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?