Hi everyone,
I've made the mistake of researching my symptoms online, and now I see I could have anything from anxiety to MS to any number of scary conditions. I'm not getting any help from doctors so far, so in the meantime I wanted to see if anyone had any suggestions. I'll try to keep this from getting too long.
1) Mid-August of this year: Developed severe ear pain and some swelling in the glands around the ear. Within a few days, I also developed a sore throat, severe headache, and a tingling scalp that felt as if it was sunburned. Doctor found no evidence of ear infection, but gave me antibiotics anyway. The medicine immediately eliminated the swelling but it took a few days for the ear pain to go away; during that time, the pain shifted to the other ear. All symptoms were resolved within about a week.
2) Last week of August: Developed occasional numbness and tingling ONLY in my two big toes. It was worse while lying in bed at night, but I occasionally had it during the day too.
3) Mid-September: While staying at a friend's house, I had one of the scariest experiences of my life. Within about 30 minutes of lying down to go to sleep, I felt panicked, lightheaded, and even gasped for breath once. The tingling and numb sensations spread throughout my feet, legs, and left arm/hand. I barely slept at all that night because I felt so terrible, and I was just too scared to sleep.
I was fine in the daytime during the following day, but that night I once again had this scary experience within 30 minutes of getting into bed. Since that time, I have developed numbness/tingling (and sometimes burning sensations) in my feet, legs, left arm/hand, and--weirdest of all--my tongue. When the tongue issue started, it seemed to affect my entire tongue and at night I would wake up feeling like my throat was closing up (my tongue felt swollen, but I'm not sure if it actually was). Now, only the tip of my tongue is affected.
4) These episodes were almost exclusively a nighttime problem upon going to bed. It always strikes within 30 minutes of being in bed, just as I'm drifting off to sleep. When the symptoms started occurring during the day, I went to the ER. They did blood work (not sure what), CAT scan of the brain, xray of lungs/heart, and EKG. Everything was normal. A few days later, my primary doctor checked my B12 level and thyroid. Both normal. I also had a complete metabolic panel; everything was normal.
The ER doctor encouraged me to see a neurologist, but the only one in my town can't see me for four months! I'm trying to find someone else, but it's a challenge.
5) After the doctor visits, my symptoms gradually faded away and I had 3-4 days of peace. That ended a week ago, and now I'm back having numbness/tingling in various body parts.I'm absolutely exhausted from lack of sleep because these sensations get so bad at night.
6) A few details I've noticed about these episodes:
a. The episodes are terrible at night. I also have less severe ones in the morning and in the evening. The afternoons, say between 11am and 5pm, I usually have little to no numbness/tingling.
b. Exercise/physical activity and standing up helps to eliminate the issue in the legs, feet, and the arm. If I'm out shopping all day or doing my daily exercise, I notice I have little to no problems at all. As soon as I sit down or lay down, the symptoms reappear. While movement helps the limbs, movement also seems to help the tongue burning/numbness; I don't feel any discomfort when eating.
c. FYI: I have Polycystic Ovary Syndrome and take 1,000mg Metformin ER and 50mg of Spironolactone daily. I also take a multivitamin and Vitamin D. I have been diagnosed with depression and anxiety in the past. I am on a low-carb diet, as this is more helpful for the PCOS. My blood sugar is normal, but I am insulin resistant (as associated with PCOS). My blood pressure is normal, and I have not experienced any chest pain or heart irregularities with these episodes.
d. I had an ovarian cyst rupture at the end of July. Honestly, I haven't felt good since that day.
Any thoughts?