Odd sensation--"vibrating" nerves?
 

I have the oddest sensation in the bottoms of my feet. It feels much like cell phones vibrating and comes and goes in short bursts. Sometimes you can see the skin/muscles moving. Does anyone have any idea as to what could be going on?

I have an achy pain in my legs and it is moving higher and is now up to just above my knees. I don't even know if this is a symptom of peripheral neuropathy--I have weakness in my legs and they appear to have some atrophy of the muscles--there apprears to also be some atrophy in my forearms too.

I can't find a forum I really fit well in and am following suggestions to post in several forums and see what happens.

My other diagnoses are
sensory ataxia caused by hypothyroid
orthostatic hypotension
trigeminal neuralgia
fibromyalgia

Do I fit here or is there a better forum? Thanks so much for your help!!! Look forward to the answers.

lifesaver54

you may want to read a web page i will give you. i have soome symptoms as you do. This site helped me alot also some very nice people to help. *edit*
Doug

A feeling of vibaration or pulsing--
 

--can certainly be a symptom of nerve dysfunction; it's often associated with pressure on a nerve at a particular junction. (There are myelinated nerves that subsume the skin sensation of vibration, and these are the ones likely involved.)

I get this intermittently--often the senssation starts suddenly, sticks around for hours/days/weeks, and disappears just as suddenly. It is often associated with a particular position (such as when I cross my legs).

Vibrating
 

Lifesaver,

I have bodywide sensory and motor PN (large and small fiber), and autonomic too - but get vibrating legs and have since the onset on the PN 10 years years.... usually happens at night, both legs, all the way from toes to top,and goes on for quite a while - nothing really seems to stop it. I have noticed that the more tired I am, or if I've put extra stress on my legs, the more likely the shaking..... I use it as a signal that I need to rest more... the docs have always just nodded and said it was a normal side effect of nerve damage and just "ride it out", hard to sleep and vibrate at the same time!

Wow, thanks you two--it is at least nice to know this is not an unusual experience. Mine went away for a couple of months is and back. I thought it was gone and didn't tell the neurologist--so have to put this on the list for the next visit. I see my GP Wednesday, Oct 7. Will definitely tell her about it.

I wonder if the nerve damage that causes this sensation is from the hypothyroid too. A lot of things are starting to make a bit of sense, but I still have a list of tests to go through. The "vibrating" happens/gets worse after activity and I notice it when I rest--there is nothing to distract my brain from registering the sensation. The good thing is that it is not painful, just annoying and worrisome.

At least I won't feel like a freak when I tell the doctor about this nerve sensation. I really appreciate the replies, Thank you.

lifesaver

If you are hypothyroid... I would expect you to have foot issues.

This is what started me on the PN journey.

I get that sensation in both of my feet daily and I've got peripheral sensory polyneuropathy. Mine is still idiopathic and it doesn't seem as though anyone is inclined to try to find a cause aside from the usual suspects.

Thanks for describing it so well. I've wrestled with trying to do so for awhile until I finally gave up.

Ah yes, the old leg and feet buzzing business. It feels like a cell phone vibrating inside of your body.....:confused:

Shhhhhhhhh, I can't say this too loud...the cellphone has been really quiet lately in my feet, but I totally know what you are talking about. I have full body sensory neuropathy too.

With all of your other symptoms, have you been tested for celiac?

Hi lifesaver. I just found this forum and joined today so my answer may be a little late. I'm 53 years old and was diagnosed with PN about six years ago almost immediately after back surgery. Now my docs have added Failed Back Surgery Syndrome to the list of diagnosis. Recently I've been having vibrations on my right thigh and mentioned this to my pain doc just last week. It feels as if a vibrating cell phone is on my leg. It's very localized and really isn't unpleasant. I was told right there that it's back problems again. Since I won't let anyone cut on me anymore, surgery is no longer an option so I just nodded and said "OK".

In 2002 I had L4/5/6 fused mainly because of problems in my left leg. Who knows what part of my spine is causing this pain in my right leg.

That's my experiences so I thought I'd throw in my .02 worth. :)

Take care....

Same thing here Glenn and Greggg,

As a matter of fact, I described it to my PM exactly like lifesaver described it...a cell phone vibrating in my left leg. But I KNOW it is coming from my lumbar spine since the left side is the worst. When I receive a block and calm down the nerve root...it stops. Anyway, it was doing it last night and it is hard to sleep. I just think my spine is getting worse anyway so it is time for another MRI. The last one was done two year ago.

Vibrating cell phone - good description.

I suffered nerve damage in a serious car accident. In addition to pins and needles, spasms, intense shocks and burning sensations, I get nerve pulses (cell phones) that can actually make my skin visibly vibrate. Pressure and/or compression on nerves can cause this.

My doctor's "solution" to dampen down my symptoms is limited to immobilization of the area where the damage occured and massive doses of anti-spasms drugs. :(

Cheers

Nerve vibrating and magnetic resonance
 

Hi,

I have that reaction (nerve vibrating) after I did a Tui ná Massage and after I
did my two MRI. Strange....

Hi--amazing to have so many repsonses. It is horrid that so many people have this symptom. But if we have to have it, at least we have people who understand.

The more active I am, the more the nerves in my feet act up.

I was just diagnosed with sensory-motor polyneuropathy. I am having more tests and seeing another neurologist who specializes in neuropathy and dysautonomia. Now the doctors are looking for the cause.

I am having another MRI of the brain. I think the neuro who did my EMG/NCV/blink test suspects a problem in my brain, most likely the brain stem and related structures.

lifesaver54

I have dysautonomia as well as sensory, and I have a blink issue, no blink issue I guess. And also, cell phones vibrating too. Good way to describe it. I also used to have a strange oscillation in my spine, but that has stopped lately, since I just sit around and don't do much to traumatize my nerves.

Cyclelops, I have dysautonomia as well--can't remember if I posted about that here--do know my memory has big holes in it.

Have they found a cause for your symptoms? I don't have diabetes or smoke, or have high blood pressure, never did street drugs or abused prescription drugs--lived as healthy as possible all my life. It seems nerve damage does not care about lifestyles--it comes as it wants.

I wish I could turn the vibrating off tonight--it is making me nuts.

Mine is autoimmune. I carry a diagnosis of Sjogren's which is morphing. My Sjogren's is slightly atypical. I have autoimmune autonomic neuropathy as well. PN came on before the seroconversion.

I too had a very healthy lifestyle. You are correct. Neuropathy does not discriminate. Any one can get it. I was utterly shocked when they told me I had it.

I've been a bit worried about the vibrating sensations and I'd really appreciate some feedback from you.

I've got an idiopathic full-body sensory neuropathy. Whether it's autoimmune or not I don't know, although I do suffer from an undifferentiated connective tissue disease as well. I've led a very healthy lifestyle, by the way, and have no inflammations or infections.

Half a year ago the vibrations started, continuing for several weeks or a few hours at a time. I wake up, sometimes physically trembling in my hands, or my head is trembling discreetly but very distinctly – and fast. This was also the onset for two new symptoms. The sudden spasms I've had before but not like this. When I've gone to bed they start after a few minutes, one spasm after another with around 30 seconds inbetween; a leg, an arm – I've been throwing my arm in the wall several times with a force that might have brought the walls of Jericho tumbling down – the torso itself. This also includes unvolontary movements while I'm still fully awake: one of my hands closing very slowly into a fist, a big toe turning slowly upwards until it hurts, things like that. And the last symptom, very strange: everything that I lean against seems to be moving to and fro. It's like lying in a waterbed. Slowly the mattrass is moving in waves under me, as if I were lying in the water at a mediterranean beach. Sometimes the bed under my torso begins moving sideways, from one side to another without a break (I mean, that's how it feels like). When I'm sitting in a chair and leaning back, the back of the chair is almost wriggling.

My GP ordained Sifrol, a med given to people with Parkinson's disease, that reduced the number of spasms considerably, but the other symptoms persist. They make my life more interesting than I'd care for. My rheumatologist and my neurologist wash their hands, so to speak, and suggest that it seems as if the autonomic system is being involved.

Am I the only one experiencing this, apart from the vibrations?

i was trying to describe the vibration to a neurologist yesterday and i said it was "like one of those small dogs that tremble all the time". he looked at me like i was mad. vibrating cell phone is much better. i get it in my torso. usually only when i wake up in the morning. sometimes subtle. sometimes really strong. and sometimes not at all.

what you describe is what i experience too. in fact i woke up this morning with that vibration. it hasn't happened very much so therefore i have not mentioned it to my doctor but i will on my next visit. it's a very strange sensation. i have PN, EM and Raynauds.

Its the prelude to pain for me , i should know i have it bad now , and its akin to being round a powerstation or some sort of generator, because there is a constant humming.

Strangely enough crossing my legs is usually the only thing that helps , although its doing little to help me just now..

m

Norah, I noticed that you have Raynauds. I have it too, in fact I had that a while before I learned I was hypo-thyroid, and I think the two go hand-in-hand, as well as other autoimmune diseases. Are you being treated for hypo-thyroidism by any chance? MrsD has mentioned this can be a cause of PN.
Joan

I feel like I am vibrating all the time, have felt like this my first chemo in 1996. Told all the docs and they just shrug, like I am making it up. Worse in the feet, never stops, ever. It is different from the fasiculations I have. Buzzing like an electric shaver.:mad:

i will ask the doctor on my next visit if i have been checked for this. it seems like i have had every test known to mankind but it's always possibly he missed this. i appreciate your mentioning it.

i have gotten so much good information from this forum i will be forever appreciative. lots of smart people here and mrsD has helped me more than i can say. to anyone new to this forum, you are in the right place and will be treated kindly by so many.

Have had it a couple of times... feels more like my feel being placed on an electric drill... I could deal with that more than the sharp pains...

Me too Ed. Better to have the vibrations that pain. Vibrations are only an irritation for me. I have enough pain with my constant headaches.

Everytime my buzzing is there, that's when the sharp pain in at it's worse! It's always an indicator for me of what's coming next.

But this is all over for me and it's yuck!

Now I am having one leg is freezing and other is HOT!

Mine has now moved to the back of my legs... and I have the same "vibrating"
 

Interesting description! Mine started so "small"... kept feeling like I had a piece of tape stuck to my leg and it was blowing in the wind. It was right at the back of my ankles.
Now most of my pain is in the "tops and sides" of my feet, as the bottoms have pretty much died.

I find that when I put my feet up, if I "tap" them together, it stimulates the nerves and helps ease the vibrating.

I know everyone has their own way of dealing with this, but again, for the newbies, finding ways to deal with pain and issues above, beyond, and beside, medication is worth trying!

I have to keep my shoes on, and I lightly tap my feet together to counteract the vibrating. I think it just sends a different "signal" to my brain, and interrupts the vibrating signal! It doesn't make it stop, it just eases it for the small period of time the pain and vibrating is happening.

Like my mom used to say, just take what you need and leave the rest!
Good luck, and God Bless!

I can see you tapping your feet together like Dorothy on the Wizard of Oz.:DI may try that the next time mine are buzzing.

I find nerves fascinating, just reading all the different views here. We are all very different yet the same. It's strange what we can't feel and even strager the things we can feel. I used to be very ticklish, not anymore. I was told that my tickle nerves have died, which is ok, I hate being tickled. Yet, if something is just barely touching my arm, it sends chills through me.

At least we all understand each other.:hug:

Last night was probably the worst night in a while... I tried to fall asleep with my legs over the end of the bed... but, whenever I barely moved my feet, it was like they were asleep and someone touched them... that sent tingling all over my feet... I got up after 2 hours of tossing and turning to find the "right spot" :confused: :mad:... took another tramadol (took 1 before bed)... and went to the living room to eat some cheese and crackers... 2+ hours later, I was at a point were I could fall asleep... and headed back to bed... weird... really weird... hope that was the last time for those "feelings"...

Pituitary gland check
 

Have you had some good blood work done? Your pituitary gland checked? A local doctor is having major success treating Fibromyalgia and other pain issues by checking (through a blood test and getting your history) the pituitary gland, then, if there is a problem, treating it with Human Growth Hormone and Estrogen/Progesterone. It might be a lead for you.

Wishing you well and hope you are able to find some relief.

My tickle nerves are gone too!
 

Interesting that I used to be extremely ticklish too Deb! Now I am so afraid to let anyone touch my feet, I wouldn't know if I was ticklish. Except for my neurologist, no one but me has touched my feet for five years! (Well, I'm not counting the times my granddaughter has stepped on my toes, or the times I've banged them into the table legs and broken my toes and not known it until I take a shower and see that my toes are purple! )

Also, I never used to be squeamish when I saw someone fall down, or have a cut. Now, when I see a cut or someone get hurt, the nerves in my feet get a surge of pain in them! It's really weird! :confused:

I asked my neuro a out not being ticklish anymore and he told me exaqctly what I said...no need to be technical, but your tickle nerves have died. Yet, if a person barely rubs against me, sometimes that will send a vibration throughout my body, tickling doesn't bother me at all. It's definitely strange how nerves react. Sometimes I wonder if it's not just the nerve-brain connection and not actually the nerves. There are so many times that I will not feel a cut on my hand, only know when I see blood, or I will not notice something is hot until I see red skin.

The last few days at work, I can't hang onto the pens that we have always used, they slip right out of my fingers. I had to find some fat pens to use..it might be that I have had to write more this week than usual, don't know.

Alls I can say is, at least we all understand each other!:hug: