Tingling and Numbness

[jtmlion]

I am a 28 year old stay at home mom of two.  Both births were done by caesaran.  For five weeks I have been experiencing numbness and tingling.  The numbness and tingling started in lower arms and legs and has progressively spread to entire arms and legs.  Also I feel tingling on the top of my head and sometimes the sides of my face.  A couple of days ago the left side of my face including left nostril went numb for a few minutes like I was getting a cavity filled.  This happed twice in the same day.  When I sneeze I feel tingling all over.  Sometimes the tingling feels like electric shocks and pins and needles.  My youngest is almost 10 months old and weighs 26 lbs.  I hold him on my left side.  On a daily basis a have a traveling numbness/pins and needles pain from the right side of my chest up to my shoulder and down to above the center of my back. All of my symptoms are progressively getting worse and getting my intense.  The past few days when my baby lays on my arm it has been "falling asleep" and this never happened before.  I don't think fatique or stress is causing symptoms because I am more rested now than I have been in months.  My PCP suggest a MRI but I have read that different things can cause symptoms.  My mother has MS.  Also my symptoms occur in motion and at rest.  Thank you for any advice you can give me.

[meza]

Hi everyone. I can sympathize with all of you suffering from all these strange sensations! In November of last year, I started experiencing these electric-like shocks and body twitches all over my body. They were not painful at all, but they just felt very weird. I had them in my legs, arms, back, chest, neck, eyes, and lips. I also had tingling sensations EVERYWHERE, even in the occipital(back) part of my head, my face, just everywhere. My legs and arms felt numbed if I sat still in one place for more that 2 minutes. My toes went numbed all the time (walking, standing or laying down). Other symptoms I experienced were burning sensations e/w but mostly in the shins, thighs, and shoulders. The back of my head (inside) felt very cold at times and in my head I kept having these bizarre nerve/ electric shocks-like pains. I was also very dizzy. In the mornings upon awaking, I felt very stiff (in my joints) and swollen all over. I had ringing in the ears. My throat felt very tight all the time, but it did not make it difficult to eat. All these symptoms appeared after taking amoxicillin on three different occasions (in a period of 4 months) or so to treat a  re-occuring strep throat. I have no idea if the medicine had anything to do with my symptoms, but it was the only thing I could think of. By the way, all of these systemic symptoms I have mentioned continue to this day. All my life I've been a super healthy person; not only physically, but mentally as well. I have never had any episodes of anxiety. No depression what so ever, and no major fears or negative thinking. People know me for the super-happy-go-lucky/positive person I am. So these symptoms have nothing to do w/ anxiety or depression.
I went to see my general doctor about a week after I experienced my first symptoms (the tingling and burning all over). The doctor did a physical examination and concluded I must have a viral infection. She told me to go home to rest and return in two weeks if I wasn't better. Then, two weeks later I was feeling worse. Same symptoms, but with a lot more intensity. So the doctor ordered a complete blood count. They also checked for thyroid disease, diabetes, lupus, and even certain types of cancers. The results were ALL normal. No signs of a bacterial infection either. The doctor then prescribed advil for my headache, and diagnosed me with "atypical migranes". I was furious because I knew that someone with an atypical migrane would not be experiencing all the systemic sensations I was experiencing. But I went home and took a dose of advil every 6 hours to see if that would help. It did NOTHING. The following week, I consulted with another general doctor and she referred me to a neurologist. The neurologist did conduction nerve tests, an MRI of the head and the neck. Results were again all normal. So the neuro ruled out MS and ordered more blood work. They tested me for Hepatitis B & C, HIV (and all poss. STDs), other types of cancer, more tests for lupus, arthritis, heart-related proteins, and a whole bunch of other things. EVERY single thing came back normal! Now, the doctors had no idea what to tell me. THe neuro prescribed some anti-anxiety medicine to treat restless leg syndrome ( but this would not explain all my other symptoms), I went home and took the med for 10 days anyway. The medicine didnot do anything to treat my symptoms, but it did give me some bad side-effects. So neuro took me off the med. and reffered me to a rheumatologist because he thought I may have an auto-immune disease. The rheumatologist saw me twice and did a WHOLE bunch of more blood tests. They ALL came back normal. Everyone was puzzled. Thankfully, none of the doctors blamed my mind (thought I was crazy) and kept searching for possible explanations. After seeing about 6 different doctors, my rheumatologist finally diagnosed me with fibromalgia, although he did tell me I was a rare case since I did not have those tender spots that people with fibro usually have. I'm afraid now the doctor just wanted to put a name to all of my symptoms, and that I really do not have fibromalgia. I keep reading books about it, and it just doesn't make sense to me that I have fibro. Like I said before, I am a very happy and positive kind of person, and though I know the doctors have not yet found a real explanation to all of my bizarre symptoms, I go about life with a positive attitude and try to enjoy and make the best of every single day. To all of you who are going through a similar situation, please do not dispair! It is very important that you keep searching for possible explanations. But if you do not find them, then try alternative routes. Do yoga, eat healthy, exercise, socialize, try acupuncture, homeopathic remedies, etc. The point is to feel like you are doing something for yourself (when traditional medicine has let you down). Good luck to all of you. I'd love to hear from anyone with similar symptoms. Thank you!

[maddi22]

Your internist PCP will refer you to a neurologist if you c/o of sensory symptoms. A side effect of levaquin is joint and bone pain the quinlones cause that. Did you have a rash or other signs of an allergy? Also numbness and tingling can be from a post viral syndrome you are correct. My point in mentioning my infection and my antbx therapy was to show the significance of the infection I was dx with. It is a rare mycobacterial infection 2 of 100,000 people are dx with a yr. that needed long term antbx tx, not that I thought I was having the sensory symptoms from the antbx itself. I would just like to mention that. They used me as a study at a University hospital because they feel I have an underlying autoimmune d/o. I guess, I was questioning has anyone else been in this type of situation from being immunosuppressed after the birth of their child? or Have they been told that birth and labor itself leaves the body in a comprimised state which places you at risk for infection/ virus that could leave you with these types of symptoms. I have been tx with 3 different doctors an Infectious disease Dr., A Rheum, and a Neuro Some things are starting to come together but there are still alot of unanswered questions I wish could be answered. Goodluck again to all of you. I think it can take a long period of time to figure things out.

[novgirl]

As you probably can see from reading through posts here, there are a lot of things that could be causing your symptoms.  It is a good idea to visit your regular doctor and see if a visit to a neurologist is warranted for further exam.  Some simple things to consider are anxiety, reaction to an antiobiotic or other medication (I just had a horrendous reaction to Levaquin that worsened my existing tingling and numbness symptoms PLUS added joint and muscle pain which I get to see neurologist about next week).  Also some vitamin deficiences or recovery from flu/infection can cause those sensations.  But you should definitely see a doctor when you are having persistant strange symptoms such as this.

[beaches]

I am a 37 year old female and for the past 4 months I have been experiencing tingling and burning sensation in my hands, toes and scalp...It had gone away and now its back again.. The last month or so I feel like someone is pricking me all over my body.. I can go days with no symptoms and then its back again.. I do suffer from migraines and am positive for factor 5 leiden which was discovered wo years  ago after an extremely difficult pregnancy which resulted in preeclampsia..
Just wondering if Anyone would know what i could be suffering from?

[maddi22]

An MRI can be costly with out insurance but it is your health and that if you can possibly do should be done if your Dr suggest's it. Goodluck.

[jodster]

WOW!!! Am I ever glad I found this site!!!!  I am a 33 year old female who has been thru a great deal of what you are all describing. All of my symptoms started just after the birth of my first child 2 and a half years ago(via section as well). After some severe complications I came home with my baby and thats when the timgling and numb feelings started in left side and face(left side as well). I was also experiencing postpartum and panic brought on by post traumatic stress from the complications in hospital although I did not know this at teh time. Anyhow, I went to the ER whrethey ruled out stroke and saw a neuro who ordered an evoked potential, MRI, etc and ruled out MS. As soon as all teh tests came back clear, my symptoms seemed to subside. Anyhow, during my pregnancy last summer I experienced the same life threatening problem and went thru a great deal of stress but delivered (via section again) my daughter with no complications. Then the say of her first birthday(3 weeks ago) my left eye started to twitch every 10 minutes and continued to do so for 5 days before pain in the eyeball set in. I saw an eye doctor who ruled out optic neuritis and said that teh problem wan't occular. The next day started with the numbless/tingling in left side all over again, although this time worse than last/ As well there was little shock sensations every few seconds all over my body. The tingling moved over to the right side as well and then in teh same week I experienced a "feeling" of weakness in my legs when I was walking and my hamds. AlthoughI felt this weakness I could still physically walk and lift things. I went to teh hiospital because my MD has been away for 3 weeks and at first they thought I had a viral nerve infections and said to come back if it got wores. When I went back a few days later they thought I may have Ebstein Barr and did some blood work that is still not back. Then another doctor told me it may be early MS, and that I need to see a neuro, so he made the referral. Anyhow, it semed like new symptoms were popping up each day. First the eyelid, tehn the pain in eye, then the numbness/tingling, then the shock sensations, then the wierd feelings in my head and the fuzzy thinking. My appt. with the neuro is still not for 6 weeks and I am going nuts here scared to death. There were 3 days whenn I felt I couldn't even function but had no choice bacause of teh babies. My symptoms have seemed to lessen in teh past few day although teh tingling in my face and neck are present as I write this. There has beeen a great deal of emotoional stress on mr for many months preceding this and I wonder if it could all be anxiety/stress related as I was trying to rid myself of some stress. And this episode did start(the eye twitching) after an argument with hubby. Anyhow, if anyone wants to chat about all this please feel free to contact me at ***@****   Thanks and god luck to you all.