Looking for Ideas
 

Hi..

I am hoping there might be someone out there who can give me some ideas, feedback etc.

I have had some symptoms that have been affecting me for over the last year. I am not sure when they started per sea but they have all been affecting me on and off for the since Jan of 2005, some before.

Obviously, I am not looking for a diagnosis but some ideas about where I should start looking. I am not good at logging stuff or going to doctors but everytime things start getting worse again, I think again that I have to find

Ok symptoms. Some might be totally unrelated. Some might be just because I am tired. In isolation I can figure out some reason maybe for each but not together. I have no idea anymore:

:icon_arrow: Vertigo spells, some really intense that I am nauseous after. Many times I am lying down when they happen- though I do get dizzy sometimes when I get up too fast, this is not the same sensation.

:icon_arrow: Buzzing sensations in groin, feet and fingers

:icon_arrow: Days where I am extremely tired, feel lethargic and a bit distorted. My tounge sometimes feels swollen and I feel like I am slurring but no one has noticed that it is actually coming out that way.

:icon_arrow: Some memory loss- having a real hard time with short term stuff. I am going into rooms constantly and forgetting after 5 steps what I went in for. A couple friends who I talk a lot with have commented on my lack of memory so it's a little noticable. I feel constantly frustrated by this one all the time.

:icon_arrow: This is the weird one. I have spells where I think I am in an earthquake. Everything is shaking around me in my opinion. I have even ran for cover. Not one of them turned out to be real earthquakes. I am totally conscious.

:icon_arrow: I think there is something wrong with my vision and/or my coordination. I already where corrective glasses and I do think that my eyes have gotten worse again so I need to go get them checked. But I have started to hit things while driving. Not people of course but I drove into the side of my house with the corner of my car as I was pulling into the same parking spot that I had parked in for the past 10 months. Then I continued over the next month hit other pole in the parkade a few times and a couple other things. I might be just a horrible driver but I also drop things a lot. The same book was dropped three times walking down the hallway at work to my office. This all might have just been on days where I am tired. But it seems weird.

:icon_arrow: I have night sweats sometimes. Last night it happened again, I turned the temperature down in the room in case that was the problem but it wasn't on that high and I took my temperature in case I had a fever (I did not.) But my tshirt was drenched after only sleeping for about a hour. The night sweats have been happening on occassion (not nightly) for the last three years.

:icon_arrow: Nerve spasms. This might be normal but it's happened a few times in the last six months where my ring finger decided to dance all on it's own. I could stop it if I formed a fist but when I let go of the control, the finger would go back to dancing. One of the times, it was accompained by a pinching pain in my arm err upper tricep I think area?

:icon_arrow: Finally, an increase in headaches. I am a migraine sufferer but they had started to slow down as I got older (now I am in my early thirties) Now I am getting headaches that aren't migraines.

I think that's the mainly it. I don't know what's going on. It's not that I think I am seriously ill or something but I don't know what is happening? Could this be do to a sleeping disorder? Or maybe all due to stress? I am concerned though if I should be driving if this continues to progress.

Just so you know: I have been seeing my doctor- for most of the time, he has been insisting that its depression. I have never felt that I was depressed but eventually went to see a consellor in case I was just simply in denial. Saw a counsellor and she said no to depression but possible Post Traumatic Stress Disorder at one point but then came up with nothing by the time I stopped our sessions. I finally got through to my Doctor that it wasn't depression and he referred me to a Neurologist. The Neurologist said that she believes everything that I am experiencing is just a manefestation of my migraines and that we may never know why because no one really understands yet about the migraine brain. I have had a CT scan and a EEG to which I think were clean because I never heard back from the Neurologist. I need to fax her with updates though and I haven't been doing that (my bad- I just keep on forgetting!). I am supposed to be keeping a log and I forget to do that too the majority of the time. So most of this is my fault. I just seem to be only able to do one thing at a time right now and thats my career. Everything else seems to fall to the wayside.

Brief history: Had seizures as a kid. Put on phenobarbitrol (sp?). Taken off around age 8. Migraines started. Still have them though not as bad as when I was a kid. Coma when 13 from encephalitus (viral) but fully recovered. Otherwise no other complaints other than some tiredness after age of 25.

So if you have other idea or just think that I am a hypochondriac, please feel free to let me know. thanks

Two of the many possibilities
 

These two are important for you to learn about because most docs and medical references are years to decades behind:

Thyroid and B12 deficiency (usually due to malabsorption)

rose

one good thing about these forums is they can be your log of sorts too.
so if you post any new symptoms or any changes to this same thread -over time you will have something to show your doctors.
Is there any other symptoms or odd things you have noticed?

I didn't catch if you are male or female? may or may not matter.
so early 30s

I don't think it's all depression or that you are a hypochondriac.

I would get in touch with the neuro and follow up with that- unless nothing was conclusive. a family friend just had a doc call him about tests done 6 months ago- doc had the results buried on his desk! so call and follow up with that doc just to be sure.

I suggest another doc or 2 for other opinions and maybe a good chiropractor? esp for the nerve related stuff -
have you ever been in a auto accident, sports injury, falls, hits or such?
some info links-
Chiropractic care info- a good one can help with many symptoms:
http://www.upcspine.com/self.htm
http://www.uppercervical.org/subpag...b/about_faq.php
http://www.spineuniverse.com/index.html
http://www.coloradochiropractic.org/.../glossary.html

Anatomy links
http://www.gwc.maricopa.edu/home_pag...rial_Small.htm
http://www.meddean.luc.edu/lumen/Med...em/learnit.htm
http://mywebpages.comcast.net/wnor/homepage.htm
http://catalog.nucleusinc.com/genera...=&TL =512&A=2


these links are kind of informative but unusual conditions don't get covered much- they might help to narrow it down for you-
http://www.wrongdiagnosis.com/
http://myelectronicmd.com/

I would get an MRI of your head and neck. Many of the things you mentioned can be symptoms of Arnold-Chiari Malformation, which is a herniation of the cerebellar tonsils in the lower back of the brain. You can have no symptoms at all for decades and are generally born with Chiari. Even a tiny herniation can result in serious symptoms for some people, so don't allow anyone to blow you off if a small herniation is found. Also, if you find out you do have it, you'll need a neurosurgeon who is well-versed in Chiari to determine if surgery will be necessary. A neurologist cannot do this and will likely think Chiari is no big deal.


Good luck!

LIZARD :)

Thank you!!
 

Yes I have been in a car accident. I didn't bang my head or anything though- my little jeep just took a roll down an embankment after I lost control on some black ice. The vehicle was a write off however though the cab?? was intact. I did start experiencing some intermittent lower back pain after but I considered that to be unrelated. I did get xrays at the time and they saw nothing (though that leads me to a diff question see below.) It was after the night sweats started but most of the other stuff started or got worse after it (which was why the counsellor thought maybe PMSD at first.) But the night sweats may be unrelated to the other symptoms. I'm looking through all the links. BTW I'm a girl. Thank you!

I also checked out the Arnold-Chiari information. I am going to ask for a MRI- which is harder to get in Canada (BC specifically- Thats where I am.) But after looking at the symptoms for this, I realized that I have one more that I didn't mention before (ringing in the ears, mainly because I thought it was normal) that would also make me want to get this one ruled out. Thank you for that!!

I have been tested many times for the thyroid and B12. So I know I do not think it is that but I am going to ask him to check the B12 again specifically just in case. Unfortunately. I have forced my doc to give me so many blood tests in the past year lol that I am worried that I am going to start looking like a druggie soon! kidding of course. Thanks for your help!

Now another question came out of this though- after the accident, they noticed on my back xrays a 'shadow' on my hip bone. They made me get a couple other xrays to confirm it. They didn't feel that it was necessary to do more however- my doctor had tried to explain it to me but I can't remember quite what he said. Likely a calcium buildup for something like that. I do remember that he said it was only an issue if my health was bad and since he considered me to be in good health, he was not concerned by it. Any idea why I would have that? I don't think it would be related so maybe I should be starting a new thread but if anyone knows about that sort of stuff I would love to have more info.

Thanks again for all your help. Its appreciated.

Take a look at the symptoms I had when B12 deficient. I had many of the same symptoms, and it took 3-5 years and 8 specialists before one thought to test my B12 level, and thankfully he was one of the few who realized low "normal" B12 levels can cause problems.
http://jccglutenfree.googlepages.com...ciencysymptoms

Here are a couple of good articles:
eMedicine link on vitamin B12 associated neurological diseases:

AAFP on Vitamin B12 Deficiency

Hope this helps!

Cara

You should certainly look into getting a MRI/MRA with contrast (and make sure the doctor gives them things to focus on (ie: the reason). Also, get a second opinion. Keep us updated.

*Hugs*