Hello everyone.
This is my first time here. I have had numbness and tingling in my arms now for coming up to two years. It started just in my lower left arm. It is now in both and the majority of the time my left arm feels numb by about 25percent all the time. I have problems walking anyway due to OA but find I can’t walk too far because my legs ache. I have restless legs at night too. I suffer bouts of fatigue and when I get them my vision is blurred and my arms are worse. I usually get a new symptom such as pins and needles in leg/s. In my most recent bout I had numbness on my right side of my face from under my eyelid to my top lip which is now permanent and had numbness all down my right leg. I have trouble swallowing during these times too. More recently I have issues with noise and the last two weeks it has been so bad I have left rooms crying because it gave me such a severe headache. I forget words when I’m tired too and stop mid sentence when talking. I also get random sharp shooting almost burning type pains in my hands and feet. My muscles in my leg get taught sometimes and stiff too, I struggle with short term memory and am tired everyday especially in the afternoons I usually have to nap, nap can be anything from an hour to three!
I saw a neuro in May this year. I followed advice from this site and did a five year list of symptoms and deterioration even down to one year, six and then three months and listed all my symptoms. My neuro was awful. Very dismissive from the start and told me pretty much straight away after a neuro exam, which I passed, that I didn’t have MS. I have a history of migraine which has been under control for over two yrs on low dosage meds. She basically put all my symptoms down to chronic pain and my meds. Reluctantly she did an mri of my brain and c spine and a nerve test with needle thing (sorry forgot name) in my left arm.
I had my results saying the nerve test was within normal limits and my brain scan showed 2 lesions one in the right cerebral penduncle and one adjacent to the splenium of the left corpus callosum. Signal characteristics non specific and there is scattered white foci high signal in both cerebral hemispheres. No definite lesion on the c Spine but something. No point going on with that bit. Neuro got another consultant to look and both say that there are no definite demyelinating plaques and so I don’t have ms. I have tried for a second opinion but my local CQC won’t fund this. My doctor was reluctant to refer even though I pointed out the radiographer recommended a full spinal mri which I haven’t had and I mentioned I haven’t had a lumbar puncture either. Both of these neuro’s are specialists in stroke and dementia. I saw my gp this week about the noise issue and she has put it down to my migraines and told me to up my dosage of my meds.
I am at a loss. What can I do? Is this even worth pursuing anymore? I don’t personally fee this is due to chronic pain and meds which I have had and been on for years it makes no sense can anyone help me? Or at least give me an idea of what to do next?
P.s. I had a brain mri in 2014 and the two lesions showed up then. They told me the scans are unchanged and have put it all down to migraine. I Feel like they keep putting everything down to existing stuff. I don’t feel heard and I am beside myself. My family don’t understand or give me any support. Please help. Thank you in advance.