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Okay, so I wouldn’t normally post personal problems for the world to read, but I’m desperate and hoping someone might know somebody that’s experienced this issue or has had this issue themselves or maybe working in the medical field and can help shed some light on whatever is happening to me.
Grab your coffee. This is a long read, probably with many typos I missed.
So, last Monday I began to feel a numb-like sensation in my left arm from my elbow to my hand (without the pins and needles). It went away after awhile. The next day, that numb-like feeling came back. It was in both my forearms/hands and accompanied with a light, dull pain and a burning stinging sensation that felt like a mild sunburn. When I lie down I begin to burn up like a non-sweaty hot flash. My skin doesn’t feel hot and I’m not running a temperature. Meanwhile, my toes and fingers are ice cold. This burning sensation seems to vary throughout the day, but it’s worse at night for some reason. Tonight my arms don’t feel as bad, but my face now feels like my arms did a few days ago. I still burn up when I lie down. Every once in awhile I get a little ant bite-like feeling and some itchiness that feels like it’s under the skin, as weird as it sounds, maybe caused my small muscle twitches? My skin is a overly sensitive to touch too. Something cold to the touch feels like a light burn. My legs don’t seem to be effected by this issue…yet. The areas of trouble are mainly my face, forearms/hands, and my toes.
I went to the doctor, or rather a nurse practitioner, about this and she was condescending about it, like she didn’t believe a me. She said maybe it was a pinched nerve and I should have an MRI done on my head and neck. I passed on the MRI. I’m pretty sure it’s not a pinched nerve. That would not explain why I burn up when I lie down or why these symptoms are spreading. I’ve have pinched nerves before and this does not feel like such a thing.
She took some blood samples and the results came back normal. So anything like diabetes, thyroid, cholesterol issues and such can ruled out. My pulse, blood pressure, and temperature is normal.
Some quick facts –
I’m a female in my late 20’s. I don’t smoke or drink, and I’m not on any meds. I carry a little extra weight like a lot of people these days, but not overly so. I’m not preggo. I’m not allergic to anything as far as I know.
Personally, I wonder if it could be a heart problem that’s not easily detectible. Many times in the past I’ve woken up in the middle of the night burning up with a headache and my heart pounding in my ears irregularly until I’m fully awake and moving around. I think I have might have apnea, but I can’t afford a sleep study to prove it. Still, how could apnea (if I have it) cause these current symptoms and why now?
Anyway, these issues aren’t intolerably painful, but I’m loosing a lot of sleep. I’m planning on going back to the doctor soon, but I have no idea what to say or what other tests I should have done. I already have a massive hospital bill I’m paying from last year when I wasn’t insured for a short period, got sick and had to go to the ER twice. I can’t afford to have a bazillion tests done to figure out what this current issue is and I’m not sure my insurance covers much of anything. I’m just really scared, maybe paranoid, that I have something that they won’t be able to figure out, like something from that Medical Mysteries show. 🙁 A few years back, it took 3 months and several doctors to figure out my gall bladder had essentially died. They wanted my parents to force me to a psychiatrist because they thought I was making up symptoms for attention. Great doctors here. 😐 Ha! Proved them wrong! I felt like I was dying when my gall bladder failed.
I’ve been sickly every since birth, nothing crippling so I do feel bad whining about this because I know there are forum members here that have horrible pains and crippling genetic diseases. They are so strong and strong willed troopers about it and here I am crying like a newborn.
I used to be a fearless person until my gall bladder went bad. Now I’m paranoid every time I get sick, especially now because I don’t know what’s going on. I’m terrified having lost my mom to sudden heart attack a few years ago. I’m scared because I don’t have anyone to fall back on per se. My dad is very elderly and my sister is mega busy and stressed with her own life. I don’t want to be a burden on the only two family members that I essentially have emotional or financially. The rest of my family is estranged. I don’t even know my brothers anymore and I don’t talk to them, they don’t talk to me. It’s not that we hate each other. We’re just not a tight-knit family.
Well, any help will be greatly appreciated. Thanks in advance.
Hi
What an odd condition, you must be stressed over this. Although Im no doctor, I do like to google things, lol !
I did find this link, which states it may be related to menopause… BUT if not menopause (which is doubtful cause your still young yet, but it can happen) , it lists other reasons as well. Some things it mentions that crossed my mind also were stroke and MS. But I doubt its any of those things, since they are rare. ( Do take note of the serious symptoms that are listed though, for if you experience any of those, along with the ones your feeling, then it could be something serious and it says to consult a Dr right away…)
http://menopausehealthmatters.com/symptoms-of-menopause/tingling-extremities
Maybe this article will give you some ideas. Wish I could help more !
Good luck and take care please 🙂
Hi. Sorry to hear about your health problems. I looked up some articles based on your symptoms and found these links. Maybe they can give you some more info or ideas to help you. Update us on if you find some answers from any of this.
http://www.rightdiagnosis.com/sym/arm_burning_sensation.htm
http://www.healthgrades.com/symptoms/arm-burning-sensation
http://www.healthline.com/symptom/numbness
http://www.mayoclinic.org/symptom-checker/numbness-or-tingling-in-hands-adult/related-factors/itt-20009075Looking for rainbow or pink & teal grab bags!
The first thing that crossed my mind was a stroke, and second a pinched nerve (until I kept reading).
Really, first what you should do is should dredge up your insurance policy to find out what they cover (some policies are stupid and will cover you for tests if you go as part of a regular doctor visit but not if you go to an emergency room or urgent care) and if you can’t find the documents, go to the website and try to pull up your policy that way. Find out what’s covered and what’s not.
second, go to see a neurologist or a cardiologist. If you need a referral (for insurance, if you have HMO for example) tell the doc that you think it’s a nervous system issue or a cardiac issue, and ask for a referral. I really think most would be happy to give you one. The clinic I worked at had a giant box full of business cards for all kinds of specialists they would hand out if need be. A proper doctor should be glad to refer you out if they can’t help you because it’s their JOB to help you, end of story. If that doc, or NP you went to see was a beyotch, then find another doctor. I’d recommend http://www.zocdoc.com you can read about doctors in your area, find specialists and read reviews. I found a phenomenal dermatologist for my BF. I went to see her too and she knew what both of our issues were BAM right off the bat. She was that good. She had a lot of good reviews.
Also, MRIs can be very beneficial. They can inject dye/contrast intravenously and watch it move through your brain to see if it’s functioning properly. It may be a heart issue, meh, yeah, but if it were me going through what you are, I’d suspect something to do with the brain/nervous system. If that’s the case, it’s important to get this looked at STAT, RIGHT AWAY, so it can be treated if need be. Things left alone get worse and become difficult or impossible to treat.
I’ll ponder more on that and see if I could come up with any other suggestions. Good luck though!
Actually that could totally be a pinched nerve or a herniated disc in your neck. Those are all symptoms related to that problem, including the increased pain/burning/numbness when laying down/in certain positions, etc. Some positions will actually put more pressure on the disc which puts more pressure on the spinal cords and that’s where all the nerves for your arms and legs come from. And pretty much the only ways to diagnose if this is true is an MRI of the spine, or, if the symptoms have been going on over 2 weeks, an EMG nerve conduction study. Preferably both. The burning/crawling/itchy can all be indicators of nerve inflammation. Oh and age doesn’t matter. I herniated 7 disc in my spine when I was 23 and have been in pain ever since.
Keeper of the Fledgings
Been thinking about you and your case. Could be spinal stenosis
http://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/spinal-stenosis/basics/symptoms/con-20036105
http://www.spine-health.com/conditions/spinal-stenosis/spinal-stenosis-symptoms-and-diagnosisit’s a narrowing of your spinal column, as previously suggested. A simple x-ray can tell this. The imaging clinic I did my internship at charged $50 for a set of back x-rays so if the doc orders an x-ray, call around-there are cheap places. May be in a sketchy neighborhood, but just make sure the tech has an “RT” or “LMRT” title. Don’t let an “NCT” (Non Certified Tech) take your images. Those fools don’t know about radiation or anatomy. They have no formal schooling.
or maybe, as I suggested earlier, a problem with one of your nerves. There are more conditions than just a pinched nerve. The health of the nerves themselves may be poor for whatever reason, and when they don’t communicate properly, it makes you feel funny. Further provocation to see a Neurologist.
http://neurology.about.com/od/Symptoms/a/Numbness-And-Tingling.htm
I certainly don’t have much medical knowledge, but I, too, was wondering if it was something in your spine, like disc related, affecting nerves. I had some mystery pain issues- that at one point got REALLY bad- and had some tests done that led my doctor to say it wasn’t an internal health problem. I was guided to a physical therapist and one of the therapist’s ideas was that I maybe had a bulged disc in my spine. She gave me some little physical assignments to do, and although I’m not really sure if it was a bulged disc and if it was her assignments that made me better, I am quite better now than I was. The thing is, from my pains and the locations of them I’d have NEVER thought that’s what it was. And it would be a lengthy explanation for me to go into all my symptoms. They weren’t the same as yours, but yeah. I did reading online during all that crap and it does seem possible your symptoms MAY have a cause along those lines.
Try not to jump to the worst conclusions. It’s easy to make situations like this way more stressful than they need to be! But do, of course, keep seeking answers and help. It’s ok to see more than one doctor (and if possible, a doctor rather than only the NP). Sometimes you will get different ideas and guidance from different doctors (and different physical therapists, as I found out).
And in relation to your insurance, yeah you can usually find out details about what it covers by reading through the insurance plan booklet if you got one or that info might be online- also calling them SHOULD be able to get you that info but I’ve learned the people on the phone often don’t seem to know many details. An important thing is to make sure you use healthcare providers that are in network with your insurance, which you should easily be able to find out by asking the dr.’s office (or specialist office, whatever) that you’re thinking about going to if they accept your insurance/if they’re in-network. That’s usually quicker & easier than trying to ask your insurance company. But yeah if you don’t stay in your ins. company’s network of preferred providers, then they will not help you pay for it.
And just so you know, most medical bills will give you the option to set up a payment plan if you can’t pay them right away, so don’t let that stop you from getting something done that you need done.Best of luck!
Formerly had the Batman & Joker avatar!
Thanks for all the info and research everyone!
A little update –
I did end up getting a second opinion from a different NP. Apparently, if you’re not terminally ill in this small town of mine the only kind health care professional that’ll see you is an NP. Anyway, she believes I might have a pinched nerve somewhere like you guys suggested. She also wanted to do an MRI to check for MS, but that would cost $800 with insurance! I didn’t feel it was necessary since my symptoms have almost gone and MS does not run on either side of the my family (as far as I know). She also wanted to refer me to a neurologist. Again, I didn’t feel it was necessary to go to such extremes. I don’t have that kind of money! My arms still feel strange like I’ve lost a small amount of feeling in them. It’s not too bad now and I can live with it. Maybe some yoga will help. 🙂
This issue will just have to remain a mystery for now. Those of you with similar health issues, I wish you the best and hope in time you’ll get better.
Why don’t you just go to the chiropractor? They are not too much money. If it is a pinched nerve in your neck or back, a simple chiropractic adjustment could fix it. I have been going to the chiropractor since I was 10 and I would be in a lot of pain if I didn’t go as I am always putting out my neck, back and hips. When I get an adjustment I feel 100% better!
Looking for rainbow or pink & teal grab bags!
Why don’t you just go to the chiropractor? They are not too much money. If it is a pinched nerve in your neck or back, a simple chiropractic adjustment could fix it. I have been going to the chiropractor since I was 10 and I would be in a lot of pain if I didn’t go as I am always putting out my neck, back and hips. When I get an adjustment I feel 100% better!
I have been thinking about that. I was going to a chiropractor back in my high school days. It’s been quite a few years since I’ve been. Maybe it’s time to start going again. 🙂 It seems like the problem may be in my neck and down between my shoulders. I also think a lack of support in shoes may contribute to these issues too.
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