Initial symptoms started suddenly about 3 months ago after (what I thought was) food poisoning. This is included loss of appetite chest discomfort restlessness in the legs(and the desire to move around) and a very strange 'involuntary' dry cough. The cough feels more like a random compression of the diaphragm which quickly forces the air out of my lungs. About a month after my initial symptoms I acquired a few new neurological symptoms that were intense for about a week and slowly got better over time(though never completely went away). These included twitches in my limbs(about every 30 seconds) hyperreflexia and intention tremors in the hands. I should also mention that I noticed that the twitches and restlessness seemed to go away when lying down. About two months after my initial symptoms I acquired a new set of symptoms that seemed to be related to circulation. Like the last set of symptoms these were intense during the first week and seemed to get better over time(though still exist). These symptoms essentially seemed to be intermittent 'bad' circulation to my limbs. ie. One foot would be extremely cold while the other was normal. The affected limb(s) could change throughout the day. These symptoms went away when lying down or doing exercise.I also started getting a soreness in the back of my neck with minor pain when looking left/right. Finally I recently started having sensitivity changes in my fingertips tongue and lips. This would come and go randomly throughout the day. At this point I finally got an MRI and received some notes about the findings: “There is a solitary ovoid-appearing lesion exhibiting T2 weighted shortening on FLAIR and fast spin echo sequencing. This lesion is located in the deep subcortical white matter tracts of the right frontal lobe adjacent to the right frontal horn. The lesion measures 8x6.” What should my next steps be?
2015-02-05 11:44:30
Hi! Yes you are right that your symptoms could have a neurological or a vascular basis. In light of the MRI report showing T2 weighted shortening on FLAIR and fast spin echo sequencing the following conditions could be the cause: neurodegenerative diseases such as Parkinson disease or Parkinson-Plus syndromes cerebral infarction (dead matter due to no oxygen) and ischemia (poor oxygen supply) meningitis and encephalitis multiple sclerosis and Sturge-Weber syndrome. Sometimes electrolyte imbalance and deposition can give similar picture. Sturge-Weber syndrome is unlikely in your case as it is congenital and usually there is a portwine stain on the head and face region Similarly meningitis and encephalitis too are ruled out as there is no fever. Parkinson’s disease should be looked into as you have intentional tremors which can also be due to multiple sclerosis hyperthyroidism or due to alcohol withdrawal (if you drink). Hyper-reflexia is usually due to electrolyte imbalance hyperthyroidism or brain trauma. So all these conditions should be further investigated. Cerebral infarction and ischemia can be due to MS or due to diabetes high blood pressure and high cholesterol and hence all these conditions should be further investigated. I sincerely hope you will find this information useful in your discussion with your specialist. Hope you get well soon! Good Luck and take care!
2015-02-05 11:44:58
