The yet un-named ailment
 

Thirteen days ago I started having bizarre symptoms unlike any I've had before. It started with a tingling in my toes, which seemed fairly innocuous at the time. The next day, when showering I noticed parts of my 'nether regions' felt numb. After a few days it started to get much worse, and now most of my lower half is numb feeling. The 'feeling' part is important, because I can still feel pain, touch, vibration, etc. through the 'numbness'.

I went to my family doctor thinking it was a pinched nerve and she really freaked me out. She thought maybe I have some kind of cauda equina syndrome or some other horrible ailment. So I paid for a quick MRI on my lumbar (I'm in Canada, it would have taken months otherwise). But the MRI came back clean.

Some days are much worse than others, and it has generally been a little better the last few days. Everything above the waist line seems to be ok, so that's a relief at least.

Anyone ever experience something similar? I'd love any feedback anyone can provide.

Now that my MRI came back clear, I'll probably go to the chiropractor tomorrow and see what he can tell me...

Thanks.

Deb

Hi Deb,

I don't know if this is completely off the wall, but it could be copper deficiency. I just happened to read about it today and these symptoms sound similar to something I had read.

Have you been taking zinc supplements at all? Without extra copper? I was doing this and also ended up with frequent arrhythmias (I had them anyway, but then they started to become very frequent).

I'll just hunt down the articles I found today and post the links, OK?

This is a pretty technical article and I wasn't familiar with all the words, but I do believe the women in question had these numb feelings, too.

Here's the full article:

http://ukpmc.ac.uk/articlerender.cg...bmedid=19148115

By the way, if it is copper deficiency, then it is treatable.

Have you been Googling like crazy??? I would be!!!

amanda

Just throwing this out there but there's a disorder whose name I can't recall, it is hard to diagnose but basically the brain sort of falls into the brain stem because of a skull deformity. It causes pressure on certain parts of the brain which causes all kinds of weird symptoms.

Voila! Google is great. http://www.ninds.nih.gov/disorders/chiari/chiari.htm Chiari Malformation

You need to see a good neurologist-those are symptoms of MS. You can still have MS even if your MRI is clear. You might need a spinal tap to determine this. Hope you figure things out.

Thanks for the suggestions! I did some testing for MS (vibration testing on my toes), and I can feel the vibration through the numb/anesthetized feeling.

We realized that my blood pressure has been really low lately (also affected by the low carb WOE), and I wonder if that has anything to do with it, too.

I have an appt with a neurologist, but it isn't until late-July (ahhhhh... socialized medicine ;-) ).

I went to a chiropractor today, and he's stumped too.

So I guess I'm just a weirdo! Heh heh heh...

Thankfully, I'm starting to feel a little better. If I figure out what's up, I'll be sure to tell you all what it is. So far all my doctors want me to do the same.

Thanks again everyone. :)

Hi again,

It could be connected to magnesium deficiency. If you read this article, numbness is also mentioned here:

http://www.mbschachter.com/importan...um_to_human.htm

Do you eat a lot of nuts and green vegetables? If you don't, and have also avoided foods such as brown rice and oats, you may be low in magnesium, which would also be a possible explanation for your symptoms.

Do you take any kind of magnesium supplement? If not, I would recommend that you get a good one right away. Magnesium glycinate is apparently one of the best absorbed forms.

I have just ordered this from iherb.com, but haven't tried it yet as it hasn't arrived.

http://www.iherb.com/Doctor-s-Best-...lets/16567?at=1

As magnesium is an essential nutrient, you won't do yourself any harm if you supplement with this, even if it doesn't make a difference to your symptoms, but it could well do so.

amanda

I am curious as to whether the OP ever found out the source of this ailment, or if it just disappeared for her?

My first thought when I read her post was "hyperventilation," since that's what seems to cause my own tingling/numbness sensations. They can be in the face, hands, and feet, or just one or two of them at once. Lately it's been mostly my face, but for a long while it was just hands.

It seems that the high protein of my diet (my plan is very similar to Protein Power, even though it goes by another name), if I don't offset it with a decent dose of ionizable calcium (like cacium lactate), causes this to develop quite quickly, because it lowers (acidifies) my blood pH.

Of course, I had to figure this out myself by looking at CO2 levels in blood tests taken while I was having an episode; scarily, the doctors don't seem to have a clue when I describe to them how this works, or any idea how to prevent or offset it. *sigh*

I have also been having numbness- in my feet, hands, and face. I am also wondering if I have a vitamin deficiency due to my diet... I will be making a doctor's appointment.

wow Deb, this is scary! Hope you get a quick diagnosis on this, I really have no idea so I won't venture a guess. Take care.

Hi. I had to chime in, because I have MS, and my initial symptoms presented just as your have, starting in toes, feet, and working themselves up to my waist. It took over a year to get a diagnosis, because sadly, there is no one conclusive test for MS.

I have a question for you about the MRI. Wast it just of your brain or did it include your C-spine and T-spine? The first five years, I only developed lesions on my spne, so I had clear brain MRIs. Many doctors just MRI the brain, because spinal MS is much more rare. But your symptoms are classic spinal symptoms, from everyone I've met with spinal lesions. Especially the feeling of the tingle even though you are "numb."

There are some other things that will be tested for as well: tertiary syphillus, Lupus, transverse myelitis, guillane barre syndrome, etc. A lot of these diseases have a very similar pool of symptoms.

Since you can't see a neuro until summer, can I make a suggestion? Keep a daily log of how you feel: headaches, numbness, sleeiness, lask of energy, pain you cannot figure out, weird skin rashes, feeling perfectly normal, etc. All of these weird neurological diseases seem to have symptoms that come and go over time. But if you have a record of how you feel and what you experienced over time, it can really help you piece things together. Once i was finally diagnosed, I realized I had strange MS-like symptoms since i was 12, but had never put them all together before.

I really hope you get a diagnosis, and for your sake, i hope it is not MS. But if it is, eating a grain-free LC diet high in vitamin D is one of the best things you can do to minimize future issues. And even if you are feeling completely normal by the time the neuro appointment rolls around, keep it anyway.

Good luck.

Ah, just realized this was from seven months ago. Oh well. I hope it all turned out well.

But your reply was really good! Maybe it'll help someone else.