Symptoms but have to wait 6 months for MRI!

[Brianne11]

Hello

I'm a 28yr old woman in Canada with 3 young children.
A few years ago I expieranced the right side of my face going numb, first starting with my tongue and lastly up to my eye. I didn't lose control of my muscle and had no droopyness and after all my bloodwork came back they sent me on my way with no answers.. it took 3 weeks for it to un-numb. (Felt like the dentist numbing)

Fast Forward 2.5 years later and I started expierancing the most extreme fatigue, I can't even put into words how horrible the fatigue was.. I would cry having to get out of bed to get my oldest to school because I just needed to sleep.. My doctor tested my blood and everything came back perfect. After about 5 months of this extreme fatigue my finger tips started to go numb/tingling... always starting with my pinky and ring finger moving to the rest and only lasting around 12hrs. I didn't think much of it honestly and thought maybe I leaned on my hands or something but on a visit to my doctor to talk about my extreme fatigue and how it was making me go crazy, I casually mentioned the random numbing of my fingers, he sent me for a very in depth blood work (when I got to the clinic the nurse had to call someone because she wasn't even sure they tested for all the things he requested in Canada, that's how detailed!) And everything came back absolutely perfect. So now I wait for my MRI which is a 6 month wait where I live, still have 3 months left of waiting. My doctor was really hoping for a defiencey in vitiman D, B12 or thyroid issues but all came back perfect..
Thankfully and strangely in the last month my extreme fatigue is just gone, can't explain how happy I am!!
The tingling has contuined randomly.. usually every 2-3 weeks, lasting usually 12hrs. 7 times its been my fingertips and half of those it also goes down the side of my pinky to my wrist. Two times my whole hand has gone numb, yet on those 2 times the tingling was the least strong of a sensation and that last for 2 days.
I've also expieranced this shooting pain on my palm a couple inches below my pinky a couple of times in both hands at different times.

So for now I wait.. my doctor says he honestly doesn't think I have MS but also says if it isn't he has no idea what's going on... I'm not sure what to think!

[jimmylegs]

hi sorry to hear :S waiting for mri is no fun.
iima what were your d3 and b12 numbers? normally i would specifically ask for units as well but if you're in canada i already know
i'm going to link you up with some posts to read from another mum who was here a few years ago, got some help, and has had no need to revisit since. http://www.thisisms.com/forum/post189060.html#p189060 the topic isn't long, but i think you'll be able to relate to some of c's experience and find some of the info interesting.
i'm very curious about the list of tests your doc ordered. i personally have loads of experience with 'perfect' results being far from that. 'normal' maybe (statistically speaking). 'optimal' not. there are many examples documented in the literature, of deficiency symptoms occurring within normal ranges.
good news is there is plenty you can do to help yourself while waiting for your mri appointment

[Brianne11]

Hey
I will definitely check out the link you attached, Thanks!!
My results from my last lab report are..

Creatinine-59
GFR Estimated 121

Glucose fasting - 4.9

Sodium- 136

Potassium- 3.5

Calcium- 2.27

Phosphate- .85

Magnesium- .92

Protien- 82

Albumin- 36

Alanine Phosphate- 115

Gamma Glutamyl Transfearse- 25

Chloesterol- 3.5

Iron- 15
Total Iron Binding- 76
Iron Saturation- .15

Ferritin- 135 (slightly high)

B12- 540

Hemoglobin- 5.1

TSH- .97
Thyroxine Free- 17.2

FSH- 6.4

Lutenizing Hormone- 5.8

Progesterone- 1.2

WBC- 6.7
RBC- 4.49
Hemoglobin- 125
Hematocrit- .39
Mean Corpuscular Volume- 86

My vit D wasn't on this one so I'll have to grab my last number when at my doctors next, it was supposedly normal but I'll let you know the number when I get it!

[Brianne11]

Forgot a page haha here's the rest of the results

Red Cell Distrubation Width- 12.3

Platelet Count- 420 (slightly high but not worrisome on a 1 time basis)

Mean Platelet Volume- 6.1

Neutrophil- 4.0

Lymphocyte- 2.2

Monocyte- 0.4

Eosinophil- .1

Basophil- 0.0

And a bunch of urine test that were good.

[jimmylegs]

ooh you're my kinda peoples lol

b12 looks good (a very old source i'm particular to said aim for 500 pg/mL, so i go for at least 500 in pmol/L which is 677 pg/mL ; you're higher still so great - i used to be deficient so have learned tons about this one)
i like to keep my serum ferritin in the 80-100 range based on the literature out there, but you're not scary at 135 or anything

magnesium is borderline. basically, you're right in the middle of the 'normal' range, but pretty much the bottom half of the serum magnesium range is where the sick ppl hang out the WHO among others questions the establishment of normal serum mag ranges currently in use. if you consider the whole magnesium range to be 0.9 to 1.1 mmol/L and try to stay up near the top or even a bit above, you should be better off. magnesium's super good for hundreds of things going on in your body eg helps you absorb and utlitize vitamin D.

speaking of which, will keep an eye out for those D3 numbers when you have them.

beyond that, i don't see much else in there that is not either directly related to one of the nutrient tests, or that is a particular focus of concern for ms patients specifically.

you are missing one or two other numbers i'd personally consider important to know, to avoid being similar to ms patients in any way. you'll probably know what one of them is by the time you're done reading up about cristin

[jimmylegs]

actually i just realized i do need to ask for units on the hemoglobin. can you confirm g/L. if so 130 is your minimum. might be worth a more in-depth look at those iron panel results, plus serum copper and serum zinc if you can order. (i've had labs question a serum copper requisition before le sigh lol)

[jimmylegs]

this is just a line or two from one study, but it captures my current line of thinking
"Plasma zinc, followed by CRP (≤5 mg/L), gravida (≤4), and plasma ferritin (≥12 μg/L) status were major positive predictors of hemoglobin."
"Spearman rank correlation coefficients were significant between ... plasma zinc and hemoglobin (r = 0.328; P = 0.001)."
that's not to say you want hemoglobin super high. but if you can hit at least 130, that would be better.
i would be interested to see your zinc status in the context of that elevated serum ferritin and slightly low Hg
related note: if you do have low normal zinc it is also worth checking to see if you have low normal serum uric acid (another undesirable state similar to ms patients)

[Brianne11]

Thanks for the ideas, I'll definitely look into all the suggested above!

Just from being on this site have you seen others have MS With the tingling that disappears after 12hrs and then doesn't occur again for a few weeks and so on?
From reading online I gather it's more common for it to occur over days at a time?

[jimmylegs]

hi it was cristin in particular whom i remember describing transient tingling.
i hope you get an opportunity to read through her xp. hers is a wonderfully short story in comparison to some LOL. just 27 posts i think!

my numbness has been pretty similar over the last decade. i did some permanent damage in a snowboarding crash and my system was too malnourished and weak to handle it. i had the most significant recovery to date from a short term nutrient megadose therapeutic protocol targeted to ms patients. three days in, a whole bunch of issues resolved but my nervous system has never entirely recovered. i have classic 'stocking and glove' neuropathy and it's pretty much the same all the time. i'll wait until quadraplegics can walk again before i complain too loud. once they're sorted, the same fix would probably get me back on track too

go read cristin she's way less depressing lol