I've been creating a record of every symptom I've had in the past month or so, and it's not making me very happy.
- vertigo
- loss of balance
- loss of coordination
- visual disturbances - some fixed object appearing to shake or vibrate
- short-term memory loss (sporadic)
- problems with remembering words - like being able to see a book on a table and not being able to say the word "book", or see it in my mind and have to revert to describing it "bound pages of paper"
- fatigue
- depression
- tingling in my extremeties - "pins and needles" in fingers, feet, and (I'm not kidding) my butt-cheeks
- muscle twitching - this is new, a muscle in my hand twitched for 15 minutes this morning
- hearing changes - in my left ear suddenly the sound became muffled and there was just a whine for about 5 minutes (don't know if this is related or not, but I'm going to tell the neurologist about it)
Something I've been musing over for a few days now is an episode I had about a year ago. With the Crohn's, it's not uncommon for patients to develop vitamin B-12 deficiencies, especially those who have had bowel surgery, like myself. So, I did a little research on the web, found that the deficiency is easily corrected with over the counter supplements, which I have been on ever since. I knew that long-term, severe deficiency can cause permanent nerve damage, and this weekend I found out what kind of damage that is - demyelination of the nerves of the central nervous system. The same thing that MS does. Shit. I even found some suggestions from excerpts from various medical/research journals that a B-12 deficiency can cause MS. Double shit.
I just want to know what's going on, so we can do something about it. The not knowing is driving me nuts.
No comments:
Post a Comment