23, worried and looking for insight..

[MB315]

Hello,


My ordeal began about 3 weeks ago...
I noticed I was having urinary urgency/frequency accompanied by abdominal pressure and some bowel issues.
*Ruled out: UTI, ovarian cyst, kidney stones, & blood work came back normal.
Let me just state that I have extreme anxiety when it comes to this kind of stuff.
Bowel issues have improved since. The pressure is gone. Urinary issues aren't quite as urgent but present still.
However, I started noticing that my legs felt very heavy in the calf muscles, primarily my left.
My left side from neck to bicep have felt weaker/tighter as well (I am left handed).
Fully extending my left leg felt more difficult..but I have improved this by stretching it.
When I take a shower, these muscles don't seem to relax very much.
I'm concerned this is spasticity.. The sensation in these areas has seemed to decrease some..
Although I can't say I have had any cramping, tingling or full on numbing thus far.
I do have an inner ear disorder (dx 3 years ago) which has caused me balance issues when the weather shifts..This has been bothersome as well..but I cannot tell if it's related.
I have had some decrease in my vision over the last few months.
Been having a terrible time sleeping, waking up every hour or two.
I have had very little appetite and have lost a good amount of weight due to fretting over this.
I work 40 hours a week, on my feet most of the day.. So I'm not sure if this is a stress reaction.
Does this sound like spasticity or close to anyone's MS symptoms?
I do not have a history of these issues happening in the past.
I'd just like some insight.

[jimmylegs]

hi and welcome

sounds tough must be running you down a bit spending 40 hrs a week on your feet and then not sleeping or eating much :S

curious if you could describe what you do eat, when you have a bit of appetite? when was the last time you had a really good night's sleep? was there anything different going on that you can think of, at that time?

i ask because it might make it tougher for the docs to figure out exactly what is going on and treat appropriately, if there are might be anything in the mix that you have control over that could be linked to symptoms, and clouding the diagnostic scenario.

[MB315]

Well my issue is that I was eating little to nothing. Maybe a small bowel of cereal a day. I've lost 17 pounds. But I've been upping it more. I've slept roughly 6 hours a night, waking up frequently. I was moving around very slowly the first 2 weeks and when I picked up the pace a bit I started noticing the weakness/stiffness. My strength seems lessened but if I need to use it, I still can. but my left hand seems rather floppy and less controlled.. My bicep seems the tightest still. Small amount of pull in my neck/shoulder. I've noticed that my fingers are always colder on that side..physically, not just the sensation. Same with the toes on my left side. I've thought of low potassium or vitamin b12.. My blood work didn't show any of that low but that was only 7 days into not eating well.. It's been 3 weeks. Maybe it's truely just weakness, stress and fatigue. Because I have yet to have any type of spasms or complete numbing.

[jimmylegs]

ok sounds pretty tough all in all. i would say if you can make a special effort to direct daily energy to really taking care of your body's needs, that you might see a bit of a reversal. three weeks of neglect shouldn't have gotten you into an irreversible situation. if you can focus on eating whole, nutrient-dense foods when you do eat, as opposed to cereal, i suspect you'll start to notice improvements.

bloodwork is unfortunately often nonsense when it comes to nutritional status evaluation :S that's a pandora's box we can open another time.

maybe you could try adding plenty of cooked spinach and red pepper to the routine (eg in soups, stews, chili or pasta sauces), sweet potatoes, broccoli, maybe a piece of salmon once a week, some oysters and/or clams once a week, a weekly serving of venison if you have access, eggs, quinoa, garden veg salads, sprouts, mixed berries, include a daily 1/4c of trail mix made of pumpkin seeds, sunflower seeds, cashews, almonds, and chocolate covered goji berries. hummous, seasoned plain yogurt dips, organic popcorn, herbal teas, mineral rich spring water (ie NOT reverse osmosis filtered) etc you could try emphasizing foods like that for a month, and then see if you still need to visit the doc for any remaining symptoms.

fyi http://www.webmd.com/vitamins-and-suppl ... lthy-foods

for a quick fix to your muscle tension, until you can get some good nutrient dense food into you, have you got any epsom salts? if not maybe you could pick some up and take a nice soak or three. i wouldn't be surprised if a regular epsom salts bath (or better yet magnesium chloride flakes if you can find them) would help you feel less muscle tightness, warmer fingers, less anxiety, and could even help you sleep better.

[lyndacarol]

Well my issue is that I was eating little to nothing. Maybe a small bowel of cereal a day. I've lost 17 pounds. But I've been upping it more. I've slept roughly 6 hours a night, waking up frequently. I was moving around very slowly the first 2 weeks and when I picked up the pace a bit I started noticing the weakness/stiffness. My strength seems lessened but if I need to use it, I still can. but my left hand seems rather floppy and less controlled.. My bicep seems the tightest still. Small amount of pull in my neck/shoulder. I've noticed that my fingers are always colder on that side..physically, not just the sensation. Same with the toes on my left side. I've thought of low potassium or vitamin b12.. My blood work didn't show any of that low but that was only 7 days into not eating well.. It's been 3 weeks. Maybe it's truely just weakness, stress and fatigue. Because I have yet to have any type of spasms or complete numbing.

I urge you to read the book, Could It Be B12? An Epidemic of Misdiagnoses by Sally M. Pacholok, RN, BSN, and Jeffrey J. Stuart, D.O. (This may be available at your library.): http://b12awareness.org/could-it-be-b12 ... diagnoses/

On page 11:

There is much controversy as to what constitutes a normal result for this test [serum vitamin B12 test]. Because of this controversy, this test is often used in conjunction with other markers of B12 deficiency (MMA, Hcy, and more recently the HoloTc).

… We believe that the "normal" serum B12 threshold needs to be raised from 200 pg/mL to at least 450 pg/mL because deficiencies begin to appear in the cerebral spinal fluid (CSF) below 550 pg/mL.

At this time, we believe normal serum B12 levels should be greater than 550 pg/mL.…

We commonly see patients with clinical signs of B12 deficiency who are not being tested. Others who are being tested are not being treated because their serum B12 falls in the gray zone [between 200 pg/mL and 450 pg/mL]. This error results in delayed diagnosis and an increased incidence of injury.

Compare your B12 test results to those recommended by the authors.

[jimmylegs]

keeping in mind of course that food is NOT 100% B12. far from it. my goodness :S

[MB315]

Thank you!

[jimmylegs]

np!