At my wits end - Pl. help. - Neuropathy Message Board

razz123 · 12-28-2005, 11:58 AM

Hi,

I started to have burning sensation (sometimes painful) on my finger tips and toes (bilateral) after an Abdominal CT Scan (with oral and IV contrast). Not sure if this is paresthesia as I have not been officially diagnosed yet.

At first, this problem was persistent (day and night, though worse in the evening). Its been 2 months now since all this started and lately I notice that the problem goes away (or becomes very mild) for a few days but only to come back strongly and then it remains that way for the next few days....so the cycle continues. (when it is present, it is always worse in the evening)

I don't know what causes it to go away(or become very mild) and what causes it to come back. I maintain a mental diary of everyday events and nothing seems to explain this.

The only "medication" I am on is a B12 sublingual(the methyl version) and have taken two B12 shots in the past month.

Also, I should mention that I have undergone a host of blood tests. All normal..B12 was 313 (which is lower end of normal)...but not sure if that is causing this...as I started to have this problem only after the Abdominal CT Scan.

Any ideas about what might be causing the "paresthesia" to go away and come back intermittently will be greatly appreciated.

Thanks in Advance.

Lena-marie · 12-28-2005, 09:23 PM

Hi there, Wow your story is similar to mine, I have had a burning in the feet, legs and hands since last march going on year soon, and it comes and goes, just like you explain, I have undergone an MRI of spine and they found a herniated disk in c5 c6 and a bulged c4c5 and I also had an MRI of brain and it was normal, and a bunch of blood work and its all normal, I have no idea what can be causing such a bizarre thing to happen and come and go so frequently but when its here its so painful, like acid all over my body~bad burning and a raw feeling like frostbite kinda..real odd stuff!!!
Lena

razz123 · 12-29-2005, 12:59 AM

Hi Lena-Marie,

I have had a Brain MRI but not of the spine.

Also, I only have the burning in the fingers and toes (very infrequently I have numbness in the legs though).

The crazy thing is that a couple of months ago I had all sorts of stomach issues which led up to the Abdominal CT Scan...and that was the point when my neurological problems began.

Not sure what further tests to do.

curiousforever · 12-29-2005, 11:49 AM

I don't know how the abdominal ct scan would correlate...

what activities lead up to the burning? are you typing? sleeping? what? certain things like that can help determine what possible causes are.

razz123 · 12-30-2005, 12:47 PM

^ I understand that CT Scans are not known to cause such things.

But it is too much of a coincidence for me that I started to experience headaches, nausea and burning/painful sensation in my fingers and toes immediately after the CT Scan. The nausea and headaches subsided but my neurological problems remain. My health issues were confined to the abdomen earlier.

I have read at some places(but admittedly not from very reliable sources) that the dye used in CT Scan can sometimes cause this so I was wondering. I had the Oral(Barium) as well as the IV(iodine) dye for my test.

The only other thing that fits the onset of the neurological symptoms is that I had a major panic attack during that time(though I am mentally doing much better now). Not sure if that could have triggered these problems.