Hello.
I’ve never posted to a forum before but feel like it could help shed some light on my thoughts of worry. I am a mother of 3 and am from the USA. We’ve lived here, in the UK, for two and a half years. My husband is currently working on a Ph.D. All this to say, I am not very familiar with the NHS.
For the past year I have had some bizzare neurological symptoms that were initially chalked up to low iron levels ( a ferritin of 13) Before I was diagnosed with low iron these were my symptoms:
*Cold patches(on my foot, forearm, and thigh)
*Muscle twitching that occurred all over
*Burning sensations over a large part of my body
*Elevated heart rate when I went up the stairs
*Burning thighs anytime I walked up a hill or climbed stairs
*Buzzing in hands, like I swallowed a cell phone switched to vibrate.
*Weakness in my left hand when writing or typing
When I was diagnosed with low ferritin it made all the sense in the world. Even though my iron levels weren’t at a “severe iron deficient” stage, my symptoms were. Thinking that was a little odd, I was relieved it was nothing more. I started on ferrous sulphate and things slowly seemed to get better.
A few months later, however, I noticed that when I finished a run, got out of a hot shower, or was in a hot car the tip of my nose would tingle. My nose never felt numb but would just tingle for a few minutes. I didn’t really think too much of it but a few months after that I noticed the back of my left shoulder blade would go tingly and would sometimes follow up my neck. I began to notice more tingling on my face and hands but was never with numbness. These sensations were more frequent when I was stressed, reprimanding the kids, or out on a run. My speech went a little funny for a few days too. I was having a hard time saying my S’s and I had to think of what I was going to say before I said it. I had many moments of thinking I was going crazy. None of this made sense. I started cutting the tags out of my t-shirts hoping that would somehow fix the annoying and slightly painful sensations on my shoulder. I didn’t go see a GP until recently when I was running up a hill and lost some vision in my left eye. It was as if there was a blank patch right in front of me. This freaked me out. Although it only lasted a few minutes and hasn’t happened again since, I’m really starting to worry.
I went back to the GP and told her all my symptoms, which I could tell, she thought I was a little koo koo. The GP took more blood and all my tests came back normal. My ferritin level was 34 and I was told by the GP that this level would not cause any tingling sensations nor any of my other symptoms. When I asked what this could be she just shrugged. She said it was probably nothing to worry about. I said, “great I hope it’s nothing to worry about. Would you mind referring me to a neurologist?”
I have my first neurology appt. on Saturday in Edinburgh. To be honest, I’m really nervous. I don’t know what to expect. I’ve had an MRI but that was10 years ago because of vertigo. The MRI was normal. I had some right frontal lobe atrophy probably due to an injury I had when I was little. I also had a cyst in my pineal glad but no biggie.
I should tell you that four years ago I went to see a GP because I had tingling on the soles of my feet. It felt like I was constantly walking on sand. With that, I had this incredibly odd feeling of being detached with the world around, like I was in a dream state. It was so weird. After about a month both symptoms went away. My GP thought I was just worn down. All my blood result were normal.
I don’t know what I’m hoping to gain by posting? Perhaps just some encouragement. I feel drained by the “what if” thoughts. I, like everyone else, want to be strong and fit. I’m scared that this may be something.
Thanks for reading. Your words are welcomed.
Your responses mean more than you know.