[AllenCraig]

Greetings,

I'm looking to get some insight on a sudden unexplainable episode I experienced today. I have no clue what caused it and it's got me a bit shaken. Any help would be greatly appreciated.

My friends and I were driving to yoga when I began feeling a bit funny. It started with a cold sweat followed by tingling in the hands and feet. My hands began to lock up and curl in on themselves, becoming very rigid and hard to move. At that point I told my friend and we pulled over.

Once outside the car I squatted down and focused on breathing while my friend tried to gently open my hands. After a short while I was able to stand and get back in the car. I had regained some mobility in my hands but they were still tingling along with my feet, mouth and neck.

Once we had arrived at our destination I was led inside as I was having trouble walking. I took two antihistamines and sat down to relax. After drinking some water and breathing deeply I felt much better and thought it was over. I laid back and slipped a light sleep.

Around twenty minutes later I awoke to another episode 10x worse than before. It was so intense that I yelled out as my arms, hands and fingers locked up and curled in on themselves, clenching so tightly that it was painful. The tingling sensation was moving all over my body and I was sweating profusely and my heart was pounding. I couldn't move my mouth muscles well but was able to describe what I was feeling to those who were monitoring me.

Thinking it might be low blood sugar or shock of some kind I was given fruit juice and dried apples which seemed to help some. I kept breathing through it, hoping it would subside like before but it was persistent. It took about an hour to wear off before I was essentially back to normal.

Now all I have is a slight tingling and numbness in the outside fingers and palms of both hands that doesn't seem to be fading.

I'm very worried it might be a symptom of something serious.

Things we considered:
Panic Attack (I was very relaxed)
Severe Allergic Reaction (Antihistamines didn't help)
Neurotoxin
Seizure (No seizing, just tingling and clenching and I was fully aware)

I have not yet found anything on the Internet that sounds similar. I'm hoping someone on here has experienced this and knows what it might be.

Some information about myself:

26, male, sober, occasional smoker
Thin and fit, no major health issues
Vegan, no major food allergies

[pabb]

Originally Posted by AllenCraig

Greetings,

I'm looking to get some insight on a sudden unexplainable episode I experienced today. I have no clue what caused it and it's got me a bit shaken. Any help would be greatly appreciated.

My friends and I were driving to yoga when I began feeling a bit funny. It started with a cold sweat followed by tingling in the hands and feet. My hands began to lock up and curl in on themselves, becoming very rigid and hard to move. At that point I told my friend and we pulled over.

Once outside the car I squatted down and focused on breathing while my friend tried to gently open my hands. After a short while I was able to stand and get back in the car. I had regained some mobility in my hands but they were still tingling along with my feet, mouth and neck.

Once we had arrived at our destination I was led inside as I was having trouble walking. I took two antihistamines and sat down to relax. After drinking some water and breathing deeply I felt much better and thought it was over. I laid back and slipped a light sleep.

Around twenty minutes later I awoke to another episode 10x worse than before. It was so intense that I yelled out as my arms, hands and fingers locked up and curled in on themselves, clenching so tightly that it was painful. The tingling sensation was moving all over my body and I was sweating profusely and my heart was pounding. I couldn't move my mouth muscles well but was able to describe what I was feeling to those who were monitoring me.

Thinking it might be low blood sugar or shock of some kind I was given fruit juice and dried apples which seemed to help some. I kept breathing through it, hoping it would subside like before but it was persistent. It took about an hour to wear off before I was essentially back to normal.

Now all I have is a slight tingling and numbness in the outside fingers and palms of both hands that doesn't seem to be fading.

I'm very worried it might be a symptom of something serious.

Things we considered:
Panic Attack (I was very relaxed)
Severe Allergic Reaction (Antihistamines didn't help)
Neurotoxin
Seizure (No seizing, just tingling and clenching and I was fully aware)

I have not yet found anything on the Internet that sounds similar. I'm hoping someone on here has experienced this and knows what it might be.

Some information about myself:

26, male, sober, occasional smoker
Thin and fit, no major health issues
Vegan, no major food allergies

Dehydration, electrolyte imbalance, panic attack, seizure. Your self assessment may not be accurate, + not all seizures cause loss of awareness.

[Dr. Smith]

If you have a doctor, this is definitely worth calling him/her. I'd start a diary/journal of some kind to record these episodes, times, symptoms, things you tried, etc., etc., etc. I don't know if checking into an ER at this point is prudent or not (if there isn't anything obvious) but if you get another episode, I'd get there quickly for documantation/observation.

Best wishes,

Doc

[mrsD]

What happened to you may be a serious thing... an electrolyte problem. Either too much calcium, too little calcium or too little magnesium.

You need some blood work done to measure all your electrolytes, including potassium as well.

Also get a Vit D level done, and B12. Vegans get low in B12 commonly. You should test at 400pg/ml or above. Anything lower is seriously low.

[AllenCraig]

Thanks for the information. I'll be sure to keep a record of any edition all episodes or related symptoms.

The tingling in my hands has completely gone away and I'm feeling very good. There have been no additional symptoms or episodes as of yet.

After doing some more research, I found that a B12 deficiency can produce some of the symptoms I experienced. I've started taking liquid B12 and will look into a possible electrolyte imbalance.

Thanks again.