Unexplanied numbness, headaches, bad taste in mouth ...

northtexas · Newbie Joined: 28 Jun 2008 Posts: 4

I'm a 40 yr old female. I have had numbness on mostly the left side of my face, lips and tongue (sometimes makes it hard to talk) arm and a few fingers for the last 3-4 weeks. Also had bad taste in my mouth I couldn't get rid of, but not so bad now. Felt like the left side of my throat was swelling and my left ear felt like there was some pressure. Have a mild but constant headache going on 4 weeks now. I went to the doctor, several times. He didn't see any problems with my glands in my throat and ears didn't look bad. I had a temp of 99.4, but didn't really get much higher. All my blood test (thyroid, white blood cell count, liver, kidneys, and blood sugar) all came back normal. Doctor put me on antibiotics, but it didn't help. I was sent to a neurologist who thought it might be trigeminal neuropathy, but MRI came back yesterday normal. He also did not suspect MS, and I guess MRI supported that. I went to the dentist as well to make sure I didn't have anything going on there. There was a small cavity, but that's it. Lupus has come up before in my past, but so far all my doctors are saying they don't think so. I have a positive ANA, but evidently the titer has to be at some certain level to suspect Lupus and mine wasn't that off (or whatever). I do have Reynaud’s syndrome and carpel tunnel. I also have a mild bulge in my neck and lower back, and I tend to have jaw problems (stiff, pop, sometimes get irritated) if that could cause any of this. One more thing ... this all started after about 2 months ago I pulled a muscle in my lower right abdomen that took a few weeks to get better. It was not getting better after 2 weeks so he did a CT scan, which was normal. The pain did get better after about 3-4 weeks but during that time my BP was a little high, he decides to put me on Hydrochlorothiazide (water pill), and also tried lisinopril w/hctz and then Bystolic. He kept changing them because I started complaining about these face and hand problems. It was at the time I started the water pill at 24 mg that the symptoms started. The neurologist thought the Bystolic could cause issues with my Reynaud’s, which may explain the fingers problems. So, I just stopped the BP med's altogether. Besides my BP seemed more normal outside of the doctor’s office and he did say it can spike, I guess due to stress and pain, while in the doctor’s office. SO, BP was most likely not the reason for any of these symptoms. Now off all med's, but symptoms still there. Just wondering if Meds may have induced any of this?

The random numbness in my hands is nothing new, I get it off and on, and pretty much use to it. It's that, along with my face issues that are freaking me out a bit. I don't recall every having this problem before. I do have stress issues and the doctor wants me to go back on Lexapro, but I find it hard to believe stress can cause all this. I feel like the doctors are pushing my positive ANA and other problems to the side, saying it doesn’t mean much. It's just so frustrating! I'm starting to feel like this will never get better. I'm just hoping like my finger numbness comes and goes, so will this.

bottlenoze · Newbie Joined: 26 Aug 2008 Posts: 1

Hi there. Not sure if this will help, but with my first pregnancy, the left side of my face went numb and I tasted metal in my mouth at first. The Dr called it Bell's Palsy and gave me Prednizone and Valtrex. It was gone within 2 weeks. Good luck.

Guest · Guest

I saw a show on Discovery Health where a woman had symptoms similar to yours. Aside from the constant headaches, the presenting of a dripping of an odd fluid out of her nose and a slightly metallic taste in her mouth led her physician and ENT specialists to think there was a more severe form of sinus infection at play here. Unfortunately, this diganosis did not pan out, after YEARS of antibiotics and MRIs.

Finally, the woman sought out yet another doctor, and this time, that person listened closely to ALL of the woman's symptoms, and this new doctor finally diagnosed her with having a Cerebrospinal Fluid Leak. Once that was patched, the woman experienced a relief of her symptoms. She and the doctor have to keep a constant watch on the patch, as sometimes it deteriorates and needs to be repaired, but at last there was hope.

That's just one of many things that can happen for which doctors never look, because it's such an outlier; but it certainly couldn't hurt to ask.

tammylynn · Newbie Joined: 02 Oct 2008 Posts: 20

I heard that stress and depression take a toll on your body. If the immune system weakens from that, your body is wak. I have Fibromyaglia,and I have had over 40 symptoms over the years. Some of your symptoms sound like what I have. Check into it. I've tasted the metal, my jaw kills sometimes and it even makes my teeth hurt. good luck

Unexplanied numbness, headaches, bad taste in mouth ...

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