Have been following this forum for a few weeks now and thought I’d throw my thoughts in too. Am awaiting referral to neurologist (currently about 10 week waiting list) after visiting the doctor with numbness in whole of right side, including face (which feels like I’ve had injections from the dentist), severe vertigo, fatigue, blurred vision etc. etc… Feel like I’m making it up sometimes but these symptoms have been coming and going for years, although this is the first time I’ve discussed I’ve with my gp. All bloods have come back normal so now waiting for MRI. Due to go back to work tomorrow after 3 weeks sick followed by 2 weeks holiday and just don’t feel ready. Really anxious about what this could be and still feeling very odd down the whole of my right side. Any advice?
Have now seen my gp again and given plenty of support and a bit more time to deal with the anxiety. Told this process of diagnosis of a neurological condition could take many months with nothing definitive being a possible outcome. How has anyone else managed the uncertainty? Don’t want to keep thinking every new twinge is somehow associated.
Hi heleberr75,
Please consider anxiety to contribute to the severity of the symptoms and the appearance of new ones (sometimes they can be very similar), so try to relax as much as possible. actually work can be distracting, so you might consider going back rather than googling and self diagnosing. sometimes is difficult when anxiety kicks but at least i was proving to myself that im still capable to work and gave me some normality in life.
Wish you all the best with the tests and results,
s.
Thanks for the reply, realise that anxiety may well be causing more problems / severity so work may well help, I know they will be very supportive, just not sure how much detail to share. Great to have this forum to explore others experiences too.
Hi
Has GP offered you CBT for your anxiety? I have various neuro symptoms and CBT has been really helpful in calming me and helping me cope.
Jane
Great advice, I’ll certainly look into that, thanks
Helena
hi heleberr75
im in exactly the same boat as you, mine also down right side started march 2014 i had pins and needles in my face and neck drooping slightly docs said id had an alergic reaction to something so packed me off with antihistamines , this continued the whole of summer with flu like symptoms with long periods spent in bed even getting to loo was a serious effort numerous trips back and forth to docs being diagnosed with a possibility of shingles bad hay fever anxiety blepharitis a virus fibromyalgia trigeminal neuralgia the list went on and on , i struggled on at work till sept last year when the doc signed me off sick for a break i havnt been able to return as yet , was referred to a neurologist in sept had scan january nothing showed so was discharged back to gp and back to square one ,the pins and needles down right side are the worst i sleep with my arms up and cant always move right arm and leg , they feel draggy like when you have a dead leg from sitting on it , i get burning sensations and most recently i fall due to not getting my footing properly having like an odd dizzy feeling like im walking on air , i get a lot of pressure in my head ear area , ive recently caught a cold and am in my 5th week i cant seem,to fight anything , ive also now got eye issues feel like my right eye has dropped and sight doesn’t line up with left eye sight bits missing in long distant sight not being able to focus because of dizziness blurry etc ive now been referred for a second opinion to a neurologist also booked in for a sight test Friday ,so am in the same frustrating boat as you , desperate for any reason to why this is happening and desperate to find out what it is ??? Like you ive found this website a big help as all symptoms bring me back here .
Hi Natasha77
Sorry to hear you’re having such a bad time. Hopefully this new referral will come up with some answers. All of this sounds so familiar, but I have never put it all together until now. I don’t feel like I’m making it up anymore.
Helena
yes i also felt like it could be in my head because no one was listening but like so many on here desperate for answers , half the battle would be a diagnosis what ever it may be , it just takes time i know that but with google cant help but search , hope you get your app soon too ,
Natasha
Hi, my partner is currently in hospital with very similar symptoms to you Helena. She was admitted as a suspected mini-stroke case. CAT scan was clear as was bloods but an MRI picked up ‘inconclusive lesions’ so she’s getting a lumbar puncture tomorrow. She had the vertigo/vomiting thing last week - we put it down to an inner ear infection. She also has a numb face, arm and leg so GP immediately thought Stroke.
Seems like diagnosis is a bit of a treasure hunt. Hope you get access to the support you need soon but please go back to your GP and press to ge access to some support for your anxiety. Good luck in your quest for a diagnosis xx
That sounds like a really scary time for you both, hope you get some answers and all the support you both need.
Helena
I can’t believe it’s only 2 weeks since I last posted. Have since then experienced an episode of bowel incontinence and GP is trying to hurry up my neurology referral because of this. Thankfully I managed to deal with this without anyone noticing, has anyone else had to manage this most embarrassing problem?
I have had this going on for the past two years, MRI scans, evoked potential tests and now waiting to see a Neurologist. It all stemmed from a visit to the optician who sent me for visual field tests and then an eye specialist who discovered I’d lost colour in one eye. Nightmare stuff, I have blurred vision, memory issues, sensations in hands and feet.
This has happened to me very rarely, but it has happened, and so I really feel for you.
The psychological impact of wayward guts can be worse even than the messy bit! It can be hard to convince oneself that an isolated incident can be just that - an isolated incident. Try not to let it dent your confidence too much - there is every chance that it will turn out to have been a one-off or very rare event, even if your gut trouble does turn out to be linked to other neurological matters - and you don’t even know for sure that it is. In other words: don’t panic. Easier said than done, I know.
Alison
Thanks, hasn’t happened again, so just going to consider it a one off and try and forget it!
Hi, back again! Does anyone else have problems with acid reflux? I’ve often had bits of food come back after eating, but am getting a really sore throat from acid, not sure whether to mention it to docs?
Also finding that numbness and muscle twitching etc seem to get better for a few days and then come back with a vengeance, does that sound usual?
Helena
Hi Helena,
About the acid reflux; you should definitely see a doctor. I can’t comment about symptoms coming and going.
I used to have bowel incontinence a lot. Converting the bathroom to a wet-room has been helpful. The medication I’m on now create constipation so the pendulum has swung the other way.
Anthony