Menopause and paresthesia?

Women's health
1

I would love some input on my strange symptoms. 

I'm 50 years old. For many years, my periods have been very close together, very long, and with 2-3 days of exceptionally heavy flow. I know this weird period stuff is normal in peri menopause. Then, after one of these "normal" (for me!) periods in April, I didn't have one for 60 days - and when I did it again, for the first time in years I didn't have the heavy days. That was over 60 days ago and so far I haven't had another one since.

My FSH level in a blood test two weeks ago was very high - 117.

I tell you all this just as a little background - I already know I'm obvioulsy in peri menopause and nearing actual menopause. 

But here's the reason I'm posting. Starting mid-May, all of a sudden I started having very consistent paresthesia in my feet and legs - a mixture of tingling, pins and needles, slight burning, static sensation outside skin, pricking... no numbness. It has been with me every single day since then - 3 months now. It's worse at some times than others, but always present to some degree (and usually very annoying and concerning). It is definitely in BOTH legs and feet. 

I'm slightly low in B12 and hoped that was the cause - however, after 10 B12 shots over 5 weeks, I have no improvement. I've had various other blood tests, all normal. I had an MRI of my spine (all 3 sections) yesterday and it showed nothing. No MS lesions, no transverse myelitis lesions, no compression/stenosis, no disc problems, no tumors. Now I need to get a brain MRI and of course I'm concerned this one could show MS. However, doctors have told me - and my research confirms this - it would be most unusal for MS to present with paresthesia equally on BOTH sides, stay around consistently for so long without going away even briefly, etc... And I have zero other MS sypmtoms.

So assuming (hopefully!) that's NOT what it is, then it's becoming a real mystery. I've done some reading that suggests these weird tingling sensations CAN be caused by menopause - due to extreme hormone imbalance. Also, my hormones could have been out of whack for a long time what with all my irregular periods, AND about 12 years ago I had my hormone levels checked and supposedly at that time I had the estrogen level of "a post-menopausal woman." At the time my doc said that was a little odd, but ok, no cause for concern. Anyway, I say all this as a way to say perhaps I've been a little bit of a unique case as far as my hormones.

Does anyone think these symptoms COULD actually be attributed to menopause? Or has anyone had something similar happen to them? I've asked my doctor a couple times and she immediately says no, menopause couldn't cause this. I realize it's not typical, but is it possible? So far I have no hot flashes or night sweats, thank heavens, but maybe this is my own personal type of menopause hell?! 

Any insight would be so very much appreciated. Maybe I'm grasping at straws, but it DOES seem an interesting coincidence that all these issues have come up right as I'm going through this different timing in my periods, obvious continued hormone changes, etc... 

Thanks in advance for any help people might be able to offer.

I think I'm going insane. If this could be blamed on menopause, I would be SO relieved and could deal with it!!!

 

2

Hi Molly

I'm no expert but I am sure it is. Someone I know who is menopausal is having the symptoms you are talking about. It just seems coincidental.

3

Hi Molly. I am very close to meno so my levels say and yes I have those symptoms and more. My body gets numb off and on but my left hand has had persistent numbness sometimes better sometimes worse but pretty much hasn't went away. You are not alone!

4

Hi Molly,

I have had the same tingling, numbness and prickly feeling all over. There are months when I bleed very heavy for 2 weeks and other months where it is very light for a few days. I've had every strange symptom under the sun and all of my blood work is normal . No one ever told me that menopause would be so bad. I am on Prozac and bio identical hormones which both help a lot. You are not going crazy I promise.

5

I too get left hand numbness around 7-10 days before my period starts. In only happens during the night - it feels as tho I've lay on my arm. I have to dangle my arm out of bed to get the blood flowing again. As this occurrence is cyclical I just assumed it was a peri symptom. X

6

Michelle, thanks so much for replying! Do you mind telling me a little more about the person you know - you say she's having the same symptoms. Do you mean specifically she's having consistent "tingling" (and other sensations in her legs/feet? It's encouraging to think there might be someone else out there with this same condition, caused by menopause!!

7

Wow, I must admit it's encouraging to hear you're experiencing something similar - not that I wish these weird symptoms on you, of course! But just that someone else is actually experiencing this. So besides your additional symptoms, do you mean you have pretty much constant tingling and other sensations in your legs and feet?

 

8

Peggy, does that include having the tingling etc... in your legs, and does it pretty much stick around all the time? My doctor says my symptoms can not be blamed on peri menopause/menopause, but I'm beginning to wonder! Sounds like there are others with these same types of things going on.

9

Donna, that's a weird symptom, too! It sort of goes along with mine, since I get the general pins and needles feeling. I really hope this all could have hormone upheaval as its root cause!!!

10

I get tingling and some degree of numbness in my left leg also burning but i put it down to the fact i have a trapped nerve it is there most of the time but you have given me food for thought and I am peri too 

11

Have you had your thyroid levels checked? Have a look at the list of symptoms of hypothyroidism to see if they make any sense to you. Its very common around menopause.

12

Hi molly

I am nearing menopause and have a similar problem.  mine has been diagnosed as tendonitis, more severe in one leg (lower calf, ankle, back of knee mainly) but similar, less annoying feelings in left leg also.  I don't have the usual night sweats, hot flushes that all the doctors recognise as peri/menopause symptoms, but I have these other symptoms similar to yours.  They also have not put it down to plunging hormones, typical, but I have insisted it is.  Every test is normal for me also.  I have never had tendonitis before.  If you look it up, there actually are loads of women suffering the same.  It is just not recognised by doctors that a lot of women may not suffer the 'text book' symptoms and that dropping hormones can also cause different problems.  After three weeks of constant discomfort from this, it has now eased off this week (I am judging myself that hormones levels are on the move again, up or down, who knows, so the symptom lessens).  I have described it to several doctors as 'my type of hot flush' and they have basically thought I was a bit mad.  They really don't know, but you know your body best.  If they knew more it would help women not to feel so anxious!

just to add, I have slight heats, where my body does heat but from what I've read not the full blown flushes that women talk about, instead the 'tendonitis' hits.  sometimes quite bad, other times tinglings etc.,  depending, I suppose, because I'm not an expert, on how much hormones are shifting at the time.   It's awful that we end up having to work it out for ourselves!

13

Hi Molly, I had that tingling in my head and my legs it has subsided with the hotflashes 

your not going insane it will pass 

14

Hi Molly!  Goodness I have the same thing! I've had it for a year now and am 48. I have a very light period every 4 months or so. I know I am heading into menopause. BOTH of my feet are tingling and there is very sligh numbness on the toes and ball of feet. The zaps come and go all over my body but my feet have it all the time. Some days are better than others. I've been tested for everything! 2 MRI's, one of the spine and one of the feet, every blood test for every diseast you can think of and everything came back normal. My GYN also says she hasn't heard of menopause causing this. I think she is wrong!  I am frustrated!  I hate having this. I have just started taking an all natural menopause suppiment hoping it will take this away. I imaging it will take some time though since I've had it so long.  I've even gone to a chiropractor and no relief. I too am told it is tendonitis in my peroneal tendon due to cycling. Could be but my bet is it's hormones!  Keep me posted on how you are doing.  I will let you know if the hormones help!  

15

Hello Molly

I was searching for information about parasthesia symptoms and ran across your post on here. I know it's been a year since you asked the question but was wondering what you ever found out.

16

I have searched the internet for causes of symptoms and came across this. 2 days ago my right foot felt numb and tingling. Then it went to both legs. Since yesterday I feel it from the back of my knees down to my toes. My feet feel cold. Yes, that slight burning sensation.,I figured it was circulation so I worked out, walked and it alleviated it. Went completely away... until I sit or lay down... comes right back. Have tried massages, hot baths, keep legs raised... nothing works except moving a lot. I'm 50, with regular consistent periods - no misses. Had hot flashes for a short while (1month on and off) about 6 months ago then they disappeared. From internet research -Worried it's heart/diabetes... none of which I've ever dealt with. Saw similar research saying it's definitely not menopause... til I saw this. I'll follow up with my Obgyn to see if this is an actual cause. It's so uncomfortable and annoying. Hard to sleep. Have feet propped on 2 pillows. I just want to run up and down the stairs all night because moving is only relief. 

17

Hi Julie, this original post was so old I didn’t bother to comment, just wanna say I’m right there with you! Don’t have numbness, but all that tingling when it started,also cold feet! and when it started it was like a switch of a light! Started 3-2016 in shins only. Felt like a 1000 Bee stings!  Then just progressively got worse as the days went on, I mean  some days on the shin, some days on thighs,  there were days that it wasn’t tingling but my legs felt 10 pounds heavier apiece.

 there were sensations up my spine , the back of my neck, stomach area , even in my head,  as of now it seems to stay with the shin area and thigh area, goes from tingling and sometimes burning.

whats even crazier is I could actually feel it  transition from shin to thigh an vice verse.

 since it started  there hasnt been one day that it totally went away.

 I have had lumbar spine scans MRIs chiropractors and even a neurological test, all this was clear, thought it was a case of anxiety,  although I didn’t really feel anxious.

 bottom line I eventually found articles about the symptoms being menopausal,  there were sites that had pills you know there’s a pill for everything .

 I never did purchase any but I did wind up purchasing a progesterone cream called pro-gest,  they sell it in little packets it’s used twice a day I got the packets, did not want to put too much on .

 just want to say it did help more so on the first 2 1/2 to 3 months it must’ve cut it down to maybe four times a week instead of seven, And those four days definitely felt better but never totally gone.

 This was a purchase that I choose to try on my own I did not consult my GYN as of yet, hope this helps!

 if you ever come across something that helps 100% we all would love to hear from you! 

18

Hi Joanne,

I'm 48 and my girlfriend is the same age. She says she couldn't figure out where the crawling, biting and stinging sensations were coming from. She did hours and hours of internet research and self diagnosed herself having invisible biting mites. She scoured her house, put encasements on the bed, boraxed everything and everywhere - took baths in it. She got this non toxic enzyme spray and put it all over her body. Our peri-menopausal symptoms have been very similar. She takes black cohosh but she's not on HRT. So I had been feeling the same thing and when she told me she had mites I thought that's what I had too. I'm so sad to say that was almost 4 months ago and I've gone through the nightmare of all the cleaning, scouring, bleaching, boraxing, several permethrin treatments, ivermectin and trying everything I can think of+++. I went to 5 doctors from dermatologists to an infectious disease specialist. They did blood work but I didn't think to have them check my hormone levels. I'm going to make an appointment but I'm curious if your symptoms subsided after HRT. The tingling feeling started about 6 weeks ago. I've moved, went into quarantine and thank God I have an amazing friend who is helping me through this...it's gotten really lonely at times!!

Last week I contacted an entomologist (studies bugs) and she said it could also be delusional parasitosis - basically all in my head or neurological. After speaking with her, I decided to stop the madness, sanitizing everything, borax, bug bombing, etc to see if it is a bug problem, it would get progressively worse.

I did have lesions (hives) and one of the dermatologists took a biopsy and found it was a bacterial infection. I went on antibiotics for 10 days and the hives cleared up. My girlfriend had hives as well - that's the part that may be the argument for bugs and not menopause or delusions. I have felt like I'm going crazy at times since there is nothing to see...I can only feel the sensations or stinging.

So to be more detailed on my symptoms. At first I felt like something was biting me then I would get a crawling feeling and then stinging similar to a lite wasp sting or maybe a needle piercing my skin. I get these symptoms head to toe including my scalp. Don't know if nerve pain can feel like this. I noticed my symptoms completely go away when I'm drunk - it's tempting but I try not to drink too much or often. I also notice it seems to be worse when I'm stressed. I'm not taking any over the counter or HRT.

I would appreciate your experience or anyone else reading this that has had something similar.

19

I have been dealing with paresthesia that comes and goes (on for several months and then off for several months) since 2015 and it’s driving me crazy! Have had every test under the sun.....all negative. It is SUCH a relief that someone else has this going on as well!!!!

20

Almost the same scenario from the shins down since 2015. It’s driving me crazy!!