Tingling, numbness, visual disturbance

[LifeMaMa]

For a little over 7 months now, I have not been feeling myself. It all started with a headache at almost 6 weeks after my daughter was born. Since then, I have developed symptoms that are very new to me....like electric-shooting headaches, ear fullness, dizziness, chest pain, shortness of breath, chest vibrations, occassional muscle twitching in arms and legs and anxiety attacks. Since mid February,  I started having numbness, twitching, tingling of my legs and arms and lots of leg pain. I had blood work done when this all started..everything was normal. I saw an ENT, a neurologist, numerous doctors, one ER visit, two urgent care visits, and my PCP many times. Everyone of them pointed my symptoms to anxiety..which I'm already on medication for for the past three months. At first I denied the diagnosis of anxiety. But 3 months into my illness I started chest vibrations then my PCP's nurse practitioner recommended an anti-anxiety which didn't do much. I'm trying to wean off it now. Yesterday, I decided to see one of the doctors that I work with and he is ordering an MRI of the brain for me today. By the way, I'm a Medical Assistant. My new doctor mentioned that I might have had an occipital stroke that sometimes happens to a woman after a pregnancy. We'll see what the result is. I just can't believe that after the many times I see the other providers, no one comes up with any suggestions, any additional tests for me...what a waste of money, time, confidence, and most important a peace of mind. I'm crying as I write this..because I wasted a lot of sleepless nights wondering if I'm just going crazy or is there really something wrong with me.


This discussion is related to Tingling and Numbness.

[eowyn1138]

Visual Disturbance

The numbness after my daughter's birth was also accompanied by a sort of tunnel vision where the peripherals were not blacked-out, but obscured by a sort of crystal-kaliedescope affect.

[eowyn1138]

As a child, I once had an episode of traveling numbness. From one toe, across my foot, up the entire side of my body (down one side of the arm, across the fingers, back up to the shoulder), across my face (including one side, then the other of my tongue), and down again, until it ended at the toe where it had begun. No one knew what it could have been, or if I had only imagined it.

After the (vaginal) birth of my third daughter, I lost a lot of blood with a retained placenta. I had a constant but bearable headache, but had other things on my mind. Two nights later, I woke up with a numb arm. I thought I had slept on it wrong, but then the numbness travelled up to my face - across one side, over my scalp. I remembered the childhood episode so I didn't panic, but we did call the paramedics. Long story short, the hospital did every test under the sun, but all they diagnosed was anemia. I got a single-unit blood transfusion, and all the symptoms vanished.

A couple of times since, I had the beginnings of numbness in one side of my tongue or face, but it was usually when I hadn't eaten for a while. Iron-rich foods helped get me back on track, and now I take a double dose of iron supplements, daily.

From past, regular blood donations, I know my normal iron levels are a lot higher than most women's, so when the hospital discharged me at "borderline", that was extra low for my body.

[Londres70]

I don't think you are going crazy and this is NOT any anxiety; definitely a Neuro problem.  Hopefully you will get some answers from the MRI.  

Was the birth vaginal or a c-section?