Burning, tingling and numbness.

[brooky09]

I have the following symptons. Chronic burning legs which has been constant for some time now. Recently I have developed tingling and numbness in the side of my face, numb arm and fingers. I also have some tingling across the chest and a band like tightness pain.
I am worried about what is causing this and have managed to get an appointment with a neurologist.
Any ideas what is going on.

[BOK2Bjan]

Hi - bilateral symptoms, especially when occurring for a long period of time, in a consistent manner, would not point to ms. Glad you're having things evaluated. I second the opinion that these can be vascular, so I hope you've been evaluated by your primary care physician and any specialist they recommended.

The tightness across your chest could of course be of a cardiovascular cause, but "MS hug" is a symptom of a tight band around your chest. I recently developed it, and it's quite strange.

Basically - so many vague symptoms can concern us. Try not to jump to any diagnostic conclusions, but pay attention enough to be able to tell your doctor what, when, how often, how severe, and what makes it better or worse, if anything. I wish you the best. Blessings, Jan.

[supermum_ms]

Hi and welcome,

Assuming you've had blood, cardio and other tests etc to rule out any other causes eg diabetes, varicose veins, blood clots, lupus, heart related conditions etc etc etc before looking at neurological causation's, from my understanding people with peripheral neuropathy typically describe their pain as a burning sensation, and the most common neurological related causes of a bilateral burning that i'm aware of in both lower limbs are structural spinal issues, eg degenerative disc, stenosis etc

If the legs burning sensation is more after walking or exercise the bilateral burning in your legs might be a symptom of Peripheral Artery Disease (PAD), which has to do with a circulation problem, the vessels that supply blood flow to your legs and or arms are narrowed or Atherosclerosis which is a disease that causes plaque builds up in the wall of the artery, PAD is usually caused by atherosclerosis in the peripheral arteries.

I don't know that that would explain your more recent unilateral symptoms in the upper body though unless it was a separate issue happening, or that you do have high blood pressure or high cholesterol which puts you at a higher risk for PAD and also a higher risk of coronary artery disease. It's just an alternative thought and way beyond my scope of understanding...

I would think if everything else has already been ruled out, something like structural spinal issues would be the more common possibility with this starting with the bilateral burning, a neurological condition like MS more commonly causes unilateral symptoms so it would be lower on the list of possible causes....

Hope that helps.....JJ

PS Let us know how you get on with the neurologist appointment