Where to start???
 

For the past several weeks I have been experiencing some new sensations. During the day, tingling, pins and needles in left hand many times a day. Same in the left foot a few times per day. Sporadic itching/tingling throughout rest of body.

At night, every night, all throughout the night, wake up with one or both arms asleep. Extreme dry mouth. (Maybe unrelated)

No pain.

I spoke with my GP about it. He was dismissive, as I mentioned being concerned about diabetes. With no family history and not having the other primary symptoms, he quickly wrote that off. He said pn would be a later sign of diabetics. He said or likely had something to do with my sleeping position.

Since the first of the year, I have changed my diet, drastically cutting carbs. This has contributed to a weight loss of 20 lbs. I say this because I do not if it is just coincidence that these symptoms happened a few weeks after change in diet. I have been reading some about vitamin deficiencies. Can’t see that anything I have cut out of my diet would relate to a loss of these vitamins.

What should I do start trying to identify what is going on here? Blood work? I don’t even know if my GP is currently doing this based on the CV. While I am
nor in pain, it is very bothersome, I don’t want to not address a problem, and I do have some medical anxiety.

Thanks for reading and will be looking for any comments or questions anyone might have.

Hi jhhudson1212,

I'm sorry I don't have any ideas about the cause of your symptoms but I do know that a sleep position can cause problems, and so the doctor's idea is worth considering.

I hope your doctor has gone over any meds you've been taking and checked for their possible side effects. All too often some medicine is responsible for new symptoms that have no obvious explanation. Dry mouth, for instance, is a very common side effect of many meds.

But as you say, the dry mouth may have no connection with the numbness and tingling. In another post you mention using a CPAP machine for sleep apnea. Using a CPAP machine often causes dry mouth--but there are some remedies available.

Maybe other people will have better suggestions for you here.:)

welcome jhhudson!

using the google search engine, i was able to find websites that list your sensations as side effects of trazadone, but unfortunately i can't post links right now. you can go to google yourself and type in "side effects of trazadone" and find these same answers.

one site lists these "less common" side effects of trazadone:
another site also listed dry mouth as a side effect of trazadone.

i have read your other posts indicating you use cpap, which causes dry mouth in a lot of people. there is an over the counter oral rinse that eases that problem. dry mouth can cause dental problems. check with your doctor to see if he would ok your use of a mouth rinse for dryness.

cymbalta and trazadone both have effects on the chemical serotonin in your brain. has your doctor recently changed your dosage of either drug? cymbalta is also a drug used for peripheral neuropathy, which is what i believe you think is happening to you. does your GP prescribe your cymbalta, trazadone and klonopin for you or do you have a neurologist that prescribes these drugs? if you only have a GP, perhaps going to a neurologist and discussing these symptoms of tingling that you're having would lead to the neuro re-evaluating your meds.

since trazadone and cymbalta both effect serotonin in your brain, the use of these drugs together might increase your risk of certain side effects.

when you mention your diet of limiting your carbs, i think limiting unhealthy carbs like sugar and white flour would be beneficial. i hope you haven't cut your consumption of vegetables and fruit, as these have many vitamins that are better in their natural state than in vitamin form.

i understand medical anxiety and empathize with you. if your doctor is unwilling to do a test for diabetes, i don't think he would do any other blood tests without having something to look for.

i would make an appointment with the doctor who is prescribing your meds to see if cutting down on the trazadone and/or cymbalta stops the tingling and itching and possibly the dry mouth. the otc mouth rinse for dry mouth would be helpful if that symptom was not resolved with a change in your meds and was caused by the use of cpap.

i hope you can find a resolution to these annoying sensations.

jeannie

OP: You received some positive replies above and I don't know if I've talked to you before or not, so I'll mention it anyway. Inosine has been tremendous in the tingling/burning issues I'm left with from hip surgery......and Grape Seed Extract too as I've talked about it so much in all the time I've been on NT.

Your sleeping position could be a factor, I only sleep on my back and no constraints on the nerves.....