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Numbness now also in face?

Totto

Well-Known Member
Messages
2,831
Location
Gotland
Type of diabetes
Type 2
Treatment type
Diet only
I have pins and needles in my feet and a bit of numbness, also numb on part of right thigh. Recently my face, right hand side, has started to get numb too. What's happening? I also tend to sort of want to fall over towards my right side but this is no problem really when I can see, only when I go up in the middle of the night for a wee. Oh, I drop things too. And then the tinnitus of course

After first asking my GP about it, starting with numbness in feet year before last and in the last six months actively tried to get some proper help or at least get it evaluated by someone knowledgeable I have now been referred to a neurologist and a nerve conduction test. The neurologist want me to have the test first, fair enough. But it's a three months waiting list for have the nerve test done. When I heard this I decided to break down a bit. The lab can't help my local GP surgery is the pits and have been for almost a year but still, you'd think someone somewhere would say Feet numb and hurting? That's bad, we'll try and sort you, wouldn't you?

Yesterday I asked for a print out of all notes made in the last year to see where it went wrong. I mean to make a complaint.

Before my right hand side goes completely numb.
 

I would suggest the very least you should be doing is going for a face to face discussion with your GP, to explain how you feel things are escalating, and how the prospect of a 3 month wait is impacting on you.

At the very least, I would then be expecting him to either investigate something more urgent, or a reason why the wait is considered fair.

I have no idea how much the test you are waiting for costs, but, in the circumstances, could it be worthwhile asking? Asking doesn't commit you to anything. And, I wouldn't be at all afraid to show your doctor how upset it's all making you. I don't believe for a moment in using tears as leverage, but if they come, it wouldn't do him any harm to understand how distressing it is.

I must admit, I would be very concerned in your shoes. If things are escalating fast, I would be exploring other approaches.
 
jack412 said:
I don't want to scare you but face numbness is also a stroke symptom..for peace of mind, I'd go to A&E
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I am most certainly not going to a&e for a spot of facial numbness. I know what a stroke looks like as hubby had one and then a couple of TIA.
 
Hi. Sorry if you've been through al this already, but have you been checked properly for B12 deficiency? Combination of numbness, tinnitus and especially balance problems would fit that diagnosis
 
Totto said:
I am most certainly not going to a&e for a spot of facial numbness. I know what a stroke looks like as hubby had one and then a couple of TIA.
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you know best. perhaps I took your "Recently my face, right hand side, has started to get numb too. What's happening? " too seriously.
 
If I had a GP I wouldn't be in this situation. My GP left last June and all but one of the others. Locums, locums, locums, one after the other. When I get the copies of my notes next week I'll actually be able to count how many I've seen or talked to in the last year.

I felt like crying on the phone with the nerve test lab nurse so I did. She promised to see what she could do time wise. Not that I expect her to able to move my appointment really but at least she promised to try, bless her.
 
jack412 said:
you know best. perhaps I took your "Recently my face, right hand side, has started to get numb too. What's happening? " too seriously.
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Numbness in part of face is more commonly one nerve affected while a stroke is both more sudden and affects more than just a part of your face. Trust me Jack, you'll know when it hits.
 
desidiabulum said:
Hi. Sorry if you've been through al this already, but have you been checked properly for B12 deficiency? Combination of numbness, tinnitus and especially balance problems would fit that diagnosis
Click to expand...
I think B12 can be a cause as some of the numbness in my toes disappeared when I took a high dose of methylcobalamin but my test results aren't that bad so it has been ruled out. So far. Mum and nan has/had B12 deficiency so I wouldn't be surprised.
 
This is so wrong. I do feel for you. Not much help but others here are having similar problems. Try to be forceful and positive without letting it all get you down. If you can do that, tell me how!
 
Could you try having the NCV test done privately? The problem with NHS is not just the delay in having the test, but then the diagnostic review. My nerve conduction was very poor, but the NHS-referred neurologist simply cancelled the follow-up appointment 'because I was diabetic' (!!!!). The number of neurologists who really know their stuff is very small (I have been told by a top surgeon -- basically if you're in East Anglia, go to London!), and there is still a danger that NCV results just get lost in the system
 
I'd love to but I'm not in the UK - this is a Global community after all - and so far as I know it's impossible to jump forward.. What nerve problems I have are not due to diabetes though or so I'm told as my control is very good and since I quit the fags I agree as my latest HbA1c was 33.

If I'm very lucky I'll get to see a retired neurologist whom I have met several times when I've come there with my husband and I really like this guy. He is old, I don't know how many years past the usual retirement age but he is past seventy with a few years and he's done research and is very confident he doesn't know everything. Still curious, still searching, very open minded.
 
Wow - congratulations on your hba1c -- that's seriously impressive. My nerve conduction problems weren't diabetes-related either, but being diabetic meant they were ignored for ages because of assumed link. I hate to raise the subject at all, but I had to be given the talk about it in the end: has MS been mentioned yet?
 
Hi totto , sounds awful , I can only understand the numbness from my own personal B12 problems , I remrmber sharing before ...it is scary , and does make you wonder what is happening ....
I would get an emergency appointmrnt if you can .....to see a gp ....
I don't think you can rule anything out , because cause remains unknown ,
You should not have to feel so down though ...you need some medical input, of course you know that , .......but sharing does make it easier ...
I recall how I was before my B12 problems were dealt with ...
Tinnitus ,yes I suffer with that ...it's like being inside a painful train that is running inside your ear at top speed , not much relief for that ....
I do hope you can get some help soon , you should not be feeling like this ...take care ...kat
 
Hi Toto

I was diagnosed T2 two years ago and after almost immediate burning sensations in my feet I quickly developed painful heels and ankles. Last June / July I was at my wits end with numbness extending to forearms and both cheeks plus muscle twitches in calves, and actually broke down in GPs before I could get a referral to a neurologist. Saw neuro in Walton last September - had MRI and NCS then told poss peripheral neuropathy see you next Oct!!!! I was gutted that I was offered no advice / treatment. Would agree that neurologists are generally a waste of time when it comes to access & treatment.

My Hbac1 readings are in the 70s at the mo so nowhere near the great reading you managed

Hope you get some help and relief sooner rather than later Xx
 
Problem is I don't have a GP but I have seen a number of locums over the past six months and not a single one of them has done a basic neurological test nor tested my feet.
MS could of course be something to consider but I'm past fifty and don't really think I have the symptoms.
My tinnitus isn't that bad. Sorry to hear you suffer so badly Kat.
 
Sorry about your problems. LCHF is a big help in keeping BG normal. It works, you know. I think a dr can only help up to a certain point but we have to do the work when it comes to actually manage BG. I must say my pins and needles and the rest really have helped keeping me on the narrow path carb wise and most certainly helped me quit smoking.
 
It's ok the tinnitus has happened for the last year ,,,,,,,it's a pain but I am sort of getting used to it ..
Thank you for your kindness .... @Totto
How are you feeling , hope you can get to see some one soon , I didn't realise you did not have a regular GP that is hard ...
Hope you get the support and answers you need ......I did suffer lots of numbness and Lower leg psin before the B12 but there were other symptoms to ....infact it was a gastro consultant that discovered it , not GP....tc kat
 
Sorry you are going through this Totto. It must be awful and very worrying for you.

The numbness aside, it would be the lack of balance that would worry me. It can be an ear problem, it can also be vertigo (which I have) but often it is the communication with part of the brain that isn't working properly. Similar to a drunk trying to walk a straight line, only not as obvious. Have you had this looked at by a doctor?
 
Isuffer with this,its all part of having m.e and fibro
 
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