Could it be a Basal Ganglia Disorder?
Posted , 3 users are following.
Hi All,
For nearly 2 years I have been suffering with the feeling of being off balance, so imagine when you shift your body weight it's like you're being pulled to that side, this has brought on a variety of other symptoms the most prevalent one is the shaking that occurs throughout my body when I make certain movements (extend my legs and arms, shaking throughout body when I bend my upper body forward) and the fact now my voice is far more shaky than it has ever been, this all pretty came on all at once and I am yet to find anyone with same symptoms.
I have had all the test that you would have when you get these symptoms and they have all come back as normal. However I have recently came across the Basal Ganglia and the function it has in the brain and how it affects the rest of the body, all of my issues seem to directly relate to things the Basal Ganglia would control. Things like voluntary motor movements, disorders include things like Basal Ganglia Dysfunction, Basal Ganglia Calcification, seeing as I have had an MRI done but nothing about the Basal Ganglia was mentioned I am not really sure what step to take.
Does anyone know anything about Basal Ganglia Disorders or have been treated for them and has anyone here have similar symptoms to my own?
Kind Regards
0 likes, 7 replies
todd19891 kelvin91301
Posted
Although i am not familiar with Basal Ganglia, I would be interested to know if you experience vertigo or illusion of movement when you're not moving. There are so many different parts of the body that control the vestibular system. Over the last 8 years that I have had vestibular issues, one of many has been the feeling of being pulled to one side or another.
Let me know. I hate to hear of anybody suffering from balance issues.
kelvin91301 todd19891
Posted
Hi Todd,
No actually don't suffer vertigo or illusions of movement, it happens when i stand and or when i am sitting and I shift my body weight feels like my whole body is being pulled, I have had an MRI of my C Spine and Brain which both came back normal. i am wondering if I could get a lumbar MRI, the being pulled feeling is annoying but it's manageable the tremor that has come with it when i flex and move certain joints is the one I am most worried about, have you found it anything about the issues you've been having or found anything that helps?
Kind Regards
caroline63308 kelvin91301
Posted
This sounds similar to what my sister has been experiencing. She went to Dr after Dr and they found nothing, just called it vertigo, but she knew it was something more. She went to a specialist in Boston, MA and was diagnosed with Spinal Cerebellar Ataxia. It's very rare, so many doctors don't pick up on it. It's a shrinking of the cerebellum.
it affects balance, coordination - walking with an unsteady gate, stumbling easily, speech and swallowing, difficulty with fine motor skills such as your handwriting, involuntary back and forth eye movement. Vertigo and space issues affect her.
Her first neurologist missed it in her first few MRI's and brain scans.
I wish you luck in finding a diagnosis.
kelvin91301 caroline63308
Posted
Hi Caroline,
i have heard of Ataxia but none of the specialists I have seen have not mentioned it. the problem is with specialists is they don't like being told to look for something, I doubt the would do another scan because Spinal Cerebellar Ataxia is a possibility. Do you know what kind of specialist your sister saw and how they found the issue, better yet what she's doing for her symptoms?
Kind Regards
caroline63308 kelvin91301
Posted
Hi Kelvin,
The specialist is a Neurologist, Patricia Greenstein at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center in Boston, MA
She found it in an MRI . She couldn't believe the other doctors in CT missed it.
My sister is going through a tough time handling the diagnosis she was always into sports and physical activity, and she can't do any of that.
She is going to start a trial med to stop the progression. So she is feeling encouraged.
Good Luck in finding a diagnosis, and I hope you don't have that!
kelvin91301 caroline63308
Posted
Hi Caroline,
i understand, I think i'll have to take another visit to my neurologist, do you know which MRI pointed to the diagnosis (brain, spine)?
i'm going to focus on trying to find ways to manage the symptoms rather than diagnosis, seem to run into dead ends that way.
caroline63308 kelvin91301
Posted
My sister's response:
Brain only- it showed her cerebellum was small, and also from the symptoms she was having.