A work friends husband is having nerve problems of some sort. Yesterday we had a housewarming to attend and later he told his wife that his left leg was numb the whole time. He has been to neurologist, MS specialist--MRI's, spinal tap, poked and proded and nothing. Two docs say it isn't MS, one is sure it probably is. He sometimes has moments of completely confused thinking, numb fingers, numb toes, dizziness. The first they noticed was an evening he came home from work and had a severe headache. He got out of the chair to go upstairs to lay down and got dizzy. His wife helped him to bed and he seemed very confused. She told him she was taking him to the hospital and he refused, so she called his paramedic friends to come take him. He decided then he was going, started downstairs, stumbled near the bottom of the steps and broke his toe. She got him in a chair and the paramedics came in. He couldn't talk to them, couldn't remember their names for a time. All tests came back normal, no stroke, nothing. That's when they decided maybe it's MS. All the tests have shown nearly nothing. I told her last night that maybe he should be checked for neuropathy and see what comes up--I even mentioned him being tested for celiacs, some celiacs never have symptoms and that would account for the nerve damage he seems to be suffering.

Any ideas out there? I am trying to get him to take B12 and see if it helps.

Deb

Of course, B12 should be tested for. Many alarming things happen when
B12 is very low. They often look like MS. You don't say how old this friend is.

There are extreme neuro diseases that can come up this way... a fast
presentation...one is nvCJD disease. But this is very rare in USA.
Where does he work? Could he have been exposed to some toxin at work?
Solvent, or heavy metal poison?

But another avenue that should be looked at is heavy metal poisoning.
A blood test should be done for this too. It can be a very sneaky
type of presentation.
http://www.lef.org/protocols/prtcl-156.shtml

Has he been ill? West Nile Virus causes an encephalopathy in some people.
Meningitis causes a severe headache in the beginning.
So infectious things should be ruled out. Did he have a spinal tap?

Did they do an EEG as one of the tests? EEG's are used to detect seizure activity.

I have a neighbor with a seizure disorder, and her seizures are similar to what you described.

Paraneoplastic neuropathies occur with cancer. Sometimes a person shows
the symptoms of the neuropathy first, with the cancer still hidden.

So any good search for a neuropathy cause should take this into account.
http://www.emedicine.com/neuro/topic298.htm

www.LizaJane.Org and cardiac aspects.

W/develpments or complications of my PN/CIDP stuff were certain cardiac tests...Thing is,...IF tests aren't done ON THE SPOT to assess certain protein etc changes...it can't be detected... It's the kind of thing, if it's not seen to happen...it's simply not believed. At least, IF something's there, and no 'cause' is found, you have a record of 'strange things' going on.

As one who believes they have para-n. [me] tendencies, all I can say is press, press, PUSH, PUSH for tests and more tests! The key is trying to get the neuro and potential Ocon. to actually talk to each other. Herding cats is far easier. Treatments' don't change, but watchfullness on the part of docs DOES or SHOULD!
I don't think it's the 'panic-mode' thing it used to be. I believe that probably more Para-N cases are being treated...tho not reported than ever before.
IF you read my background you will find that even by accident it can be 'aborted?'. I was a lucky one. Reading, learning and asking questions mite just prompt brains into working the right tracks.

The scary parts we don't go to because we totally will NOT GO THERE! Got It?

Good thoughts and heaps of hopes! We are were we are, where we can be down the road is thru pure orneriness! Don't know about others, but, I AM ORNERY!! - j

The thing it sounds MOST like is mini-strokes, sometimes called transient ischemic attacks. They don't show up on an mri, because they are like tiny strokes that didn't totally happen. It's more a diagnosis from examination and history. Neurological deficits like this that come on suddenly and then go away suddenly are scarey, and something scarey might be happening, even tough it's not yet diagnosed.

I'm hoping someone listed to his carotid arteries to see if they have plaque, and is investigating this deeply.