Numb right side of face since June '05 - Brain & Nervous System Disorders Message Board

gremlin54 · 03-21-2006, 03:32 PM

Hi all.

I've have been having some symptoms, such as tiredness and aching in leg muscles. The main symptom is that the right side of my face (top lip, palate and tip of nose) has been feeling numb since about last June. It's not something that's gone into remission and although there's no palsy, it's bloomin' annoying.

Had a head MRI in Aug- no lesions, and all bloods OK with slightly elevated bilirubin level (whatever that means?). Went to see a neurologist who def said NO! MS. I asked her how she could diagnose that just by using a few pinprick and basic balance tests. She asked if I was stressed and I said no. She didn't order any more tests.

Went to see an ENT specialist last week as I'm having difficulty swallowing because of the numbness on my right side. He put a camera up my nose to chack my sinuses, which were ok. He didn't think that there was anything serious wrong and put it down to something post-viral which has damaged the trigeminal nerve.
He's ordered me a CAT scan and I had to have a blood test to check my calcium levels.

My questions are:
The sensory feeling of numbness on one side of my face hasn't changed for a long time, but would anything show up on an MRI?
Also, has anyone had a CAT scan after an MRI and did it show up anything?

I'd like to get a spine/head MRI (on the NHS this time) but as I had a negative one in Aug, do I have to wait for a while before my GP will order a new ones?

Thanks for taking the time to read this.

ms61 · 08-22-2006, 02:26 PM

If you haven't figured out what is wrong with you yet, it is a long shot, but you might look up the symptoms for Tolosa-Hunt Syndrome. I had the facial numbness, along with some of the other symptoms, and that's the diagnosis I I ended up with after about six months. They tend to diagnose by process of elimination, although my neurosurgeon mentioned it was a possibility pretty much from the beginning. Nothing shows up on CAT scans or MRI scans so they do all the tests to rule out tumors, aneurisms, etc. and go from there to treat what they can. Good luck.

goldsmith · 11-18-2006, 03:59 PM

I posted earlier with left face and head numbness so I'll tell you what I've found out so far. No. one the ENT said what I had was not numbness put PARASTHESIAS....My face, one side, is not so much numb as has a tight feeling. Just like you cut my head in half. From my forehead to my chin and behind the ear. I just had a CT scan and my sinus's were clear and no sign of tumors. I'm off to an Neurologest for an MRI. The tests are different and will show different things. The MRI is better for brain tissue. I have NO pain. This started after some sort of a viral infection which was misdiagnosed as Broncitis. I had a lot of fatigue and little else. Some congestion but not many more symptoms. Just fatigue and then the parasthesis hit. It's been three months and from all my reading I think I have a nerve irritation caused from a virus. It's effecting the trigiminal nerve and hopefull will go away eventually. It's more pronounced and feels worse when my heart rate is elevated as in exercise. I get a bit of a headache but nothing one Tylanol won't cure. It may just be a fluke. I also went to the dentist and had an extensive exam of teeth, jaw and roots of teeth....Good luck...My husband says I'm a half wit.

PearlDoves · 11-19-2006, 01:10 AM

You might want to see a neurosurgeon and see if he/she has any ideas, it could be brain or it could be spine. Spine probs can cause all kinds of numbness and tingling, but I know brain stuff can too and neurosugeons deal with a lot of that and might be able to direct you.

PearlDoves · 11-19-2006, 01:14 AM

Wait! I just remembered, I had an MRA of the Carotid Arteries done recently because of facial numbness just as a precaution.. to rule out if something was wrong with my carotid arteries... if you have carotid dissection going on it could be prelimary for some very serious problems like stroke (i think)... maybe see about haveing that checked out too.