brethor9 Posted November 17, 2011 Report Share Posted November 17, 2011 Hi guysSo for the last couple weeks off and on I have been experiencing some strange symptoms and have been really sick! The most worrisome symptom has been chin and facial numbness which just started out of the blue over a week ago....I just got back from my dentist who is now sending me to an oral surgeon to have a special x-ray done of my jaw to rule out bone infection, nerve compression, etc.I am freaking out!!! everything I read on the internet says this is a sign of cancer.....met cancer.....and its like now he is thinking the same thing!When I called the surgeons office they can't even get me in until Nov 29th.....so now I have to worry that I may have lymphoma or something on top of everything else!!! Please talk me down guys!! I need some positive vibes....I am shaking in my boots!!Bren Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
andersondebra Posted November 17, 2011 Report Share Posted November 17, 2011 HI Bren,Please don't worry so much, and I know that is easy for me to say, but I have spent almost 20 years as a hospice nurse and dealt with all kinds of people with cancer and chances of it being cancer are probably low. One thing that you may want to have your doctor check if they have not already is Bells Palsy syndrome. This can cause exactly what you are describing and it can just happen out of the blue. It is also seen quite frequently with people who either have dysautonomia or just before the onset of it.From my understanding there is no known reason for it, but on the positive side it does go away and usually is more scary than harmful. I do believe that one of the treatments is steriods, but you can look it up. In some instances it can be caused by an underlying auto-immune disease or in rarer cases it can be an auto-immune disease itself. I would say you should look it up to learn more about it and then you may want to ask your doctor to check you for it. But in any case try not to worry so much, usually if it is cancer there are many more signs than just the numbness even with lymphoma, I think you would have had many other issues before this symptom, things like swollen or painful lymph nodes, flu-like symptoms that didnt go way, definetely fatigue (usually pretty severe too) headaches and if it was lymph nodes near the neck there would be teeth pain that would make you feel like you had one really bad tooth ache! So, I am not sure if you have had any other symptoms than what you are describing but if not then please dont be so scared. I hope this makes you feel a little less scared, but I know how looking things up can freak you out, trust me even as a nurse myself I have gotten sick and known pretty much what was wrong with me but then I go and look things up (the worst case scenario of what I am feeling) and then I freak myself out. right now I am doing the same thing with a really bad sinus infection that is not acting like a normal sinus infection and so I am scaring the begeeses out of myself thinking that this may be encephalitis, which is stupid but I am like this, so focusing on your problem right now is making me come back to reality. Just hang in there, I know this can be scary but you will get your answer soon. my best to youDebra Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Maiysa Posted November 17, 2011 Report Share Posted November 17, 2011 Bren,I'm sorry to hear you're having a nervous time. But remember he is sending you in to check for a bone infection. Please don't read anything on the internet. With all the symptoms I'm having it is a sign of many terrible things and so far for the past 6 years not one of the doctors biggest fears for me has come true. Knock on wood. Not saying cancer can never happen, but just a small infection can cause dysautonomia symptoms and it's probably what it is. I can't tell you how many times I've gone to the doc and they say we think it's cancer. Once the doc sent me in an ambulance to the hospital and on the way out the door, due to all the bruises on my legs and erythema nodosum and nausea, the doc said, we are convinced you have lymphoma. Okay, at this time I had heard it so much that it didn't phase me. Once they found extra skin in my mouth and the dentist said, I am sure it's cancer. I was so mad at him. He did 18 shots in my mouth to take a biopsy...come to find out I having a sensitivity to the cinnamon gum I was chewing. The things we or doctors worry about are rarely the case, but it is up to your doc to rule out the worse, don't give that terrible job to your mind. Your minds job is to keep you calm and reassure you that all is okay. Let the doc worry today and say prayers it always helps me. It will be okay Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
brethor9 Posted November 17, 2011 Author Report Share Posted November 17, 2011 I am literally tearfully overwhelmed from your kind words....thank you so much! I would be so lost without all of you great people......this disorder is sooo hard and it just keeps throwing things at me as fast as I can get adjusted to the last symptoms.....my mental strength is wavering.....I am usually able to brush things off but this has me feeling so sick physically that I keep telling myself something is really wrong and different than the norm....I am praying it is just an infection....to wait 2 weeks is agony....the worst part is I worked in a cancer clinic for 4 yrs and I know we have seen cases come on hard and fast without little warning and thats where my mind keeps going..... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Maiysa Posted November 17, 2011 Report Share Posted November 17, 2011 Well if that's where you worked, your fear makes more sense. I see. Yeah, two weeks is agony. I've been there. Watch a funny movie today! It helps my fear so much. Hugs to you.Maiysa Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
louloutinks Posted November 18, 2011 Report Share Posted November 18, 2011 Hey Bren, long time no speak I remember you said you had csf leak and this numbness of the face can be a symptom of it. I have been doing loads of reading on the subject lately as I went to A and E and they mentioned CSF pressure and I will be seeing a neuro next week because of what has been going on.Are you sure you haven't started leaking again?Hope you can find out what is going on - is the numbness constant or intermittent? I would hang on in there and hope you find an answer real soon x x Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Katybug Posted November 19, 2011 Report Share Posted November 19, 2011 Hi Bren,I'm sorry you are so stressed right now. I totally get it...the waiting...the what-ifs....But, keep in mind that dysautonomia can cause so many strange and weird sensations in our body, that there's a good chance that this is just another gift from POTS. All my good thoughts and energy are being sent your way..Big hug,Katie Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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