Suggest Remedy For Numbness In Back With Cognitive Impairment

Posted on Sat, 12 Dec 2015

Question: My daughter is having numbness in her back, feet, legs, arms. She feels weakness in her back. She also has episodes when the numbness comes up her head from her neck to chin, lips, and head. During this time she has cognitive impairment and trouble speaking. She has also had upper body tremors. She has been to her primary care physician who sent her to a nuerologist. They told h
er to boost her B12. They haven't identified the problem and I can't believe B12 will fix the problem. Please advise.

Answered by Dr. Sassen S Kwasa (5 hours later)

Brief Answer:
How old is your daughter? This will help rule in and out certtain issues

Detailed Answer:
Welcome to HCM: Was her vit B12 in fact low? What was the level? And this sounds to me like MS (multiple sclerosis) have they performed and MRI, she could also be having infarcts, is she prone to blood clots, or anyone in the family, I would insist that she has an MRI for sure. This can tell more about her neurological state other than guessing.

Above answer was peer-reviewed by : Dr. Yogesh D

Follow up: Dr. Sassen S Kwasa (59 minutes later)

MRI's were normal. B12 was 232, but nuerologist said some people need to be at 400 or have similar symptoms. Nerve compression test was OK. Numbness in back all of the time, most of the time in left arm, hand, leg, foot, however, it does come and go in these places. No history of blood clots. She thinks it is Guillain-Barré Syndrome????

Answered by Dr. Sassen S Kwasa (3 minutes later)

Brief Answer:
How old is your daughter, yes the B12 is low

Detailed Answer:
I am not sure why she would be B12 deficient, does she have other medical conditions specifically in her stomach? Does she have pernicious anemia, has she travelled outside the country, does she have Acid reflux? I ask as her symptoms can be explained by B12 deficiency but it is also important to find out why she became deficient, and GBS usually does not jump from location to location in the body, normally it starts in the feet and it is bilateral and creeps upwards to hands and feet and eventually affects breathing.

Above answer was peer-reviewed by : Dr. Sonia Raina

Follow up: Dr. Sassen S Kwasa (1 hour later)

She is 44. The only things she has been diagnosed with are hypothyroid and migraines. I am not aware that she has acid reflux. She has not traveled outside of the US.

Answered by Dr. Sassen S Kwasa (2 minutes later)

Brief Answer:
Sorry I thought the 44years was you. Anyway, things that could cause...

Detailed Answer:
Low B12 include celiac disease, or other diseased that cause malabsorption. So I would make sure that she has celiac disease worked up and that she is not having blood loss in her stools. Parasitic infections can also cause low B12 eventually. I hope this helps, I believe that treatment for her B12 should be paramount with a follow up to find out why she has low B12 in the first place.

Above answer was peer-reviewed by : Dr. Sonia Raina