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Tingling, prickling, and shock sensations driving me crazy

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Posted 7/4/2011 11:50 AM (GMT 0)
Hi everyone.. I'm new to the forum, and was wondering if anyone could help me. I was diagnosed with fibromyalgia 11 years ago. 6 years ago I started having neuropathy and it went away after treatment with neurontin. about a year and half ago, it started happening again, now it's constant, and nothing is stopping it. I am on neurontin again, 1800 mg a day, it stops the severity of the pain associated with this but it's not doing anything for the sensations. I have recently developed shock sensations that are driving me up the wall. The tingling, prickling sensations have also intensified. I don't know if it's from my fibromyalgia, but my neurologist thinks this might be due to Lupus and I am waiting for a brain MRI to rule out MS. Would it even matter if they found the cause, as far as treatment goes? The only two medications that I know treats nerve symptoms are neurontin and lyrica. Please Please Please !!! Tell me I'm wrong, and that there is something else that I can take besides that to calm this down. I am not resting well because it is so hard to go to sleep with this problem, and my bladder is acting insane because of it. I can't stand it and I don't know what to do.

 

Posted 7/4/2011 12:02 PM (GMT 0)
I guess it depends what it is caused by like if it is caused by nerve entrapment and the nerves aren't damaged extensively then they may beable to do something.My doctor wanted to put me on cymbalta but my zapping and shocking and pain haven't got me to the point where I want to take it since there are so many side effects.I can't remeber what natural remedy works for nerve sensations but I am sure someone here can.I hope you find some relief soon.
Posted 7/4/2011 12:17 PM (GMT 0)
I control my neuropathy with B12.  Do you take B12 or have you had a B12 level done?  Often times we just do not get enough B12 from our diet and to be honest, many meds deplete us of B12.  If I forget to buy a new bottle, miss even 4 days of B12, my neuropathy flares.  I take 5000mcg of B12 daily to keep my level where it's at.

Could it be the weather?  Many of us react to weather changes too.  I do better in warm weather, others suffer more in warm weather...I suffer more in cold.

Posted 7/4/2011 12:18 PM (GMT 0)
It will definitely depend on what is causing the nerve pain. I have tingling and prickling in my feet, calves, hands and sometimes on my back. Unfortunately for me, the doctors have not been able to find the source of the problem and have to believe that it is part of the Fibro. I'm taking Cymbalta, Lyrica, and flexiril for my Fibro. I also have muscle spasms that are getting stronger, but didn't show on the EMG/NCS. I know plenty of people that have been able to get their symptoms under control. I have so many different issues going on right now that every time my doctors start to fix one symptom a another one goes haywire. Good Luck!
PugMomma
Posted 7/4/2011 1:36 PM (GMT 0)
I am on b12 shots and my levels are back to normal now, but still no relief. My b12 wasn't extremely low the begin with but my vitamin d level was. That hasn't reached normal levels yet but I am taking medication for that.

I don't know what is causing it. It seemed to start after my spinal pain did. I've had x-rays and ct scans and nothing significant showed on them, other than degeneration, bone spurs, and some disc narrowing, everything looked okay. My neurologist said my neuropathy is too widespread to be due to my spine, so I haven't insisted for an MRI. If I was to take a guess, I would say it's from Lupus. This seems to have worsened from exposure to sunlight. It's so bad right now, I just want to cry. I can't get ahold of any of my physicians because it's the 4th of July.

I get muscle spasms too and for whatever reason, narcotics or muscle relaxants seem to highten those spasms.

I am also worried about a medication toxicity, since I take alot of prescription medications. If I was to stop them for awhile, and this went away, that would be so great, but I don't know how I could stand it without them. I wouldn't be able to sleep and I feel like I would go completely crazy without plaquenil.

My skin is getting very itchy too, and I have tried hydrocortisone cream and it's not helping. I think that is because the tingling is making me itchy and it's internal, but once I start scratching, I am all red externally. Think anything would help better than what I am using?

 

Posted 7/4/2011 1:43 PM (GMT 0)
WHERE are the pains? Just in one extremity? If so look for a pinched nerve as nana said - in spine, neck, or a joint. More than one place? Maybe look at the meds you are taking. Lots of them cause shock-like side effects.

B-6 at 100 mg is supposed to help neuropathies. It's usually only in very low doses in multivitamins and B-complex. B-100 has a good amount of both B-6 and B-12. I've been taking it on advice from my hand doc, but haven't found it does anything spectacular.

I've had better pain relief from Topamax at half the lowest dose available (8mg). I tried ALL the fibro meds, got nothing but side effects. I also take toprol for muscle pain. Both are nice, cheap generics. My pain doc didn't want me to go higher on a narcotic, in fact reduced my toprol. I have side effects with Topamax if I get on a higher dose! So far it relieves pain quickly every morning, which nothing else did. Neurontin gave me apnea after I had been on it 6 months - what a scare! Stopped cold turkey - horrible that way!!!
Posted 7/4/2011 5:57 PM (GMT 0)
The neuropathy is everywhere from head to toe. I did go off of all my medications awhile back ago except for my sleeping pill and I had no relief. I'm just not sure I should risk the consiquences of doing that, and then it may not work. Was you able to get rid of the sleep apnea once you stopped the neurontin? That is scary.
Posted 7/4/2011 9:49 PM (GMT 0)
I found out taking a long shower relieves this for a little bit. If the neuropathy is bothering you so bad, you can't stand it, try that. It only lasts for a little while, but some relief is better than none. I don't even understand why such a thing would calm it down.
Posted 7/5/2011 6:29 AM (GMT 0)
cutiepie

I have the same issue head to toe. along with cramping and spasms head to toe.
when i say head to toe even spasms and cramp in face and throat

epsom salts are helping me. plus look into alpha lipoic acid.
have you had emg/ncv.

ask your doctor about skin bipsy to look for small biopsy.
emg does not pick up small fiber neuropathy

hope you feel better soon
Posted 7/5/2011 10:49 AM (GMT 0)
Me too, it goes in my face, into the back of my head, my scalp, my neck, back, abdomen, arms, hands, fingers, legs, feet, toes. I usually just get the spasms in my back, neck, face & jaws, sometimes I get them in my abdomen, definetly in my kidneys and bladder. My chest gets tight, especially on exertion or when my back is flaring up with spasms. I will give that epson salt a try, not really looking for any suppliments right now, I'm taking enough medications as is, and I'm calling my neuro today to try another prescription, so I'd like to keep the pills as low as possible. If the prescription doesn't work, then I'll try the suppliments you all have suggested. I haven't lost any strength in my muscles but they were getting week, all just the same. Plaquenil completely stops that, but I'm still scared of this. I'm afraid it's going to progress, and I might lose feelings in my muscles, and get to the point that I cannot walk. This started out slowly and just progressed to the point that I feel it constantly, and it won't let up, and that scares me. I guess that is why I'm getting the issue of lack of feeling like I can cope with it now, because it won't stop, and it's driving me crazy. I really wish I could get some tests done to diagnose this. I am waiting for an MRI on my brain to rule out MS but he does believe that this is Lupus doing this to me.
Posted 7/5/2011 9:24 PM (GMT 0)
I had spasms and tingling and burning muscle aches and they have finally gone away. When they did my blood work they found that I was very low in iron, b-12 and vitamin D. It took a few months after starting the suppliments for the symptoms to go away but they did. Because of mal-absorption issues I will probably have to take them the rest of my life but better to swallow a few pills then suffer with the zaps. At least in my opinion.
Posted 7/6/2011 3:14 PM (GMT 0)
My doctor has had me on Vit D and B12 since last year and I see no change in my neuropathy. He said that B12 would not cause this to be so widespread. I don't know what is wrong, but I can tell you something that was so unbelievably amazing to help was an aveeno oatmeal bath. I guess part of the neuropathy flared from the sunshine, don't know how else to explain why that worked so well. He wouldn't prescribe any medication, for not knowing the cause behind this. So hopefully the baths will keep it calm until I see my neurologist again.
Posted 7/6/2011 4:12 PM (GMT 0)
I notice that sometimes my usual pain meds can seem to heighten my pain. I don't know why that happens. Most of the time they work, but when I get an "uberflare" all bets are off. Lying in bed crying, and taking warm epsom salt baths help a bit, but mainly time is what helps. And quiet. Its almost like a full body migraine. Jabs of pain for me are in fingers, toes, hands, feet, head, vagina, legs. I have a husband who is more than willing to give me very gentle foot and hand massages, barely any pressure at all, using plain old Lubriderm. I'm not sure it actually gets the pain to go away. But it does work for distraction, and that is part of managing pain as well. In all honesty, I would rather give birth 10 times than go through these flares. I think the showers you are taking, work in much the same way as gentle massage or warm baths. The brain can't concentrate on 2 things at once and amazingly, the most pleasurable thing wins.
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