One sided weakness/numbness, "brisk" reflexes, fuzzy headed

[iwasagirlinavillage]

I'm going through an especially stressful time at the moment - marriage has broke down and I have two young children to care for. For the past 3 weeks I've been getting numbness and tingling in my left arm, accompanied by fuzzy headedness/feeling spaced out, headaches and blurred vision. It's not been constant, on average once a day for the past three weeks, sometimes lasting minutes, sometimes hours. Two days ago the numbness started and then I had shooting pains going down my arm into my hand. The shooting pains stopped but the numbness carried on. Later that evening I had what I thought was a panic attack - pins and needles in my hand, lightheadedness, struggling to breathe. After the panic attack the numbness continued and it was still there when I woke yesterday. I went to minor injuries and was seen by a doctor there who, upon examination, said that my reflexes are brisker on my left hand side in both my arm and leg. From the examination I realised that the loss of sensation is all down my left side. It's not completely numb, I can feel it when touched but I can feel more on the right side than the left. I can use my arms and legs fine but, with my arm at least I have to put more effort in. It feels weaker and heavy, like there's extra weight attached to it and it tires easily if I'm carrying something. Following the examination the doctor advised me to go to A&E as he felt I needed a CT scan. They did similar physical examinations there and then sent me for a head CT which was clear. They came to the conclusion that it's a type of migraine as I have a history of migraines. However this isn't anything like the migraines I've had before. They said to take over the counter pain killers, but I'm doing this and it's having no effect.

The numbness/weakness is still there in my arm and I am noticing it in my leg now that I'm more conscious of it. When I first stood up this morning I noticed a tingling shooting sensation when my foot came in to contact with the floor, and I remembered that I had numbness in my foot, also left, at the beginning of February which resulted in me injuring my foot and needing to go to minor injuries for x rays. It wasn't broken and no one had any idea how it was bruised and swollen from doing nothing other than walking on it when it was numb, or indeed why it was numb in the first place.

I will be going to the GP to follow up about this. I'm wondering if it could all be related to stress, but I mentioned that to the first doctor I saw and he said that stress or anxiety often bring things to the surface but they can't give you actual, physical symptoms - like the brisk reflexes.

Has anyone had similar or know what this could possibly be? Could it really be a migraine? Even though it feels nothing like a migraine to me?

Stress can make that sort of thing worse too. So although you may find its linked to stress, it may not be stress per se. Really, honestly, ask for an urgent MRI and neurology referral to rule out MS.

Mystified MS has been my concern. A relative was tested for MS a while back and, although she didn't have these symptoms, I read up a lot about it at the time so I know a bit about the symptoms. One thing I'm not sure of though is if these "attacks" are typical of MS - the way they come and go. I do think my GP might dismiss it as stress/anxiety but I would rather rule out anything physical before coming to that conclusion.

Place marking as I get exactly the same as you OP. Life is very stressful for me at the moment ( has been for a couple of years) and I do suffer badly from anxiety / mild depression so I think it's linked to that. Worrying about it definitely makes it worse!

The GP said he doesn't think it's MS as the symptoms tend to be constant for a period and then nothing for a period, as opposed to on/off fleeting things like I've been having. He still thinks migraine and said I should get my eyes tested and he's sent me for blood tests. He's testing ESR which he said is an initial test for MS. He said he's keeping an open mind about it but doesn't think it's that. He asked if I could get the bloods done today so I'm on my way to the hospital now.

I hope all goes well at the hospital, thinking of you x

ESR is an inflammatory marker but not a test for MS. Some GPs really aren't clued up on MS, my own GP told me the last head learned anything about MS was 20 years ago, so best go elsewhere for advice! I was a bit taken aback but appreciated the honesty, at least I knew where I stood!

MS is not detected though blood test. Mine was MRI showing lesions (not detected on CT) which was repeated later and showed new lesions. Sometimes they do lumbar puncture but that's often inconclusive so they sometimes don't even bother (depends on your neurologist).

As for MS going away, it doesn't for everyone. It didn't for me. I have been left with a permanent weakness which gets worse when I'm stressed, and settles a bit between but never goes away fully. For some people they get total remission by not everyone at all. You only have to visit one MS support group to see a room full of people who have never fully recovered to varying degrees.

Yes, I realised that about the blood test after I posted. I googled it and there was no mention of MS and, as you say, it seems to more mention inflammation. I think that whatever is going on is neurological, even if it is migraines, that is neurological and the Dr in A&E said that there's a medication that can be prescribed for migraines but it has to be under the care of a neurologist, so I don't understand why they don't refer me. I suppose the blood tests are a first step and then if I get my eyes tested then all of those initial checks are done and things can either be ruled out or ruled in based on that.

Eye tests won't explain feet not working!

I experienced something very similar when I was about 35 (15 years ago) and although I had a few GP visits and blood tests, ECG maybe, nothing whatsoever was found and there was no speculation of stress or migraines so I ended up feeling like a massive hypochondriac.
It went away eventually but the cold patches on my arm took a long time to go. I do remember that I was dieting at the time and I wonder if that made it seem worse.

The only thing I could think of as a possible trigger was that I had my hair done a couple of days before it started and the back of my head was really uncomfortably pushed into the edge of the sink for ages (I'm very short). So nerve damage of some kind was what I was wondering but I wasn't tested for anything like that. It came back to a lesser degree a couple of times but I haven't had any symptoms for many years now.

Yep, true. I think his logic is that an issue with my eyes is causing migraines which is causing the numbness. I know migraines can present very differently but this is either a constant migraine that causes only numbness since last Wednesday, with peaks throughout each day where it gets worse and other symptoms come on. Or I'm having multiple migraines in a day, some of which last only about 5 minutes and the constant numbness since Wednesday is in my head (figuratively).

I was thinking about it earlier and I remember saying to my mum a while back that I keep dropping things, although I've not noticed if it's more from one side. I also went to the GP a while back as I constantly have bruises all over my legs and I don't remember bumping myself but the conclusion we came to is that I'm just being clumsy.

OP I just wanted to say again how similar you sound to what I went through. I spent an awful couple of months convinced I had MS. I thought I could feel my foot dragging. My arm and leg felt heavy, and I had intermittent facial numbness and tingling down my left side. I dropped things, stumbled and my feet felt different on the floor, like my soles were numb.

My neurologist said as you did that MS symptoms don't come and go over the course of a day/week.

If you google MS it become possible to match everything off as the symptoms are so diverse and there is no 'normal'. But although it's really hard to diagnose, if the clinician says that your symptoms aren't consistent with an MS diagnosis I'd believe them. I hope you get your referral soon but in the meantime please try to be reassured - and remember that a lot of people posting on MS diagnosis forums actually don't have the condition - they just don't come back to update.

That's a good point science. I think when you have something going on like this you want to attach a label to make it manageable or treatable. Its the uncertainty that is so unsettling but you're right, a lot of the symptoms match many different things and they could be caused by a number of random things that are coexisting randomly or because of stress. The waiting isn't fun though!

I know, the weeks I spent waiting for my MRI were some of the longest of my life. It's not fun .

I experienced very similar symptoms to you about 15 years ago when my Mum was very ill. Headaches, weakness down left side, tingling, fuzzy head etc. I was convinced there was something seriously wrong with me, but eventually (after about 3 months) I started to feel better. It was definitely stress related.
I found that massage helped a lot. How are you sleeping? I think the worry made me severely sleep deprived, which then manifested itself in more physical symptoms. I tried all sorts of relaxing techniques - lavender drops on pillow, milky drinks, warm baths etc.
Best of luck.

Did they scan your neck at all? I get numbness in my left arm as I have 2 bulging discs. I also get shooting pains. Oddly, I get right sided symptoms too even though this doesn't correspond qith the scan. I do get lower symptoms too (legs) even though they say i shouldn't although i suspect i have some.sort of degeneration lower down which wasn't scanned so it's worth considering.

Sleep is aa rarity for me. I have two DDs. DD2 is 10 months and breastfed. She tends to wake twice during the night and then is up around 6am. I put it all down to exhaustion initially but then I had a night when they were with their Dad and had 12 hours sleep and I still felt as bad, plus the weird thing last Wednesday made me view it more as something physical.

Might be worth consulting a chiropractor too op, as they are specialists in the nervous system (not just back pain as many think).

They would be able to do a pretty thorough neurological exam, as they are trained in this. Would be able to pick up any 'red flags' as such and also dedicate more time to you than your gp or A&E.

Would be worth thinking about it in the interim between now and a referral through your gp to a neurologist.

Good luck

They just said they were scanning the head, I'm not sure how low down they would have gone with it.

One thing they do seem to be testing for with the bloods is diabetes which is interesting as my Dad has type 1 diabetes, although that was diagnosed when he was 12 and I'm 30 so I'm not sure if his diagnosis is relevant.

Thank you Minnie, I'll have a look for one local. I didn't know they would be able to do that. If they found anything useful I imagine they could give me a report to pass on to my GP.

I know how worrying and stressful strange symptoms can be. I had a period of tingling hands and feet when stressed/anxious. I cake across 'functional neurological symptom disorder'. Have a little google and hopefully it makes you feel a little better. Not saying theres nothing wrong with you, but just that there are also benign/harmless explanations for some of these strange symptoms.

*came

You're welcome Iwasagirl. Yes they could do that or contact your gp directly, with your permission.

Definitely worth following up as being private could be done asap to give you further understanding.

I realise you must be very worried, but as other posters have said they have had similar and there are a lot of things it could be. Xx

I was also going to say hemiplegic migraine. I had one, and it took weeks to get over. I thought I had had a stroke, as I was paralysed down one side for about 15-30 minutes (in and out of consciousness, so not sure how long it lasted). I felt hellish afterwards, but was checked out at the hospital and nothing sinister was found. I was very stressed at the time and think this was why I got it.

This was 16 years ago and I haven't had one since and never want to have one again. However, I do have a lasting legacy, in that sometimes when writing, I find it difficult to get past the first stroke of the first word and my writing is often very untidy, despite my efforts to keep it neat.

I hope you get an answer soon.

I get a tingling/numb left arm when I'm stressed or anxious. A physio tracked it back to me clenching my jaw, which affected my neck, and so on right down to my fingertips. Even my elbow was incredibly painful just to touch. A few sessions of acupuncture did the trick, but it still comes back when I'm feeling particularly stressed like now.

I hope you get it sorted

I'm a hemiplegic migraine sufferer and get a lot of the symptoms you described. They came on suddenly after a lifetime of 'normal migraines' and were very worrying. My migraines follow a pattern every time though so it's easy for me to know that's what's happening.

Recently though I've noticed that if I'm over stressed or over tired I can get the hemiplegic part of the migraine without the effects of a full migraine. Tends to last a day or so depending on how much I can sleep it off (seems to be the only solution for me). The confusion and fog can last days though. The hemiplegic part for me is heaviness in my right leg, I can't lift it or keep it straight so walking is a struggle.

Keep at the tests to rule out anything else but it's amazing what your brain can do to mess you up when feeling awful already