs would shake, my hands would get clammy, the tingling and numbness spread to other parts of the body, etc. Of course, I PANICKED, since all that was knew for me, and I was wondering WHAT THE HECK WAS GOING ON!!! It was all completely new for me, and totally petrified me.

Since then, I started getting problems maybe once a week. The SAME symptoms would occur. It also makes it hard to walk/wobbly in my legs, and I also get electrical surges, pain, and tingling sensations up and down my spine during episodes. The episodes last for maybe as short as 10 min. (usually the more minor ones) to OVER AN HOUR!! :(

The symptoms then INCREASED, and I was getting it EVERY DAY for about a week!!! :( Sometimes it wasn't so bad, but other times it was UNBEARABLE!! :(

I got taken OFF THE ZOLOFT, and have been off it for 2 or 3 weeks now. However, I am STILL getting these episodes, and it has just really been debilitating.

A few times it led to fear/panic, yet most of the time it is just the pure physical symptoms which debilitate me. After the first episode I got, I felt EXTREMELY tired, blah, and like I had NO energy adn I could barely do anything!! I felt like tha the next morning too!! :( I would walk slowly, felt like I could barely talk or want to talk, etc. However, rarely does it result in that.

Sometimes (also rarely) I feel weird emotions during attacks, anywhere from anger, depression, fear, etc. Yet I acknowledge the emotions aren't real, even though it seems to try to convince me they are. I experienced the anger one time after waking up from dreaming, and I felt the anger and anxiousness and then an attack came on. :(

Usually though, as I said, the attacks are more PHYSICAL. It can sometimes lead to fear/panic, yet only in rare instances.

Yet is this all anxiety/panic?? Or something that maybe the doctors aren't seeing??

Could the Zoloft have triggered the more neurological related symptoms that I am still fighting now??

I AM convinced that the heart pains were probably anxiety, yet these head numbness, pressure, tingliness that spreads, etc. is unbearable! :(

PLEASE HELP!!

Thanks!

~Crystal~