Nervous....tests coming fast and furious
Posted: Fri Jan 03, 2014 11:52 am
Hi,
It's been a strange few months for me. I'm a 42 year old male and I've been having some degree of trouble recently.
It all began when I quit smoking in July. While I was reducing what I smoked (from about 16/day), I started to feel lightheaded (almost drunk if you will). I also started to have problems concentrating, started to get much more tired than ususal and got quite constipated. I figured the problem was simple nicotine withdrawl and told myself to buck up, it'll pass.
2 months later, it didn't. Everything I felt gradually got worse, with other items popping up. First and foremost my fine motor control started to deteroriate (I'm an avid pool player, and very good at it. Over the course of a few months I now consider myself below average on most days, however from time to time my game is what it was.). I also started to get more tired and need more sleep. So much so to the point that I'll fall asleep when I get home from work sometimes (about 5:00 and not get up until 5:30 am). Once I get up, I'm still tired.
I went to my family doctor, he figured it was withdrawl, recommeded I try either using a Nicotine Patch or Caffene (stimulant to replace Nicotine). I tried Caffene, which helped for a few days, then went back to the same as before. Tried the patch for 2 weeks. That helped for a few days, then went back to the same as before. I reported this to my doctor, he thought it may be anxiety caused by lack of Nicotine, so he put me on Clonazepam to see if that would help at all. Again it seemed like it helped for a while but after a few days I went back to the same as before.
Went back to my doctor, he ordered some blood tests and EEG and a CT scan. The EEG took a long time, however my blood tests came back normal and my CT scan came back negative. I also started to get headaches (which I'd never had any in my entire life). Then a few days before the EEG, something new happened...
Nearly everything from my waist down went mildly numb. Wasn't like I couldn't feel anything at all, but nothing felt right. Couldn't feel light touches, couldn't feel it when I urinated or deficated (still constipated though...that hasn't been right in months). This went on for a couple days before the EEG and I talked to the technician about it. He told me that I had to see my doctor again urgently. The next day I went back to my doctor, he perscribed an MRI. Went to the emergency room, waited for about 17 hours (during that time some feeling came back and was replaced with light tingling sensations where I was numb) they did a bunch of tests, like touching my nose, walking heel-to-toe kind of thing (no idea what they made of them). They then admitted me as an outpatient and ordered a MRI for my brain and spine. It took about 10 days or so to have my legs and private areas come back to normal.
Shortly after this I started to find that if my legs or arms were still for any more than a few minutes, they would start to tingle, and sometimes start to hurt. While in the MRI, the only thing I could think is 'don't move...don't move...' My shoulders have been stiff' and my neck has been sore steadily for about a week.
I had a pre-booked appointment 2 days after my brain MRI. The doctor delivered the results to me yesterday and I apparently scanned clean on my spine, but about 20 lesions were found in my brain (up to 9mm in size). Inital suspision is MS or Vasculitis. They wanted me to do a lumbar puncture (scheduled this Monday) and have ordered more blood tests which I have to go to a lab to get done.
What should I expect to happen, or questions that you think I should ask?
It's been a strange few months for me. I'm a 42 year old male and I've been having some degree of trouble recently.
It all began when I quit smoking in July. While I was reducing what I smoked (from about 16/day), I started to feel lightheaded (almost drunk if you will). I also started to have problems concentrating, started to get much more tired than ususal and got quite constipated. I figured the problem was simple nicotine withdrawl and told myself to buck up, it'll pass.
2 months later, it didn't. Everything I felt gradually got worse, with other items popping up. First and foremost my fine motor control started to deteroriate (I'm an avid pool player, and very good at it. Over the course of a few months I now consider myself below average on most days, however from time to time my game is what it was.). I also started to get more tired and need more sleep. So much so to the point that I'll fall asleep when I get home from work sometimes (about 5:00 and not get up until 5:30 am). Once I get up, I'm still tired.
I went to my family doctor, he figured it was withdrawl, recommeded I try either using a Nicotine Patch or Caffene (stimulant to replace Nicotine). I tried Caffene, which helped for a few days, then went back to the same as before. Tried the patch for 2 weeks. That helped for a few days, then went back to the same as before. I reported this to my doctor, he thought it may be anxiety caused by lack of Nicotine, so he put me on Clonazepam to see if that would help at all. Again it seemed like it helped for a while but after a few days I went back to the same as before.
Went back to my doctor, he ordered some blood tests and EEG and a CT scan. The EEG took a long time, however my blood tests came back normal and my CT scan came back negative. I also started to get headaches (which I'd never had any in my entire life). Then a few days before the EEG, something new happened...
Nearly everything from my waist down went mildly numb. Wasn't like I couldn't feel anything at all, but nothing felt right. Couldn't feel light touches, couldn't feel it when I urinated or deficated (still constipated though...that hasn't been right in months). This went on for a couple days before the EEG and I talked to the technician about it. He told me that I had to see my doctor again urgently. The next day I went back to my doctor, he perscribed an MRI. Went to the emergency room, waited for about 17 hours (during that time some feeling came back and was replaced with light tingling sensations where I was numb) they did a bunch of tests, like touching my nose, walking heel-to-toe kind of thing (no idea what they made of them). They then admitted me as an outpatient and ordered a MRI for my brain and spine. It took about 10 days or so to have my legs and private areas come back to normal.
Shortly after this I started to find that if my legs or arms were still for any more than a few minutes, they would start to tingle, and sometimes start to hurt. While in the MRI, the only thing I could think is 'don't move...don't move...' My shoulders have been stiff' and my neck has been sore steadily for about a week.
I had a pre-booked appointment 2 days after my brain MRI. The doctor delivered the results to me yesterday and I apparently scanned clean on my spine, but about 20 lesions were found in my brain (up to 9mm in size). Inital suspision is MS or Vasculitis. They wanted me to do a lumbar puncture (scheduled this Monday) and have ordered more blood tests which I have to go to a lab to get done.
What should I expect to happen, or questions that you think I should ask?