Brain Shaking??

[KatieDear]

When I was a teenager I had what they called a "mini-stroke" couldnt move either side of my body, severe pain, terrible headache. Besides a slightly crooked smile I fully recovered with the help of a naturopath. Since then I have had two episodes where it feels like my brain is shaking/vibrating. While it happens I cant focus my eyes, my balance is off and I have to hold on to stay standing. It lasts probably less than a minute and leaves me with a slight headache. It happened again yesterday only after the shaking my brain had a tingly sensation on certain spots and almost felt cold ?? or like maybe cold air was being blown on just certain points. About an hour later I started feeling like I was going to pass out, cold sweat, heart pounding, lightheaded, ect. I went to the urgent care and they just monitored, did a blood/urine test and the Dr threw his hands in the air and said "I have never seen or heard of this, I'm going to let you go home and call it a stress/anxiety reaction." I dont agree and think something else is going on. Has anyone ever heard of something like this before???

[Christopher R Newey, DO]

Thanks for using the forum. I am happy to address your questions, and my answer will be based on the information you provided here. Please make sure you recognize that this forum is for educational purposes only, and it does not substitute for a formal office visit with a doctor.

Without the ability to examine and obtain a history, I can not tell you what the exact cause of the symptoms is. However I will try to provide you with some useful information.

Anxiety is a psychological and physiological condition with a multitude of symptoms. They include heart palpitations, muscle tension, fatigue, nausea, chest pain, shortness of breath, headaches, and GI symptoms such as diarrhea to name a few. Anxiety can also be accompanied with panic attacks such as a feeling of impending doom or death. It seems that your symptoms do fit.  However, the headache does make me wonder if you have migraines, such as a basilar migraine. Basically this is marked by several hours of vertigo associated with nausea, light-sensitivity, and sometimes other symptoms. Headache may or may not be present. The treatment is different from that used to treat other migraine types; the treatment in this case is a type of medication called calcium channel blocker, such as verapamil, which is actually used to treat blood pressure but works in type of basilar migraine as well.

I suggest you follow up with your family physician to determine if a referral to a neurologist would be appropriate.  You may benefit from additional testing such as an MRI of the brain.

Thank you for this opportunity to answer your questions, I hope you find the information I have provided useful, good luck.

[KatieDear]

All of these (the crooked smile is hardly noticable, but I never noticed it till after that first episode, it does not look like a major stroke effect) were less than 24 hr ordeals, the first one lasted a couple hours, second one less than a half hour and this last one lasted about 4-5 hours (the shaking/loss of balance, ect lasted less than a minute, then the passing out feeling and all of that lasted the rest of the time) however this is the first time I have felt affected the next day. I have been super emotional all day today, very tired and I still have an off and on headache. Everywhere that felt cold and tingly yesterday is where the pain is today. I have not had any scans. The Dr last night didnt want to do any because of the radiation and my age. Any tips on picking a GOOD neurologist? I am tired of Dr's just giving up.

[Aneleh]

Hi, I'm no doctor but mini-strokes only happen in less than 24 hrs , and you recover right after ! Have you done any SCAN to your head or check for epilepsy ? You need a neurologist , to start with...