Currently going on in my body:

Right hand - has been sinking in slowly over the last year around my thumb knuckle/snuff box/between thumb and index finger. Doctors and other people acknowledge it, but no doctor can tell me what is going on. They all just say it does not look like MND atrophy. Here are two pictures. I DO HAVE a different, weak pinching grip, but it is not "clinical". I've had this different grip since it started changing. Lately, something new: anytime I hold a hair dryer or like I have this window washing machine - my hand tires quickly, especially the palm side thumb thenar, and causes like a burning, fatigued pain and I have to switch hands. This is telling me that whatever is happening with my hand is progressing. It does NOT twitch though. Hardly. 1-2 per day, but not every day. I had a ganglion cyst removed, because that was the only thing any doctor could blame this change on, but since it's been gone and all is healed, it has gotten worse. When I do a push up type movement, where I press my body weight on the palm, the thenar on my right hand hurts like he** and I can't do it. I DO have some weird sensory things happening at random times where it feels like a TENS unit pad is on it. The same path/spot will vibrate/pulsate with like an electrical feeling that the TENS gives you. Then it stops. I get a ...not sure what it is...a vibration? fine twitch that I can't see but I can feel?...on the side of my index finger, at the base, the side towards my thumb. This comes and goes too.

https://roxythegray.files.wordpress....0733106340.jpg

https://roxythegray.files.wordpress....0733088706.jpg

https://roxythegray.files.wordpress....0733106340.jpg

here is the best picture I can take which shows how the snuff box is sinking in and one spot between the thumb and index finger. It is hard to capture what it really looks like on camera. The muscle itself has not changed, nor has the palm side thenar, from what I can tell, but the thenar is sore.
https://roxythegray.files.wordpress....5/image_5.jpeg

Can PN cause something like this happening to my hand?

Left arm/shoulder - this has been a mess. Clinical weakness, abnormal EMG (positive waves, fasciculations, increased action potentials), diagnosed by one neuro with plexus neuritis and by other two neuros that this is not what I have, but they don't know what it is. It started with lots of pain in my arm in Dec., and I still get it from time to time. Some strength came back after cortisone therapy and was ok for a bit, but I am feeling like it is getting weak again like how it was before the cortisone. I have lots of areas in my shoulder and arm that are sore in the sense where they are really tight/stiff. This worries me. My upper arm and back twitch all the time. One good thing, I had a constant twitching in my forearm, non-stop, for weeks - and that has stopped completely.

I am not sure if it is getting worse, but I don't feel it has gotten better since it all started in Dec. How long does it take to get a little bit of strength back from PN?

Left elbow - newly discovered - when I press on a certain spot or when I press it against a table, it hurts like he**. It's right by one of the bones. It's not red or swollen and only hurts when I press on the area (so of course I don't do it). I only found this when I was pressing along my arm to see where everywhere it was sore. When I press around the area on my right elbow, it does not hurt.

Could this be a pinched nerve or related to what is happening in my left arm?

Right shoulder - this is new - is also getting really tense and stiff. My whole neck/shoulder area on both sides are stiff and it hurts to move around. Gabapentine for the nerve pain does not help this pain. Nothing else has helped. Not heat, not physiotherapy, not TENS, not any creams, not Flexeril. The whole area is rock hard. And my right shoulder is starting to twitch constantly (as opposed to the random, bouncing around twitches).

Not sure what is going on here, if this is related to PN or what...could this be an effect of coming off of oral cortisone therapy?

My right cheek - for months now, I've had a tingling and light twitching of my right cheek (comes and goes), by my mouth and I'm having to constantly wipe saliva away from the right corner of my mouth.

Not sure what is going on here, if this is related to PN or what...

My tongue - new - I felt some pops of my tongue in my mouth and I've stumbled over words, where I would have to start the word over or I don't complete the word all the way.

WAY disturbed by this.

Body wide - still get the random twitches all over (since July 2013)


Tests/other:
- Brain MRI in April was clean.
- EMG of my right hand thumb thenar in Feb was normal (but I don't know if I can trust the neuro)
- Cervical neck MRI showed two herniations, but 3 neuros and 1 neuro surgeon agree that the hernations are not the cause of any of my arm problems.
- MEP and SEP in Jan and Feb were normal.
- ANA has been positive since it was first tested in 2012. A low positive: HEp2-IgG = 1:160, Pattern = homogenous - but all doctors are not sure if this is "just me" or is this is related to any of my symptoms.
- My immune blood work was not normal recently, but it could have been due to the cortisone. Tests will be repeated.
- My TSH was low normal, 0.67 mU/L, and one neuro said he wanted that repeated, but my primary care doctor was not concerned with the value.
- Lyme test results in today - negative
- Vitamin B12 is normal (346 ng/L), and the holotranscobalamin is normal (69.1 pmol/L)
- I have been diagnosed with GAD, depression and psychosomatic disorder and am taking Prozac 10mg in the AM and Opipramol 50mg in the PM.
- Family history: My mother and her half sister are breast cancer survivors, my grandmother on my father's side survived stomach cancer, my grandfather on my mother's side suffered many strokes and also had problems with his thyroid, my mother's cousin on her father's side has a serious neurological problem (we do not know exactly what it is, but last time we visited him last year he couldn't speak, was slurring - we think myathesnia gravis, since his wife mentioned the word "gravis" to us). My mother has fibromyalgia, neuropathy and thyroid issues, but are all considered to be due to the intense chemo therapy she went through. My father has had some heart issues, and a major abdominal aortic aneurysm surgery behind him.
- I went back to the gym yesterday to do very very light exercises, and I was shaking all over, even just from standing and trying to stretch my thighs, I was wobbling and shaking.
- I broke out in herpes on my lip a few days before the pain started in my left arm. First break out in like over 10 years.

Are these PN type things, that may have an auto-immune or viral cause (herpes, something else)?

[ but 3 neuros and 1 neuro surgeon agree that the hernations are not the cause of any of my arm problems.else)? [/COLOR][/B][/QUOTE] Sorry that you are experiencing so much pain and frustration. I can't know what is going on any more than most of the Drs do. One thing that caught my eye was the ganglion cyst removal. You could search for Trauma-Induced Neurapathy and read stories that could pertain. As for your question of whether or not that your synptoms could be Neurapathy, I don't think we have seen them all. Good Luck, Ken in Texas. P.S. Did you dismiss Amyotrophy?

Thank you for reading and your time. The symptoms in my hand were there before the cyst removal, and got worse after. The 2 neuros dismissed the amyotrophy/plexus neuritis because neither saw atrophy in my shoulder and advised that my arm would have been totally lame/limp, which was not the case. These neuros think something did attack my nerves but they stopped there, didn't tell me what it could be or do more tests...

I dont know what to do next! I don't know who I should see or what tests I should ask for.

Today, the palm side Thenar on my right hand hurts so much, and it's weird, today I noticed it is a bit red under the skin. I took a bath and I felt a tingling/pulsating feeling in the tip of my thumb. Also, in my left arm, I'm feeling pain into the entire middle finger. So,I'm having sensory and motor problems.

I feel like I should just go to a hospital in my area with a good neuro dept. Sometimes I do get left side chest pain.

I think someone may have already mentioned this, but have you looked into thoracic outlet syndrome? Being in Germany, I don't know if you would have access to a vascular surgeon who is knowledgeable about TOS to do a proper work-up. Regular neurologists or ortho docs don't know what to look for. You seem to have a combination of sensory and motor issues (much like me!) that do not have an easy explanation. It is horribly frustrating, I know. It is entirely possible that you won't find out one "true" cause of what is happening, and you may join the "idiopathic" club.

For me, it's gotten to the point that I was driving myself crazy trying to find answers, but all the dr.'s and tests weren't giving any. I'm actually laying off the search for awhile. Trying to eat a really healthy diet, doing gentle exercise and PT and willing my body to heal itself. Sounds New-Agey, but I'm trying to save my sanity!

Your account will not receive PM's when I tried to send.

Yes, my diagnosis is idiopathic sensorimotor neuropathy in my left foot and lower leg, sensory only in my right lower leg/foot. I went to the large University hospital near me to see the neuromuscular diagnostic dept. for that emg/ncs because I wanted a second opinion when my local neurologist said everything looked fine and I probably just had SFN, which doesn't show up on an emg/ncs. I have SFN as well.

I am dealing with left shoulder/neck issues right now, but I do have some abnormalities in my c-spine that could be causing them, so I am doing PT/massage/chiro to see if it helps.

I replied to your message, strange, maybe there was a glitch when you tried to send?

I am wondering about TOC...I don't have any skin color changes though. Does anyone know if that is a main symptom, or do you not always have to have color changes?

I had my first acupunture session today for my left arm (I've had acupuncture before and it has always treated me well), and when she stuck the needles in my left shoulder, I could FEEL the energy of my nerves go down my arm, so I know she hit the right spots. I feel a tiny bit better. I will have more sessions along with infusions, which I will write a separate topic about.