hi everyone,
anyone else feel like they're on a wild medical goose chase? i'm so frustrated with the medical community i could scream and the worse part is i'm a nurse.

i have been having multiple neurological symptoms for four months and have been told, post viral neuropathy, bppv, anxiety and depression.

i know some of my symptoms could be totally unrelated, but when things start to go wrong i think most people become hypervigilant about every creak and spasm.

i turned 40 yesterday, never any health problems (two c=sections and benign ovarian cyst) in june i started getting blurry vision in my right eye. (all my symptoms are right sided) then i started getting sensitive to light, my face started feeling numb, my neck started creaking and my balance felt off. i started feeling fuzzy and was having vertigo everytime i moved a certain way. Then i moved forward quickly and felt something pop in my back (not painful) Then one day at work i reached for something and my arm felt like it went dead.

Off to the e.r. after the arm thing, cat scan negative, cardiac workup negative, labs negative. off to opathamologist, eyes are perfect, to neuro for exam, mri of c spine and head with and without contrast, negative. off to ent for ENG test, negative, tested for lyme, syphillis, vit deficiencies, tsh, negative, sed rate negative, cpk and trop and clotting, negative, ekg, negative.

i still have all these symptoms, in addition i notice that my shoulders are uneven, left is lower and that my right foot turns out when i walk (my right knee is hyperextended and don't know if it's related)

can anyone help me? is this one big mystery or all separate issues. I'm not in any pain, occassionally i'll have neck and shoulder spasms and my right pinky and ring finger and part of my palm go numb.

i know it's not ms, als, arthritis, lupus, fibro or thyroid. now i'm starting to get concerned i have a spinal tumor or cancer or something......

sorry for rambling but i'm at wits end.

katie

Woah, I would suggest seeing a Neurosurgeon, not because I think you might need surgery, but because they might have much better insight into what is going on with you. Perhaps a Spinal Tap might give some good insight... I know sometimes people have not enough fluid in around their brain and sometimes too much fluid as well if - like IIH (Idiopathic Intracranial Hypertension (which can cause symptoms with the eyes and headaches)).

The problems with your neck and back though... that makes me still a bit suspicious that something might be going on with those discs in there and a Neurogsurgeon would also be the person to help you thru that as well.. whether that be with another MRI of the Spine, a CT or a discogram. Being that you are a nurse, I know you probably lift heavy patients, which could put things out of wack in necks and backs.

MRA of the neck and brain might also be good to rule out problems with the arteries, numbness in the face seems to be a sign of that somtimes according to the concern of a doc had for me once.

The uneven problems in shoulder I can't place, let me know what it is if you get it figured out if you can. But I wouldn't be suprised if it was related somehow.

I hope this helps somehow, please keep us posted. Good luck and God Bless.

You probably should try a Chiropractic Neurologist. sounds like you could just be plain out of alignment. M.D's don't like chiros, and i doubt if they would ever suggest it. Also consider having tests done at Spectracell in Houston. They measure intracellular levels...somthing most doctors don't even have a clue about. You're right about the medical community. Doctors are now just highly paid drug reps.

Well, you sound like me and I don't mean that in a bad way.I have had neurological symptoms for a little over 3 months now. It seems that nothing ever shows up but you know that something is wrong. They at first thought MS with me but all tests are negative. I was told by the MS community on here that there is no diffinitive test for MS though and everything can say negative and it still can be MS. The only way to diagnose MS is to rule everything that mimics ms out. The numbness, vertigo, blurry vision, and one sidedness all are symptoms of MS. I'm not saying that is what you have because I'm not Dr, I am just saying don't rule anything out.

I also have shoulders that don't sit square and have bulging discs in my back but the neuro said that wouldn't cause my symptoms. So, I guess we are in the same boat,lets keep each other company!! :wave: Don't give up, because I'm not! tanda

I agree,an MRA done on the brain and c spine really would be your best bet at this point,it can possibly show some sort of vascular malformation that was hidden from view with the MRI,even with contrast.some malformations just cannot be seen at all til the other structures are removed,this was the only way my aneurysm was actually seen because it was at a bend and also very very close to a junction with the vertebral artery.at this point,what have you got to lose.do you actually have all of the copies of all the tests in your possession?if not,get them and go thru them yourself.in most cases,docs will never actually tell you all of what was actually found within the report.getting a second read on all your films is also a great idea.any actual interpretation done on any films is only as good as the radiologist who is doing the reading.good luck and please keep us posted.Marcia

Hi Katie,

Sorry to hear about your terrible symptoms and frustration...welcome to my world. I have been dealing with terrible symptoms for 9 months with no answers. I too have had all the bloodwork, EMG/NVC, Spinal Tap, Brain and Spine MRI's etc. etc. One difference I guess is I had a large cervical herniation 15 months ago...5 months after that happened I got nailed with the neuro stuff. Dizziness, gait disturbance (balance off, took way too much concentration to walk), crazy amounts of muscle twitching, severe neck/arm pain, sympathetic nervous system just whacked out - charged all the time - when it's really overloaded causes hands and/or legs to tremor, hyperreflexia, suddenly I have high blood pressure (it was always low prior to this), numbenss/tingling pretty much everywhere. All of the symptoms are up and down, move around, no 2 days (or hours) quite the same. It's been awful. I encourage you to stick with this board for ideas and support as there are a lot of helpful people with good ideas. It's been so helpful to me. Anyway...I don't have answers yet either...though at some point I believe that I will be reporting about how my crappy neck has been causing this mess...though at this point I have no NS supporting this, though my PCP thinks this needs to be investigated closer. Anyway, my advice - keep pushing, don't let them send you away with the anxiety/depression talk and drugs. Certainly that can contribute to the symptoms - but don't let them make you lose confidence and start to believe "it's in your head." (though physically maybe it is!) :) These board members have helped me to listen to my body and push the docs more for answers. I am trying to remain hopeful that in the next few months I will have some answers (I hate waiting for these appts forever) and will keep posting here. I hope you'll do the same. Good luck. Mona