ANA Discussion Forum
General Category => AN Issues => Topic started by: jbbrown15 on October 24, 2010, 07:01:29 am
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Before I started treatment, I'd had a numb/pins and needles feeling in my left hand and lower leg. The neurosurgeon I mentioned it to dismissed any possibility that it was tumor related. It went away and I chalked it up to being all in my head or just feeling weird on percocet, which I haven't taken since I figured out that my weird head feelings were vertigo related, not migraine related.
Today the numbness is back, again in my left hand and calf/foot. When I go in for my 6th radiation treatment tomorrow I'll see the radiation oncologist and talk about it, but I was curious if anyone else had this. I also wonder if it's somehow steroid related. Last time I felt it and now I've been doing a pack of steroids.
Thanks!
Jean
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Hi Jean,
Sorry to hear you're having some weird numbness going on. Before I was diagnosed I woke up one day and the right hand side of my body was numb along with the right side of my face/head. I could still use everything, but it was slightly weaker - ever so slightly - like if I was holding a cup I almost had that feeling like when you're quite drunk and a cup could almost slip out of your hand if that makes sense? Anyway, like an idiot, I waited a couple of days before I went to see a doctor, they had no idea what it was. The body numbness went away after a week (and never came back) and the facial numbness remained until I woke up from surgery (I was diagnosed several months after this numbness and had surgery about 5 months after I was diagnosed). One of my neurosurgeons thought that because there was a fairly substantial cyst inside my tumour, that the cyst had grown really quickly and with this growth the facial nerve was stretched (causing the facial numbness) and the tumour had impacted on the brain stem all of a sudden causing the body numbness. He thought the brain stem had then got used to being impacted and the feeling came back in my body, but the nerve was still stretched in the face - or it was something like that anyway. So I gathered from that that my numbness was caused by my tumour. So yours may or may not be, but I wouldn't have thought that it's all in your head (so to speak). Might be steroid related? I didn't get any further numbness when they put me on steroids but maybe someone else here has?? If you're having radiation I'm guessing that your AN isn't massive, so it might be something else entirely - but I'd definitely follow it up if I were you with some kind of doctor as, unless you sleep on your arm funny or something like that, numbness isn't something that is all that normal.
Cheers
JB x
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Thanks for sharing your experience. My AN is 2.9 cms, so just about your size. There is brain stem compression and "mass effect". I'm glad that I had a bout of it pre-radiation, or else I'd be really worried that they radiated the wrong spot! I'll let you guys know what the radiation oncologist says tomorrow.
Jean
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Weird. I've had numbness and pins/needles in my feet and hands too that is unexplained. I never related it to my AN though (?). Thought maybe it was a pinched nerve or something? It comes and goes but seems to come more than normal, (and not in situations where regular pins and needles come-like loss of circulation from sitting funny). My AN was also 3cm and was removed about 17 months ago. I don't recall that happening prior to surgery though (?).
Hmmm. I'll pay closer attention now....
Adrienne
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I had intermittant numbness of the arm and leg on the same side as the AN, the doc's have also told me it is not related......the intermittant numbness of the face they say was! Makes one wonder doesn't it?! ???
Kathleen
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I have had some of the pins and needles after my 4th AN surgery and is called neuropathy in some people. My family dr told me to take some B vitamins. Actually told me Centrum silver in my case. I did take some and helped some but am not at the moment and does happen off and on. Can happen with a lot of conditions, diabetics for one. I am not that but also have heard it can for NF2 which I am. Cheryl R
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My radiation oncologist said that it is unlikely, but possible that the numbness is somehow related to the tumor. I'm in the middle of a pack of methlyprednisolone and he said we'd talk Wednesday about how my hand is and whether he wants me to go on a low-dose maintenance steriod.
I just seems too coincidental that this started up after I was already have AN symptoms and is on the same side. But, stranger things have happened.
Thanks for the responses.
Jean