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I have undiagnosed neurological problems. Please help me.

Posted , 4 users are following.

ws13964
ws13964

Hello,

I will get straight into it:

Roughly 2 years ago I began to notice a strange feeling in my head, it was almost like a slight change of consciousness and a feeling of being very slightly detached/not quite 'with it'. I must stress at this point it was nothing major, but it was a feeling I had 24/7 and still have to this day. There has been no let up; I have not felt completely 'normal' since it began and I suppose I have just come to terms with that now, it doesn't bother me massively. At the time I was also experiencing a worrying amount of nose bleeds, obviously I thought the worst after some googling and feared it may be the early stages of a brain tumour or something of the ilk. I tried to get it diagnosed by a neurologist, had an MRI scan but it came back completely normal and I was told to come back if it got any worse.

That is background to my current problems, I am not sure if it is relevant but I thought it was necessary to mention.

More recently, perhaps 3 or 4 months ago, I began to notice slight problems with my ability to type, speak, read etc. It was nothing drastic, but it was discernible, and I dealt with it. It just takes that much more effort to get my words out correctly, I make more mistakes typing and take longer to write out slightly more complex words than I used to. This is extremely frustrating for me as I pride myself of these abilities and am a very fluent with the written and spoken word usually. 

Last month, I had an overnight history exam which I took the ADHD mediation vyvanse to complete, roughly 80mg over the day and night. The following day, having not slept, the right side of my body began to go numb and I felt like the right side of the corner of my mouth was drooping very slightly, but I couldnt tell if I was just being paranoid, anyway I got my Dad to take me to A&E, but the numbness subsided by the time I was seen (roughly half an hour), I didn't experience any speaking troubles worse than usual as such, and didn't notice any other stroke like symptoms really. It was almost like a very very mild stroke, but I am only 20 years old, so that was pretty much dismissed. I had blood tests etc that all came back normal.Even to this day I feel a very slight residual weakness, almost indiscernible, in my right side, and feel like my mouth is very slightly slanted, which I don't remember it being before the episode.

Naturally, afterwards I was shaken, so booked another appointment with the neurologist, he booked me into another MRI scan which I had 5 days later, and he looked at the results with me and the report came back completely normal. There was nothing obviously wrong, no lesions etc.

I just feel at a loose end with my condition, I've had issues of fluency with typing, speaking, reading etc for a while now, far before my 'TIA' like episode (if it was that). Had those symptoms began after that episode I would have probably come to the conclusion that I had a TIA and it damaged my brain, causing these troubles. Yet, my MRI came back clear and the symptoms began long before this. My loss of fluency causes me almost chronic anxiety, which has subsided recently as I've come to terms with it. I know that a lot of people believe this sort of thing to be down to anxiety, but I cannot stress enough that I do NOT feel this is the case. I am a very stable person and I truly feel this is a neurological or physical problem of some sort. The loss in fluency I am talking about manifests itself as me tripping over some words, sometimes being unable to say certain phrases with fluency etc. My typing is slightly slower than it used to be and I tend to be more mistake prone. It is all very frustrating!

I might also mention at this point that I am an undergraduate at Bristol university and I very occasionally take drugs, usually MDMA, I have taken Cocaine, but not very frequently, and personally I don't feel these have had any effect. I have used drugs recreationally and sensibly for the past 2 years and have never had troubles with them. 

Recent development:

I met with my neurologist and he suggested that it may be something to do with migraines? I have noticed the migraine 'aura' a few times over the past 6 months but it has not been followed by any migraine. He suggested it may be silent migraines, but from what I gather that wouldn't cause constant symptoms. It is not as if my condition ever 'lets up' so to speak. I dont have good and bad days, it is just constant. My main worry is if it were to get worse than this and I feel like the condition may be deteriorating slightly but it is difficult to tell.

So a couple of my questions are as follows:

If the residual weakness/drooping mouth were caused by TIA, would the damage show up on an MRI?

What could be the cause of my loss of fluency in typing, writing, speaking etc?

Thank you for taking the time to read my post.

Any suggestions/help would be welcomed.

1 like, 6 replies

6 Replies

  • Winnie143
    Winnie143 ws13964

    Posted

    Sorry I cannot help as I had an SAH and collapsed and was out of it for nearly a year

    It soundss like you suffer from stress and stress is not good for anyone as my nuerosurgeon told me.  Go to the Docs and give him a copy of what you typed on here.

    Get him to read it and listen to what you are saying.

    Hope you get help as worrying is not good for anyone.

    Now sing and be happy that's what got me through my bleed. Good luck x 

    Drugs never taken them so cannot say on that point. 

  • michael_28011
    michael_28011 ws13964

    Posted

    Hi ws13964,

    This is a real long shot but I'll just throw this out there. Again, remember I'm not a doctor but infact an artist. Your smptoms could be caused by a lack of spinal fluid. You have spinal fluid around your brain. A loss of spinal fluid can cause motor skill problems like not being able to talk as you usually do. Lack or complete loss of spinal fluid can cause brain function problems such as memory loss, focusing problems and an aray of other problems. For the time being lets not whip you into a lather. Have your nerologist check you spinal fluid levels. Also have the doctor look into possible rips, or holes in your spinal cord. Most doctors or patients never think about spinal fluid, but I can tell you from first hand experience that not having enough or not having any can be very nasty. Good luck, I wish you the best. If you need to know more from me the next time you post please feel free to refer to me by name, Michael.

    Take Care 

    • ws13964
      ws13964 michael_28011

      Posted

      Thank you very much for reading. I will contact my neurologist and get the relevant checks. I hope you are right because it's very frustrating not knowing what is causing it. I also feel as though things are getting slightly worse.

      I considered the possibility of something like primary progressive aphasia, but I think that seems a bit extreme and unlikely.

  • spursangie
    spursangie ws13964

    Posted

    I am so sorry to hear about your problems. My first thought was that it might be caused by your ADHD medication, possibly when combined with any recreational drugs you might take, but I was very interested to read Michael's reply as I suffer from the condition he describes (inter cranial hypotension.) I also had numerous nose bleeds in the past, and have very severe problems with my vision, balance, tinnitus, facial pain, etc. It can cause facial numbness too, which I do not get. Interestingly, my symptoms started with migraine auras (no headache, although I have had classical migraine for many years) and copious amounts clear nasal drainage, never tested but now thought to be caused by a CSF leak (which they cannot find.)

    My problem has never shown up in an MRI, but Michael may be on the right track. It might be worth asking for a lumbar puncture, which would show the opening pressure and indicate whether you might have inter cranial hypotension (too low) or hypertension (too high.)  The symptoms are very similar for both I believe. It would also help rule out anything like MS, infections, etc.

    It took me nearly seven years to get a diagnosis as my pressure problem did not show up on a LP (although the opening pressure was the low end of the normal range) and I had to have lots of other tests before they found out what it was.

    All the very best to you, and I hope you get some answers soon.

  • spursangie
    spursangie ws13964

    Posted

    PS  I meant to say also that the most common symptom is headache relieved by lying flat, although I don't get the headaches very much, just head pressure which is not quite the same thing.
    • ws13964
      ws13964 spursangie

      Posted

      I don't really seem to suffer from any headaches and rarely ever get nosebleeds anymore which is strange. I will look into the spinal fluid issue. Just hoping to get some kind of diagnosis as its very frustrating being in the dark! Thanks for reading though.

      Will keep you updated smile

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