# Numbness in legs



## heather (Aug 21, 2004)

I have had IBS forever but for the past 2 months I have been very ill bedridden. Finally after being diagnosed with chronic active gastritis they found from a biopsi during an EGD. I still was not getting any better lost 30 pounds from vomiting daily. Finally they took my gallbladder out which was very diseased. I tired to tell them but the just would not listen. My problem now is that my legs are both very numb and tingly. Is this normal? I am only 24 years old and it does not feel normal at all. I have been in bed 90% of the past 2 months. I'm afraid it might be blood clots. Anyone else ever experience this? If so what can I do to fix it. I asked the surgeon about it when I went to have my incisions checked but I think my DR is a JERK. He basically blew me off and said it's normal to have desensation, but I titally disagree. Espically sice when I was in the hospital for 2 weeks the DR's there said I either had to walk, get heparin shots in my belly or wear leg pump thingys while I was there to avoide clots. I don't know who to believe.


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## Marier (Mar 18, 2000)

Heather - I would get a second opinion on your legs, especially since you've been bedridden for two months. As you know, in the hosp. they practically have you out of bed before your surgery is even done. The only thing I know about tingling and numbness in the extremities is what my dad experienced. His was in his legs as well and it turned out he had bone spurs on his spine which were compressing nerves. My dad also has blocked arteries in his legs, but that causes him pain, not numbness. Seek another opinion. P.S. I'm also sorry that you're going thru all of this. I read some of these posts and think I should be thankful that my IBS and health problems are just minor annoyances.


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## K9Mom (Sep 20, 1999)

Get a second opinion Heather. Something doesn't sound right.


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## Guest (Aug 22, 2000)

Dear Heather,I am sorry to hear you are having such trouble. I have to ask you a personal question, o.k.? I know you have lost 30lbs, but by any chance are you overweight? I am only asking because I am and after I was in the hosp. I also developed numbness and tingling in my legs. I saw a neurologist and found out it was MYRALGIA PARASTHETICA which essentially is a conditon whereupon the nerves in your upper thigh region(up high) are actually pinched. They control the feeling in your skin and can cause numbness and pain to the touch, which is actually bizarre as it is a contridiction. It is not dangerous, just annoying and uncomfortable. I do not know if this happens to people who are not overweight, and it's something that not everyone or even every doc. has heard of-oddly enough. Anyway, this is just something I thought I would longwindedly mention, however if you are concerened, GET ATTENTION FROM YOUR DOCTOR!!! By the way, are your feet or toes numb? How is the color of your toe nails? Let me know if you can. I hope you feel better really soon.Love and Peace,Karly


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## flux (Dec 13, 1998)

The fact that you have gastritis and numb legs could be indicative of pernicious anemia. Do you know what your blood tests results are? You should get this checked into, regardless.


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## Guest (Aug 22, 2000)

Any doctor who blows off a patient's report of numbness and/or tingling in the legs, especially in a patient who is bedridden, is a total, 100%, bona-fide IDIOT!


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## heather (Aug 21, 2004)

Hi Karly,Thanks for the advice. I am a bit overweight but not obease. Im 5'11" and 215. So I don't know that could be it. But I never had a problem until after all this.Thanks to everyone who has responed!


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## JeanG (Oct 20, 1999)

Hi Heather:I just wanted to say that I agree with everyone else that you should get another opinion. And if you do, please let us know what you find out.I'm sorry you were bedridden for so long, that must have been terribly hard for you. Here's hoping your health improves.







JeanG


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## wanderingstar (Dec 1, 1999)

Hi Heather, I'm sorry you were ill in bed for so long, that can be very hard indeed.I get a lot of tingling then numbness in my legs and feet, and arms and hands, particularly if I have had a bad ME/CFS day and have spent most of it in bed. I thought this was because my circulation was poor. This is why they made you use the leg pump things in hospital. However, it seems that this hyposthesia (numbness) and parasthesia (tingling) come from nerve activity, as Karly mentioned rather than circulating blood. This suggests that there are abnormalities in the way messages are being transmitted at the level of the spinal cord I'm not exactly sure what to do about this. If it is the case that it's because of nerve activity, there is no obvious medical solution. If it's about the nerves, but not about transmission, there might be something they can do, if there's a different abnormality somewhere like Marier mentioned.Your doctor should rule out other causes such as diabetes (you'd be thirst, losing weight without vomiting, getting calf pains and possibly skin infections), pernicious anemia ( you'd have a sore tongue, anaemic symptoms, pallor of nailbeds and tongue, ankle swelling, shortness of breath, headaches and diziness from a deficiency of vitamin B12 and might have had previous stomach surgery), MS (you'd have balance and speech problems, eye pain and visual disturbances), Porphyria (stomach pains [like we haven't had those for a while!!] and mental disturbances and Dysparaproteinaemia.In the mean time, remember that heat is generally a good thing, and you must wear socks even if you feel warm. The body will be trying to keep the feet and legs warm and using a lot of energy up on this. You could try taking a B vitamin complex but I have only found this to help twitching, not numbness.I don't think you'd have thrombosis unless you felt a serious ache in your legs. (And conversely, I get serious aches in my legs with these symtpoms, and don't have thrombosis, much to the doctor's surprise).Hope this helps, take care of yourself,Susan[This message has been edited by wanderingstar (edited 08-22-2000).]


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