vo-5
06-01-2005, 12:20 AM
My 79 year old mother has been diagnosed with Burning Mouth Syndrome. Also, trigeminal nerve damage. One CAT scan showed a mild stroke, with no insult to the brain; however her left cheek, side of her nose, and mouth are numb, but the stroke was on the wrong side to have cause this numbness. Her tongue feels thick, she is having a lot of trouble swallowing, and said her mouth feels "slimy". Also, parts of her mouth hurt, some are numb, and she cannot taste food. She "looses" her voice often. Her sense of smell is also "off". Now she is having a lot of places all over her body that look like bruises or red skin patches.
She has been through the wringer. She's been to an ENT, neurologist, PCP, and Oncologist. There has yet to be any definitive diagnosis and she is truly at wits end. She is depressed and has lost 20 pounds this year. Her PCP put her an anti-depressant.
She has been "watched" by her cousin who is an oncologist for the past five years due to a "very mild" anemia. Nothing has ever come of that. At first it was suspected CLL, and now he says it MAY be or become some sort of Lymphocytosis. Would her symptoms be consistent with Lymphocytosis or is her mouth/facial issues something different. If different does anyone have ANY idea what it could be. It is driving her and me nutz. All responses are greatly appreciated.
She has been through the wringer. She's been to an ENT, neurologist, PCP, and Oncologist. There has yet to be any definitive diagnosis and she is truly at wits end. She is depressed and has lost 20 pounds this year. Her PCP put her an anti-depressant.
She has been "watched" by her cousin who is an oncologist for the past five years due to a "very mild" anemia. Nothing has ever come of that. At first it was suspected CLL, and now he says it MAY be or become some sort of Lymphocytosis. Would her symptoms be consistent with Lymphocytosis or is her mouth/facial issues something different. If different does anyone have ANY idea what it could be. It is driving her and me nutz. All responses are greatly appreciated.
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DX-
06-01-2005, 12:32 AM
VO-5,
No doubt the symtoms your mother suffers, and the resulting question marks from lack of answers, only make her feel worse.
We can't give you research results on this board, but we can make recommendations about how to find some.
The doctors have already provided you with some prelim diagnoses, so use them as keywords and check them out in your favorite search engine.
Also, because she has such a variety of symtoms, you may want to do what we've recommended on this board a few times. Here are the instructions:
Create a spreadsheet for yourself and begin looking for cross-references. Maybe you begin by listing all your mother's symptoms down one side of the piece of paper. Then start with one possible diagnosis (diagnoses would go across the top of the paper) and go down through the list of symptoms using checks and Xs or plusses and minuses or anything else you like that line up with that diagnosis. Then try another possible diagnosis (or a variation on the first one) and do the same thing. Eventually you should be able to weed out the impossibilities which would narrow your list down, at least.
You can also research just the symptoms. And group them -- all the eye problems together, all the gastro symptoms together, etc. Each symptom would suggest a variety of diagnoses -- and they should correlate with what your findings are with each diagnosis.
The other thing to do, if possible, is to get ahold of your mother's test records and cross reference your spreadsheet with the findings in the records. You can pick up terminology and phraseology that will give you even more details to look up.
Once you've developed your spreadsheet(s) you can take it to your mother's next doctor's appointment. Even if you can't find a correlation, the doctor may be able to -- or it may even open up a whole new avenue of thought.
Our best to you and your Mom both. She's lucky to have you advocating for her.
No doubt the symtoms your mother suffers, and the resulting question marks from lack of answers, only make her feel worse.
We can't give you research results on this board, but we can make recommendations about how to find some.
The doctors have already provided you with some prelim diagnoses, so use them as keywords and check them out in your favorite search engine.
Also, because she has such a variety of symtoms, you may want to do what we've recommended on this board a few times. Here are the instructions:
Create a spreadsheet for yourself and begin looking for cross-references. Maybe you begin by listing all your mother's symptoms down one side of the piece of paper. Then start with one possible diagnosis (diagnoses would go across the top of the paper) and go down through the list of symptoms using checks and Xs or plusses and minuses or anything else you like that line up with that diagnosis. Then try another possible diagnosis (or a variation on the first one) and do the same thing. Eventually you should be able to weed out the impossibilities which would narrow your list down, at least.
You can also research just the symptoms. And group them -- all the eye problems together, all the gastro symptoms together, etc. Each symptom would suggest a variety of diagnoses -- and they should correlate with what your findings are with each diagnosis.
The other thing to do, if possible, is to get ahold of your mother's test records and cross reference your spreadsheet with the findings in the records. You can pick up terminology and phraseology that will give you even more details to look up.
Once you've developed your spreadsheet(s) you can take it to your mother's next doctor's appointment. Even if you can't find a correlation, the doctor may be able to -- or it may even open up a whole new avenue of thought.
Our best to you and your Mom both. She's lucky to have you advocating for her.
mariepom
06-02-2005, 06:37 PM
Hi vo-5,
Do you think it could be Bell's Palsy?
Or maybe thyroid?
Do you think it could be Bell's Palsy?
Or maybe thyroid?
vo-5
06-02-2005, 11:07 PM
Hi vo-5,
Do you think it could be Bell's Palsy?
Or maybe thyroid?Her brother had thyroid cancer, but she claims it's been checked and it's normal. I'll check the Bell's Palsy thing. We're working on the spreadsheet now. Poor thing, she is at her wit's end battling this mouth thing for five years now. Also, I forgot to mention that it started after she had oral surgery on her gums. I don't know if that played a role or not.
Do you think it could be Bell's Palsy?
Or maybe thyroid?Her brother had thyroid cancer, but she claims it's been checked and it's normal. I'll check the Bell's Palsy thing. We're working on the spreadsheet now. Poor thing, she is at her wit's end battling this mouth thing for five years now. Also, I forgot to mention that it started after she had oral surgery on her gums. I don't know if that played a role or not.
screamingdan
06-18-2005, 11:41 PM
Sometimes a dentist can cause damage to the lingual nerve that runs from the mouth through the inner ear with a needle stuck in the wrong area.This will set off BMS.Sometimes head trauma can cause BMS.
vo-5
07-03-2005, 09:06 PM
Sometimes a dentist can cause damage to the lingual nerve that runs from the mouth through the inner ear with a needle stuck in the wrong area.This will set off BMS.Sometimes head trauma can cause BMS.
Thanks for your reply. Is there anything that can be done for her? She is going nuts with this mouth thing. :confused:
Thanks for your reply. Is there anything that can be done for her? She is going nuts with this mouth thing. :confused:
erikandvp
07-04-2005, 12:22 AM
Check her for GERD or acid refux and oral candidiasis. She probably has mutiple health problems which are not all related to the same ailment.
skygirl
07-04-2005, 09:07 AM
Does your mother use denture cream?
My husband started using a new improved cream, and his mouth started burning. He made several trips to the doctor, but, never found the problem. We finally decided it may be the new denture cream. He switched brands and his mouth cleared up.
My husband started using a new improved cream, and his mouth started burning. He made several trips to the doctor, but, never found the problem. We finally decided it may be the new denture cream. He switched brands and his mouth cleared up.