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What test should be done? Ideas for possible diagnoses
Hello,
I will try to be as brief as possible.
I am a 40 yr old female who has had no health problems (until now!) I will list my symptoms:
*Oct. 05- woke to a swollen right hand, unable to use, painful. xray, blood work normal.
*Jan 06- woke to a swollen Left hand, unable to use, painful. no xray, no blood work.
*A few months later, can't recall specific date....woke to same problem with my shoulder. can't move it, lift it...x-ray shows mind calcification/tendonitis. Have not had any problems or pain with it since, nor my hands.
*I did experience some "arthritis" like pain in w/ my right middle finger in between the problems with the hand swelling where I had difficulty opening things, grasping things and it was hard to bend the finger.
(did not see a dr about this)
Fall 06-Jan07 On and Off tingling of hands and feet. Especially notice my toes tingling when in the shower. This lasted at least three months. Blood work for thyroid, lyme, lupus, diabetes and B-12 all normal.
Feb 24, 07 Woke to feeling as if I had burned my tongue. By day 3, I had full blown facial numbness, all on the left side, from chin to top of head, including the inner ear and for a few weeks, part of the back of my head. It created some intense itching of my eye at times. Eye evalulation by opthomologist was normal (he was actually the first one who mentioned MS) An MRI revealed one lesion in the cerebellar peduncle. The numbness greatly improved by May.
I still have some tingling in my face, although it is minor it does vary in severity.
Lumbar puncture is normal. All labs are normal.
Since then, I have had an extreme/ violent bout of vertigo. A second MRI showed "improvement". (it wasn't enhanced anyway....) I have had a third MRI with a MS specialist and it showed a second lesion...it was not enhanced but it was in the deep left frontal white matter. My neurological exam was normal, but he did say I had a bit of a hyper relex on one leg.
I have had other unusual things happen that are strange. When I drive, sometimes I get a sensation that my fingers are huge and that the steering wheel is as small as a piece of spaghetti. It doesn't happen often...couple times a month at the most, but it is so odd.
On my first MRI report it was norted that I had a C5-6 disc protrusion displacing the cervical cord and producing mild spinal stnosis at this level. PRIOR FRACTURE OF THE C5 IS NOT EXCLUDED.
I have never fractured my neck to my knowledge!! ha! I did have a car accident in which I rear-ended someone and totalled my car, but never saw a doctor. Had terrible whiplash and have always had tingling in the middle left of my back off and on since. (at least 15 years)
I am on Topamax, which know can cause tingling of hands and feet, but I do have it noted as a symptom when I was off the med for at least 6 months.
I am due to have some Evoked potentials done and another MRI in July. At this point the MS specialist feels that the frontal lesion could be from migraines and the deep cerebellar peduncle one is possibly viral related.
If this is all viral related, isn't there some test that would show a virus? Would an infection have shown in the spinal fluid when I had the LP when the facial numbness was full blown?
I keep going back in my mind to little things where my husband and friends keep telling me it's just an "age" thing (cognitive stuff...word finding, attentivness, zoning out, stepping over my words) and even back to the car accident when I don't even remember the whole block that I drove prior to hitting that car! (no folks, I was drinking or anything!!!)
If anyone can help on what to do next....I can't sleep, becoming depressed and slightly obsessed with trying to figure this out.
Thanks,
Julie
I will try to be as brief as possible.
I am a 40 yr old female who has had no health problems (until now!) I will list my symptoms:
*Oct. 05- woke to a swollen right hand, unable to use, painful. xray, blood work normal.
*Jan 06- woke to a swollen Left hand, unable to use, painful. no xray, no blood work.
*A few months later, can't recall specific date....woke to same problem with my shoulder. can't move it, lift it...x-ray shows mind calcification/tendonitis. Have not had any problems or pain with it since, nor my hands.
*I did experience some "arthritis" like pain in w/ my right middle finger in between the problems with the hand swelling where I had difficulty opening things, grasping things and it was hard to bend the finger.
(did not see a dr about this)
Fall 06-Jan07 On and Off tingling of hands and feet. Especially notice my toes tingling when in the shower. This lasted at least three months. Blood work for thyroid, lyme, lupus, diabetes and B-12 all normal.
Feb 24, 07 Woke to feeling as if I had burned my tongue. By day 3, I had full blown facial numbness, all on the left side, from chin to top of head, including the inner ear and for a few weeks, part of the back of my head. It created some intense itching of my eye at times. Eye evalulation by opthomologist was normal (he was actually the first one who mentioned MS) An MRI revealed one lesion in the cerebellar peduncle. The numbness greatly improved by May.
I still have some tingling in my face, although it is minor it does vary in severity.
Lumbar puncture is normal. All labs are normal.
Since then, I have had an extreme/ violent bout of vertigo. A second MRI showed "improvement". (it wasn't enhanced anyway....) I have had a third MRI with a MS specialist and it showed a second lesion...it was not enhanced but it was in the deep left frontal white matter. My neurological exam was normal, but he did say I had a bit of a hyper relex on one leg.
I have had other unusual things happen that are strange. When I drive, sometimes I get a sensation that my fingers are huge and that the steering wheel is as small as a piece of spaghetti. It doesn't happen often...couple times a month at the most, but it is so odd.
On my first MRI report it was norted that I had a C5-6 disc protrusion displacing the cervical cord and producing mild spinal stnosis at this level. PRIOR FRACTURE OF THE C5 IS NOT EXCLUDED.
I have never fractured my neck to my knowledge!! ha! I did have a car accident in which I rear-ended someone and totalled my car, but never saw a doctor. Had terrible whiplash and have always had tingling in the middle left of my back off and on since. (at least 15 years)
I am on Topamax, which know can cause tingling of hands and feet, but I do have it noted as a symptom when I was off the med for at least 6 months.
I am due to have some Evoked potentials done and another MRI in July. At this point the MS specialist feels that the frontal lesion could be from migraines and the deep cerebellar peduncle one is possibly viral related.
If this is all viral related, isn't there some test that would show a virus? Would an infection have shown in the spinal fluid when I had the LP when the facial numbness was full blown?
I keep going back in my mind to little things where my husband and friends keep telling me it's just an "age" thing (cognitive stuff...word finding, attentivness, zoning out, stepping over my words) and even back to the car accident when I don't even remember the whole block that I drove prior to hitting that car! (no folks, I was drinking or anything!!!)
If anyone can help on what to do next....I can't sleep, becoming depressed and slightly obsessed with trying to figure this out.
Thanks,
Julie
I am not a doctor... but I read your description of your symptoms (which sounded a lot like my uncles) and then at the bottom, when a doctor suggested a viral problem, I decided I should post just a little about my uncle in case it may help.
My uncle was a fisherman - he began having similar symptoms as you describe (numbness jumping from one hand to another). Eventually it began to give him pain, but at first it was just numbness. He never went to the doctor for anything really..... but when it got bad enough, he went. After testing for over a year, they determined he had a parasite in his blood (that DID NOT SHOW on initial blood testing). By the time they found the parasite, it had spread through his whole body..... causing a lot of weird symptoms. It took them a long time to find it..... Now he is not well at all. But, the beginning stages were as you describe your symptoms. So...... my suggestion would be to ask your doctor if there are more blood tests he can do to search for parasites or infections of your blood.
God Bless!
Amy
My uncle was a fisherman - he began having similar symptoms as you describe (numbness jumping from one hand to another). Eventually it began to give him pain, but at first it was just numbness. He never went to the doctor for anything really..... but when it got bad enough, he went. After testing for over a year, they determined he had a parasite in his blood (that DID NOT SHOW on initial blood testing). By the time they found the parasite, it had spread through his whole body..... causing a lot of weird symptoms. It took them a long time to find it..... Now he is not well at all. But, the beginning stages were as you describe your symptoms. So...... my suggestion would be to ask your doctor if there are more blood tests he can do to search for parasites or infections of your blood.
God Bless!
Amy
Oops. Sorry. I've already posted this! I thought I had gotten lucky and gotten into the doctor forum. Darn!!! But if there is an expert out there who wants to take a stab at this one, feel free! I've gotten some great responses already (thanks guys!). I'm keeping those ideas noted for my next appointment.
How does one get on the doctor forum anyway???
Julie
How does one get on the doctor forum anyway???
Julie
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