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Numb toes on left foot and fluttering up calf - (poss B12 deficiency hypo thyroid??)

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tracey51815
tracey51815

Hi there   I am female and aged 46.  blood tests show I am perimenopausal. Four months ago  I developed tingling in the toes on my left foot (only ever been this foot). it seemed to come on after having reaction to estrogen cream taken for spate of sudden urine infections.  Ten minutes after taking the drug I experienced dizziness and blurred vision.  30 minutes later it happened again but then went and didnt return but then numb toes occurred. This has been constant and over the past three weeks has got alot stronger and prickling spreads to underside of foot with fluttering of nerves sporadically in left calf muscle.  If I wear flat shoes my foot doesnt like it and appears to struggle causing a a horrible sticky prickly feeling in arch of foot - am much better with a tight lace up mid heel shoe.  Infact foot much prefers no socks at all - seems rather sensitive to anything around it.  No pain apart from on a handful of occasions sharp sudden pin like feeling in top of toes. Ive had MRI of spine - no pinched nerve - no neuropathy - did have spinal decompression surgery on lower discs following car accident 7 years ago but no apparent problems according to spinal surgeon and MRI.  Had MRI of thorax, brain scan, thorough blood tests - all the usual including Lyme, B12, Thyroid  diabetes  but I am now wondering if this is related to B12 deficiency.  I am vegan but am pretty good at taking supplements and fortified foods.  My level four months ago was 282 - I have asked my doctor for a B12 injection (due to happen tomorrow) and he has agreed and tomorrow I will also ask for more thorough thyroid test as blood results show serum levels as 0.56 in a range of 0.35 - 4.94.  Ive read hypo thyroid can cause B12 deficiency.  All very depressing and causing lots of anxiety, sleepless nights.  Not helped by a very stressful year losing two very close relatives in quick succession.  Anxiety levels also went through through the roof recently when brain scan showed probable AV fistula in my brain - turned out there was nothing wrong just a slightly enlarged vein which was normal for me but lead to a cerebral angiagram on top of everything else.  My neurologist has suggested re-doing all the scans and spinal puncture test - I am insured fortunately so getting tests done pretty quickly.  After those not sure where to go - I seem to exasperating the experts which is very frustrating.   Does any of this ring true with others?   Many thanks     Tracey

1 like, 7 replies

7 Replies

  • buddha
    buddha tracey51815

    Posted

    Hello Tracey - I am very sorry to hear about your loss. I lost my brother a year ago which caused a lot of stress. I can completely understand. It was unexpected with no warning.

    In September 2014, I started to notice numbness/tingling in my left foot/toes. I noticed also when I shaved my legs. Mainly from the left knee down to the left foot it was hyper sensitive. I was worried of course since I had never experienced this before. I went for blood work, lymes test, 3 MRI's. In November a neurologist diagnosed me with Transverse Myelitis. He thought I either had MS or Transverse Myelitis. He gave me a steroid for 10 days and said come back for another MRI in 6 months. he said I had inflammation on my spinal cord. There has been no change in my foot/toes/calf. I also have hypothyroid. Definetely check for the B12. But I wanted to share my info with you. Take care!

    • tracey51815
      tracey51815 buddha

      Posted

      Hi there   thank you so much for taking the time to respond to my message.  I am sorry to hear that you have not experienced any change to the feelings in your foot/toes and calf. Its so upsetting to be well one minute and then have such odd unexplained symptoms.  No one seems to understand and relatives I am sure get abit sick of hearing and not being able to offer any answers.  I am also very sorry to hear you lost your brother - to experience such a loss without warning is truly terrible.  You could well do without any health issues to add to the grieving process.  My neurosurgeon did  say after reviewing first set of scans in October there was no inflammation that he could see (I understand from googling Transverse Myelitis) that this is an unexplained inflamation on the spinal cord.  I am having all scans repeated in the next week or so as my symptoms have worsened - maybe some inflammation will show.  I feel I need to go down the route of B12 injections given my low reading 'just in case'.   Take care of yourself and I am thinking of you and wishing you all the best for the coming months and a speedy recovery - I guess you may need another steroid but waiting is horrible.  It is so nice not to feel so alone and be able to communicate with real people.  It turns out I am hyper and not hypo thyroid.  Thanks again.  Tracey
    • buddha
      buddha tracey51815

      Posted

      Thank you Tracey! Please keep me posted! I agree, it is so nice to not feel so alone. It's difficult to explain to family/friends what you are experiencing. At least for me. they do feel helpless since there is no quick resolution. I'm grateful I can walk because I have heard TM can be disabling. But it's still difficult to accept the diagnosis. Take care and please let me know how you make out with the injections. Thanks again! Amy
    • tracey51815
      tracey51815 buddha

      Posted

      Hi Amy    many thanks for your message.   I certainly will keep you posted - thank you for asking for me to do so.  Yes I am understand you are grateful for being mobile - it is so very frightening when you hear of the worse case scenarios of these horrible conditions we might ourselves with.  I can entirely understand it being difficult to accept the diagnosis too.  One minute we are feeling fine, the next we are trying to live with unexplained symptoms, trying not to let it get us down, and remaining ever hopeful the symptoms will go away.  When we finally get a diagnosis it is like the specialist is talking to or about someone else.  Its very odd indeed trying to absorb such information.  Take care, stay strong and thank you for your company!    Tracey
  • stephens104
    stephens104 tracey51815

    Posted

    Tracey,

    As I started to read your post here something jogged my memory.  What you are describing sounds very similar to the symptoms of Guillain-Barre Syndrome.  At least I have heard others who were diagnosed with this having similar symptoms.  I have also read that GBS is almost always caused by a recent vaccination.  Have you had any vaccinations recently, such as a flu shot?

    • tracey51815
      tracey51815 stephens104

      Posted

      Hi Stephen many thanks for your message.  I can certainly see where you are coming from.  I have had an electromyography test which showed no periferal neuropathy and reflexes are ok. I am actually awaiting an appointment for a lumbar puncture as neurologist re-running tests as numbness/pins and needles in one foot still exists after 4 months although slight muscle loss in the foot only appeared in past month or so.  I havent had a flu shot this year but the symptoms did come on after a spate of urine infections..... very interesting.  Many thanks   Tracey
    • buddha
      buddha tracey51815

      Posted

      Hello - how have you? How was the lumbar puncture? I went for one and they screwed up the test some how. I have to go for another one. The spinal headache afterwards was awful.
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