A few weeks ago the left side of my head began tingling. Now it tingles, and hurts. The pain is sometimes like a little electrical shock and other times like someone is driving nails in my head. My entire left side is weaker than the right. My left side hearing is less, the muscles on my left side are weaker. My neurolgist says the tingling and pain are trimenigial neuritus. He prescribed neurotin 300mg twice a day. This seems to help the intensity and frequency of the pain.

My short term memory has gotten terrible. I stumble around sometimes like a drunk. A CT of my head showed cortical brain atrophy excessive for my age. Could this be the cause of my stumbling and failing memory?

I have had a dialated cardiomyopathy for 10 years. I have a 100% paced heart rythm, AB abulation done in 1994. I have an ejection fraction of 49%, and my angiogram of my heart showed clear coronary arteries. I have CHF Stage III NYHA.
I take Coreg 25mg BID, Accupril 20mg, Spironolactone 25 mg, Pamalor 50mg, Serazone 100mg, Lasix 40mg, Kudar 20mg, Coumadin 5mg, Lanoxin .125mg, Vitamin E 400mg, Multiple Vitamin.

A friend of mine who is a radiologist told me I had nothing to worry about. I still worry.

Any comments or suggestions would be appreciated.

Thanks

Your problem is not in your brain. It's an inflamation of the nerves that are on the side of your head. The ones that run through the muscles attached to your skull and through the skin. The tingling is caused by swollen nerves that are compressed. Think of like when your leg goes to sleep. Thats usually caused by a nerve that gets pinched when you sit down. If the muscles around your estaceon tube are affect, it can restrict the drainage from your inner ear causing pressure to build up and a temporary loss of hearing.

Everything else is OK.

To help your problem get better faster, it's important to keep the affected side of your head warm at all time. That means, cover up when you go into cold weather. You can also gently massage the affected area with your finger tips to keep the blood flowing in the area. A decongestant tablet may help to improve your hearing. It's also important to eat a proper diet and drink plenty of fluids.

Robert,

Thanks for your reply. My head seems to feel much bettter, with the neurotin. I sleep better and my head hardly ever tingles.

I am still concerned about my memory lapses and confusion. At one time I had a near photographic memory, and now I find it difficult to even read the instructions when helping my son with a project. I read the words but they don't seem to go together.

My stumbling I'm sure is due to my low blood pressure which is nessitated due to my cardiomyopathy. But I sure get tired of dragging my butt up off the floor, or hanging on to the door just to stand up.

You may have hit upon my reason for loss of hearing, and I suppose an inner ear problem could be the cause of my loss of balance.

I appreciate your response to my posting, and realize you must be a person with either a great deal of education or "on the job"(illness) training.

thanks again
Dave