Episodic Weakness & Confusion

[malaisian]

In July of 2010 I began experiencing episodes of weakness and confusion which generally lasted from 30 minutes to several hours.  These episodes disappeared after several weeks and returned in mid October.  Since October I've experienced these episodes more days than not.  I've been unable to pinpoint any exact cause, but I do know that strenuous exercise will almost certainly trigger a "strong" episode.  For the past week the symptoms have been lasting most of the day, and the only remedy I've found to these episodes, taking a nap, is no longer effective.  I've been to my doctor several times and the only abnormality on any test was a single raised creatinine level (1.5) when blood was drawn while I was actually feeling rotten.  I'm 31 and other than having my gall-bladder removed when I was 16, I've been rather healthy.  I don't drink, smoke, do any drugs, most summers I bicycle several thousand miles, ...  There is a family history of heart disease, diabetes, ...  My Dr. is stumped.  Any thoughts?

Notes on the episodes:
- Weakness throughout body, but especially legs and arms
- My brain feels cloudy and I have a difficult time with tasks that I'd normally find easy
- Retention of information while in a episode is just horrible
- Recently I've noticed an uncomfortable "full" feeling in my stomach

Thanks for your help!!!

[ku111]

Ask them to do MRI of the brain.  Goodluck to you.

[Dr. Kokil Mathur]

Hi! From you symptoms alone it sounds like chronic fatigue syndrome. This usually presents with widespread myalgia and arthralgia, headaches, chronic mental and physical exhaustion, cognitive difficulties, concentration difficulty and memory problems.
Then you also need to investigate other causes of brain fog like liver dysfunction (get liver enzymes done—liver function test), kidney dysfunction (get kidney function test done), and anemia. Poor sleep pattern and sleep problems like sleep apnea too can cause brain fog. Sleep studies by sleep specialists can help diagnose this. Low Vit D or Vit B12 too could be the cause.
Hypothyroidism, diabetes and low testosterone should be investigated.
Discuss this with your general practitioner or PCP and try and assess what is the cause of your problem. Then proper referral for concerned specialist can take things further and get you proper treatment. Hope this helps. Take care!