soreness/weakness/tingle/twitch in left leg; occasional pins and needles elsewhere

[Charlie_Wong]

Hello.  I am a 36 year old white American male.  5’7”, 187 lb.  only pre-existent health problem is sleep apnea, which I was diagnosed with this spring but probably had for quite some time before that.  (I now wear a cpap for it.)  don’t smoke, rarely drink.  Drink a fair amount of coffee, eat a so-so diet.
Sometimes at work this year, when I would get up from my chair, my left leg would feel kind of weak, like it was half-asleep.  But that didn’t catch my attention enough for me to know how long it went on, or how often.
The first thing that caught my attention was when I laid down on one of the last nights in july and my left foot felt like it was asleep as soon as I laid down.  This continued on subsequent nights, and pretty quickly (if not that first time, I’m not sure) it was everything from the knee down that felt tingly.
I have subsequently been diagnosed with sciatica.  Because of a recent move, I had to seek a new doctor and a new chiropractor.  The chiro thinks my sciatic nerve has been pinched by a tight joint at my left pelvis and/or tight muscles in my left buttock.  But I am worried that something worse is going on.  He has treated me for three weeks, and I am not sure if it has improved.
I also, in the past month, have made a number of changes in my life to try to help it heal.  I bought a posturepedic mattress that has to be much better for my back than what I had been sleeping on.  I bought new shoes with much better padding and support.  I bought a gel cushion that I sit on now pretty much every time I sit.  I got a standup laptop stand that I work at sometimes now.  I have upped my walks to 35-45 minutes daily.
Most of my sensations have been in my left leg.  (I hardly ever have any pain or discomfort in my back; the closest I get is in my buttcheeks, on occasion, like if I have to sit for too long.) I get a kind of arthritic feeling around my left knee, like things are inflamed there.  I still get frequent numbness in my calf and foot, and also sometimes my thigh or buttock.  I get muscle soreness and sometimes twitches that feel like they might catch into a cramp (but never have).  No pain above maybe a 5, but then again, hardly a day or night without some weird sensations.  I also notice that pressure sets off the tingling.  And I mean any minor pressure, like crossing my right foot onto my left knee, or just the pressure on the back of my thigh from sittin on the toilet.  
But the other thing:  I get flashes of pin-and-needle feeling anywhere in my body.  That has been there pretty much since the problem started.  I have mostly passed it off as psychosomatic—but it has persisted.  Anywhere—my other foot, a hand, my chest, my groin, my neck, my face—can get a quick blast of pins and needles.
I also, this past week, got a cold and have been very tired at nights.  Who knows if that is related to anything.
I have been reading up on everything from spinal tumors, brain tumors, MS, ALS…  I am thinking of getting an MRI.  Any input anybody might have?

[kwarendorf]

Hi CW -

Much of what you describe can be attributed to sciatica. When the sciatice nerve is compressed it can cuse symptoms from your lower back down to our toes. It typically effects one side, which is why your left side seems worse.

If you were diagnosed with sciatica, they must know where the nerve is being compressed. Has there been any talk of how the compression might be relieved? I would investigate this before exploring things like MS.

As JJ said, MS does not cause the flashes of pins and needles you describe. MS attacks individual locations in the central nervous system. A lesion that causes symptoms in your left leg would not also cause symptoms in your right leg, or arm.

Kyle

[Charlie_Wong]

Well, the "flashes of pins and needles" -- the thing that, as you said, can't really be explained by something like sciatica -- is the reason I am asking around.

[supermum_ms]

Hi and welcome,

I didn't see anything that really stands out as MS-ish, it does sound to me like sciatica could explain it, basically everything except the "flashes of pin-and-needle feeling anywhere in my body". That part could be psychosomatic if that's what you think it really might be (random-anywhere-all over are usually red flags away from MS) but it could be many other things eg vit B deficientcy etc and worth speaking to your doctor about.

I noticed your asking a few different communities for opinions, i'm not actually sure why you think it might be something more.....have you considered it might be all inter-connected to what you already know eg weight, diet, sleep apnea and the sciatica? I would speak to your doctor about your concerns and see if there is anything that can help relieve what your dealing with.

Cheers...........JJ