Odd symptoms my neurologist doesn't have an answer for

[frank]

Hi, I'm wondering if the experts here can suggest what may be going on with me.

I'm a 50 year old male in seemingly good health, I exercise vigorously 2-3 times per week but I did have the habit of drinking about 4-6 'standard' drinks per night.

In December I got a UTI which was untreated until mid-January when it was found to be an enterococcus. I was then given nitrofurantoin. After 5 capsules I experienced tingling and hypersensitivity/numbness in my hands and feet and discontinued the drug. An ultrasound showed normal bladder, coarse calcifications in the prostate, and spelnomegaly of about 14cm. A week later I started on ampicillin 500mg 4x a day for 7 days.

After 2 days on the ampicillin, the numbness and tingling returned and started to get worse. It increased, with windburn-type sensations on the upper feet, backs of hands, and moving up the lower legs. On the 4th day, the tip of my tongue became numb, followed by my lips and teeth, which felt as if they had lidocaine injected into them.

The next day, the sides of my face became numb, and it moved up to my eyes. My right eye started to feel as if I had been given eye drops with peppermint in them.

I was seen by a neurologist who gave me bloodwork and other tests, which found nothing abnormal. He also tested strength, reflexes, proprioception and sensitivity to touch, all normal.

At that time I did some online research and found several supplements which I thought could be useful, and I started taking them. They are:

- 7.5G of n-acetylglucosamine, which some researchers found corrected autoimmune problems (in case I was having an autoimmune demyelination problem)
- 2G of Omega-3 fatty acids and 2G of gamma linoleic acid (to help repair myelin)
- 800mg of r-lipoic acid
- 800IU of gamma vitamin e
- 1G of n-acetyl-cystine
- 2G of time-released vitamin C
- multivitamins including folic acid
- 5mcg of methyl vitamin b12
- 10mg of biotin
- 5000IU of vitamin D3
- 300mg of CoQ10
- 1G of quercetin
- 2G of magnesium
- green tea extract
- 1G of acetyl-l-carnitine
- 75mg of DHEA
- 2.5mg of melatonin
- 500mg of resveratrol
- a mixture of 12 probiotic bacteria (to replace those killed by antibiotics)

I take these divided into two doses over the day. After a few days on these, either due to the supplements or by coincidence, my symptoms started to decrease. After a night of drinking, they increased, so I stopped drinking alcohol entirely.

Now, after 3 more days of not drinking my symptoms are:

- numb tongue
- slightly numb lips
- numbness on the outside edges of my hands (going up from the pinkies).
- Some odd sensations on the backs of my hands.
- Slight hypersensitivity on my hands (touching things feels annoying rather than pleasurable).
- Some hypersensitivity on the bottoms of my feet
- Slight burning sensations around my ankles

The neurologist I have been seeing doesn't know what to make of the symptoms because all tests have been normal so far. Does anyone have any ideas?

Thanks a bunch!

[MG (Admin)]

Thanks for your question....have you had a full neurological examination?
If not then this should certainly be done.
Please let us know what was or is found when this is done.

[frank]

I've had as much of an exam as my neurologist thought was useful to give me.

[MG (Admin)]

Is that to say your neurological exam was completely normal or that you feel you did not get a proper exam?