Weakness on the left handside of the body

[GlennKip]

Hi,

I am 28 years old male. I am having numbness and pain on my left handside of the body for about 4 months now. Before these pains occurred, I did have some major life changes; I changed my job, changed the country that I used to live and left all my friends behind. Now I am working as an engineer in front of the computer for about 8 hours a day. My job is stressful, because it requires hard-work and because I am new I am trying to get up to speed.

My pains started with a numbness of my left arm. Then went to a doctor, she said it might be MS and asked for a brain MR. I took two MRs with medicine (I guess with medicine it is colored so it makes the images more clear or sth like that) and without the medicine. My brain was healthy, so they did emg test and it was all good too. In the mean time the numbness became more like pain and muscle spasms and it was all my left side of the body.

After having the pain of my left side for a while, I took MR for my neck, they found out I had some minor bulging on the discs. Doctor gave me some anti depressant called Cipralex, but I did not take it because I am taking fluoxetine based anti depressant for a long time now and I quit it about a year ago. Now I do not want to start again, thinking this numbness is a side effect of these anti depressants that I took for years. I have some anxiety problems and chronic depression.

Now they did a blood test to measure the b12 and folic acid levels on my body. I did not get the results yet. The pain is on all my left side of the body. From head to toe there is a numbness and I also feel the loss of sense.

In the mean time I had a panic attack yesterday while I was travelling and recognized that I did have similar situtations when I could not breathe before all these pains occured. I did not pay attention, but now I am :) However the panic attack on yesterday was a big one, I did have a similar attack like two years ago.

I am nervous because still these pains are not diagnosed and it bothers me not knowing what I am going through. Any help would be appreciated greatly.

[Dr. Kokil Mathur]

Hi
Welcome to the MedHelp forum!
Pain predominantly on one side can be due to fibromyalgia, chronic fatigue syndrome, severe anemia, spinal nerve compression high up in the cervical spine, ankylosing spondylitis, osteoarthritic changes of the vertebrae, calcium deficiency, low Vit D, electrolyte disturbance, peripheral neuropathy due to diabetes or hypothyroidism or due to bad posture (sitting at a computer can be stressful).
You have to discuss the best treatment option with a neurologist, which can range from medication to physiotherapy to traction, cervical collars or even surgery. Alternatively you can visit a chiropractor or a physical therapist and learn some exercises which you can do to relieve the compression, but consulting a neurologist is a must.
Use a hard bed to sleep. Avoid a pillow. Roll a towel and place it under your neck while sleeping on the back and between head and shoulder when lying on the side. Initially this will be uncomfortable but with time the acupressure will do wonders. Use an analgesic cream or spray. Anti-inflammatory drugs help.
Practice yoga—its will correct posture and remove stress.
Take care!

[GlennKip]

Thanks a lot for the comments, I saw my doctor today and my b12 and folic acid levels is in normal range. At last she did EMG test, where she measured the electric pulses from my brain, I passed that test too :) She said she has nothing left to do and asked me to see a psychiatrist. Actually I believe she is a good doctor, she knows what she is doing and she works at a reputable hospital with an associate professor title. I would consider seeing another neurologist but she is already the second one.

Although I am having these pains, now everybody thinks I am making these pains up and have psychological issues. I guess I am I am going to have to deal with it by myself and will try the CBT option. Hopefully I will heal myself and my mind with my brain power. I hope I could do this and get over this.

[cindyann21]

Hi Glenn, When I had the kind of symtoms your having , I saw a Chiropractor that adjusted my spine and it really worked.It took about 4 months.Good Luck

[wondrrwomyn]

I have pain in my hands that stem from my neck. Took lots of tests to get to that simple conclusion. I see a physical therapist who does deep massage and gives me core strength exercises etc. For anxiety, panic attacks, depression, etc. look into Dialectical Behavioral Therapy (DBT). This type of program saved my life. It's based on Cognitive Behavior Therapy (CBT). Here’s a link with more info. http://www.abct.org/Public/?m=mPublic&fa=WhatIsCBTpublic

I had been diagnosed with all sorts of disorders with all different treatments. I was tired of being on medicine and still feeling like crap. I found out about DBT and have been doing it for about a year. If I had more time I’d go into details. I know I’m a stranger but I’m telling you, therapy based on CBT works and there’s data to back it up! I hope this helps! Good luck to you- you are not alone in your journey:-)

[bigsissie]

You should get a mri of your spine as well as neck. The numbness, pain, muscle spasms you are experiencing is a sign of a nerve getting pinched and if left undiagnosed can lead to permanent damage. There is a chart on my profile that shows the nerves and what they control that may be useful to you. Also if I were you I would consider changing doctors. Check around for a good neurologist or orthopedic surgeon. Best of luck to you.

Sissie