[stlwater]

Thoughts?:

I started a low-carb, ketogenic diet on Thursday 20th December. It involved eating a lot of beans and lentils, which I don't usually eat that much of.

That night I awoke with numbness down the sides of my hands involving my pinky and ring finger (bi-lateral). Moving them around cleared up the numbness. Thought it might be my pillow/neck. Threw off the pillow and went back to sleep.

The next night, same thing happened.

The night after that, same thing (12/22)

The night after that, same thing, but this time I also felt a strange sensation in my legs too. Felt heavy, weak. Wonky. My arms also felt this way. This time the feeling wasn't isolated to bed-time, it persisted throughout the day.

12/24 Stopped Diet. Felt fore arms and hands intermittently cold, numb, or tingling throughout the day. Legs felt heavy, thighs and hamstrings burning, muscle tremors (twitches), pins and needles after driving for extended period. Started to feel better after dinner. Cold sensations and numbness abated affected limbs felt warm and tingly (as if blood flow / nerve conduction had returned).

12/25 (Christmas) Day started out well mostly asymptomatic. Then around noon I started to feel parathesias in my face (nose, cheeks, scalp, neck) and on the top of my arms and back of hands.

--- Visited the Emergency Room (my concern was electrolyte imbalance).
Blood tests revealed no thyroid abnormality and no electrolyte imbalance or other imbalance that would suggest a cause. Magnesium levels were normal. I had hypertension (in large part due to stress). The clinical observational tests were normal (touching my finger to my nose, etc..).

I was referred to a Neurologist.

12/26 That morning I again felt great, like I was on-the-mend. After a lunch of a couple of eggs I started to feel the parathesias in my arms and hands. Then, after dinner, my leg tremors returned along with burning and aching. Awoke at 4am with hand numbness (same as before)

12/27 Started Zone Diet (30/30/40). Tingling in arm in the AM, otherwise mostly asymptomatic

12/28 Awoke with weak arms and legs, unsteady walking (legs felt wonky) cold feeling in legs.

12/29 Legs ached, burning, pin pricks in AM, later they felt weak (fatigued), at night same arm / leg weakness when I was laying still.

That's the evolution of the symptoms. To give a little background history. My mother has M.S.

I have had neurological symptoms similar to this before about 5 years ago. At that time I believed I had identified the cause of them to be an additive in food (Calcium Chloride). The reason I was able to identify this as the cause was because I recently started eating tofu and the symptoms coincided with it..

Calcium Chloride is also what they use around here for Road Salt... We just had a storm a 4-5 days before the onset of my symptoms, followed by torrential rain which likely washed it into the reservoir and thus into the drinking water (it is not filtered out). This is my first winter in this area of the country so I do not have a track record of experience from drinking this water... During the first four days of my symptoms I drank a LOT of water to counteract all the urinating I was doing...

I believed that it was Calcium Chloride because as long as I avoided it, the symptoms disappeared and did not return. If I ate something (usually beans) which contained Calcium Chloride I would get muscle twitches, burning, and pain in my thighs within a few hours.

In the past when I was younger I had a neurological issue where after I would eat I would get foggy headed, difficulty concentrating, and generally kind of out of it. It took a long time and a lot of dead ends diagnostically before I was able to identify the relationship with food. I read a book by Joseph Pizzorno which lead me to start taking Betain HCL with meals per his instructions. Miraculously all my symptoms DISAPPEARED after more than 3 years of living with them. Turns out I was not fully digesting my food and proteins were passing through the gut (leaky gut) into my blood stream, causing problems.

Finally.. I have been checking my blood sugar (fasting, pre/post prandial) and it is in the normal range.

I started out on the ketogenic diet but dropped it after four days of symptoms.

I ate "normally" for a couple of days around Christmas

I started eating a 30/30/40 diet (Zone Diet) after the 25th.

I am losing weight to reduce my risk of heart disease and diabetes as I most likely have Syndrome X or metabolic syndrome as it is called now.

The Zone diet 30/30/40 is also the diet I was on when I managed to heal myself from the cognitive issues I was having when I was younger.

I'm telling you all this because in all the cases I've dealt with thus far, there has been an identifiable external cause which was related to what I was ingesting. I'm hoping my story might resonate or trigger and ideas you may have from you own experiences which might help me (and you).

[mrsD]

First off, my impressions, are:

1) If you eat alot of RED beans...these are difficult for some people to process. Cut out the red beans, and substitute black ones (easier to tolerate) and see if that helps. It has to due with lectins on the red beans.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lectin

2) Numbness at night is often due to low blood sugars.
Have a snack before bed, like a Zone Perfect Bar...etc.

3) Tests for magnesium in the blood do not always reflect "normal" in that middle range. They are most useful for very very low or very very high levels..which are medically screened for. That middle range does not reflect intracellular magnesium, which is where it is supposed to be. Imbalances with calcium, where calcium is consumed in large amounts, and magnesium is not balanced with it, can cause paresthesias. Typically there is alot of magnesium in beans, however, but your calcium then could be too low (not enough Vit D? ) and that also causes paresthesias.

Calcium you consume is not all absorbed you know. There are membrane limits in the GI tract.
This is a long paper on calcium in general. It states that most calcium is only 30% or so absorbed. I learned that it was more like 20%.. If a person is very low in Vit D... the level of calcium absorbed becomes lower.
http://www.jacn.org/content/19/suppl_2/119S.full

I'd get tested for Vit D levels. Often very low D leads to paresthesias.

I believe the Zone program is the most sensible way to control diet. So I'd keep on with it.

You really should get a B12 level done as well, when you get your D tested. Low B12 is common these days, and causes lots of nerve issues. Don't accept "normal" from your doctor. Get the numbers. In US now the lowest normal is 400pg/ml. If you are below this level, you should supplement. Use Methylcobalamin which is the active form of B12 and very inexpensive. Mostly has to be purchased online from any quality place, like Puritan's Pride, iherb.com etc. Pennies a day. Also must be taken on an empty stomach. Depending on your test results, that would point to a dose. 1000mcg a day for minor lows, and 5000mcg a day for serious lows. Labs in US still report levels below 400 as "normal"...and doctors don't know this, and tell the patient, normal, and you will then go on to have chronic nerve damage day by day!

4) some people are intolerant of Nightshade veggies... potatoes, tomatoes, PEPPERS, and these when consumed in large amounts like people tend to season vegetarian meals, can really cause paresthesias and burning sensations. Avoid these for a while and see if you feel better as well.

Come to our Peripheral Neuropathy forum here for more information and discussions:
http://neurotalk.psychcentral.com/forum20.html

[azoyizes]

Welcome to NT. We're so glad you found us!

You will find the people here to be friendly, caring, and helpful. Feel free to look around and join in.

[Rrae]

Welcome to NT!

You've hit the jackpot with great support and information!
MrsD has given you some good places to start. The Peripheral Neuropathy is FULL of everything you need to know about it.

Once you see that you are certainly not alone in this, you'll feel better, especially as you gain a better understanding of what PN is. It's a VERY frustrating condition, but with the support you get here, you'll gain an upper hand with it.

Glad you're here!

Rae

[stlwater]

For the responses. I suspected beans initially but the symptoms have been going on long after I ate the last bean... I do suspect a mineralization issue because of my adverse reaction to Calcium Chloride. I hope the Neurologist will want to pursue those ends with me as well as other potential vitamin and mineral uptake and/or deficiencies.

Does anyone have any suggestions for how to approach this whole thing with the Neurologist? I've seen a lot of doctors in my life and my experience is they really like to take the well-worn cow path, even if the patient is relating to them symptoms that do not match with whatever diagnosis/tests they are pursuing...

[mrsD]

I think your best bet is an integrative specialist.

These are more common now, and do lots of nutritional and mineral evaluations.

Neurologists can be totally dense about nutrients, diet etc.
They typically only look for organic evidence of disease. Lesions, electrical testing etc. From our posters on PN forum, most are
quite disappointed in neurologists. Also neurologists tend to have arrogant and poor people skills, which can further disappoint.

Look online in your area for an integrative clinic.
This link will help you find one in your zip code area:
http://www.acamnet.org/site/c.ltJWJ4...e_medicine.htm

There may be some doctors with their own sites, near you that
you may find Googling "integrative doctor + your zip code"

[stlwater]

I have located a few options for an Integrated Medicine specialist and will pursue that end. Thank you.

I was wondering if you could tell me if you know what the reason might be for having a 'normal' serum magnesium level while inter-cellular magnesium levels might be low? Is there a way to test for this? What could cause this to happen?

[mrsD]

Blood serum levels are not the end all of nutrient testing.
Test ranges were done by taking people at random with no symptoms,
and testing their levels of things. There is no real accuracy with that,
and it is just a statistical exercise, and many ranges are very very old, besides and only test serum levels.

There are intracellular labs, that test the red blood cell content.

Spectracell is one.
http://www.spectracell.com/

Alternative and integrative doctors use other labs like this to
perform more accurate testing.

Magnesium in particular is very inaccurate in the mid ranges.
When very very low (like in chemo patients or those on high dose long term diuretics), it is a medical emergency...because of the heart. When very very high, due to poisoning from enemas, or abuse of laxatives, or kidney failure, it is also a medical emergency. But in between, there is no guarantee that a "normal" reading is doing anything for you. Magnesium in the serum is useless because it is not working the many systems and cells of the body. The mitochondria use magnesium, the nervous system, metabolism, neurotransmitter synthesis ..etc all happen inside cells.

B12 tests are not accurate...because doctors don't understand the ranges...either. Low B12 is very common in US because our labs continue (after a decade now) to report numbers below 400 as "normal". Same with Vit D.

If you come to PN forum and read Sallysblooms' posts, she goes to an integrative doctor who is reversing her severe autonomic neuropathic issues. Look her up in members list, and read her posts. She is quite interesting.

[Darlene]

stlwater,

It is great to have you come and be with us. You will fine a great number of dear friends to listen when you are in need of ears. Please, just let us know how we can help you out. You will find out we are supportive and relaxing place.

Please keep us up to date on your situation. Again welcome, looking forward to seeing you around. My thoughts and prayers are with you.

[SpecialDad]

I thought nothing of it as I have Peripheral Neuropathy and my responses are a circus when I am at my best. Yes, both arms numb and oddly I started my vegan regemine the same time as you. The lentil and tofu, I never thunk it.

Originally Posted by stlwater

Thoughts?:

I started a low-carb, ketogenic diet on Thursday 20th December. It involved eating a lot of beans and lentils, which I don't usually eat that much of.

That night I awoke with numbness down the sides of my hands involving my pinky and ring finger (bi-lateral). Moving them around cleared up the numbness. Thought it might be my pillow/neck. Threw off the pillow and went back to sleep.

The next night, same thing happened.

The night after that, same thing (12/22)

The night after that, same thing, but this time I also felt a strange sensation in my legs too. Felt heavy, weak. Wonky. My arms also felt this way. This time the feeling wasn't isolated to bed-time, it persisted throughout the day.

12/24 Stopped Diet. Felt fore arms and hands intermittently cold, numb, or tingling throughout the day. Legs felt heavy, thighs and hamstrings burning, muscle tremors (twitches), pins and needles after driving for extended period. Started to feel better after dinner. Cold sensations and numbness abated affected limbs felt warm and tingly (as if blood flow / nerve conduction had returned).

12/25 (Christmas) Day started out well mostly asymptomatic. Then around noon I started to feel parathesias in my face (nose, cheeks, scalp, neck) and on the top of my arms and back of hands.

--- Visited the Emergency Room (my concern was electrolyte imbalance).
Blood tests revealed no thyroid abnormality and no electrolyte imbalance or other imbalance that would suggest a cause. Magnesium levels were normal. I had hypertension (in large part due to stress). The clinical observational tests were normal (touching my finger to my nose, etc..).

I was referred to a Neurologist.

12/26 That morning I again felt great, like I was on-the-mend. After a lunch of a couple of eggs I started to feel the parathesias in my arms and hands. Then, after dinner, my leg tremors returned along with burning and aching. Awoke at 4am with hand numbness (same as before)

12/27 Started Zone Diet (30/30/40). Tingling in arm in the AM, otherwise mostly asymptomatic

12/28 Awoke with weak arms and legs, unsteady walking (legs felt wonky) cold feeling in legs.

12/29 Legs ached, burning, pin pricks in AM, later they felt weak (fatigued), at night same arm / leg weakness when I was laying still.

That's the evolution of the symptoms. To give a little background history. My mother has M.S.

I have had neurological symptoms similar to this before about 5 years ago. At that time I believed I had identified the cause of them to be an additive in food (Calcium Chloride). The reason I was able to identify this as the cause was because I recently started eating tofu and the symptoms coincided with it..

Calcium Chloride is also what they use around here for Road Salt... We just had a storm a 4-5 days before the onset of my symptoms, followed by torrential rain which likely washed it into the reservoir and thus into the drinking water (it is not filtered out). This is my first winter in this area of the country so I do not have a track record of experience from drinking this water... During the first four days of my symptoms I drank a LOT of water to counteract all the urinating I was doing...

I believed that it was Calcium Chloride because as long as I avoided it, the symptoms disappeared and did not return. If I ate something (usually beans) which contained Calcium Chloride I would get muscle twitches, burning, and pain in my thighs within a few hours.

In the past when I was younger I had a neurological issue where after I would eat I would get foggy headed, difficulty concentrating, and generally kind of out of it. It took a long time and a lot of dead ends diagnostically before I was able to identify the relationship with food. I read a book by Joseph Pizzorno which lead me to start taking Betain HCL with meals per his instructions. Miraculously all my symptoms DISAPPEARED after more than 3 years of living with them. Turns out I was not fully digesting my food and proteins were passing through the gut (leaky gut) into my blood stream, causing problems.

Finally.. I have been checking my blood sugar (fasting, pre/post prandial) and it is in the normal range.

I started out on the ketogenic diet but dropped it after four days of symptoms.

I ate "normally" for a couple of days around Christmas

I started eating a 30/30/40 diet (Zone Diet) after the 25th.

I am losing weight to reduce my risk of heart disease and diabetes as I most likely have Syndrome X or metabolic syndrome as it is called now.

The Zone diet 30/30/40 is also the diet I was on when I managed to heal myself from the cognitive issues I was having when I was younger.

I'm telling you all this because in all the cases I've dealt with thus far, there has been an identifiable external cause which was related to what I was ingesting. I'm hoping my story might resonate or trigger and ideas you may have from you own experiences which might help me (and you).