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What Causes Rigidity And Weakness On One Side Of The Body?
Question: I give you a VIDEO LINK TO MY YouTube VIDEO (pleeeease EXCUSE THE CURSING) I filmed it in the summer of 2009.
YYYYY
Look at the rigidity and limpness of my right arm, and the limpety way I walk; as if I had been put together all wrong.
WHAT is wrong with me? Can this be reversed any way possible, even weith stem cell or skin cell therapy?
Let me give you a little history.
From XXXXXXX 15, 1994 thru to Dec 1, 1999, I used to hit both sides of my jaw as hard as I could, whenever I saw my reflection, cause I was / and am so lugly. I began limping in 1995 but could still run and play sports. By 1997, however, I could not run without tripping and falling.
By sheer force of will I have made it so my right arm don't hang near so limp.
The right side of my body is weaker than the left, and I am right-handed. My right hand fingers and hand are slower, less "movable" than my left. I cannot kick with my left leg near as good as I can with my right.
Can I EVER be normal again?
YYYYY
Look at the rigidity and limpness of my right arm, and the limpety way I walk; as if I had been put together all wrong.
WHAT is wrong with me? Can this be reversed any way possible, even weith stem cell or skin cell therapy?
Let me give you a little history.
From XXXXXXX 15, 1994 thru to Dec 1, 1999, I used to hit both sides of my jaw as hard as I could, whenever I saw my reflection, cause I was / and am so lugly. I began limping in 1995 but could still run and play sports. By 1997, however, I could not run without tripping and falling.
By sheer force of will I have made it so my right arm don't hang near so limp.
The right side of my body is weaker than the left, and I am right-handed. My right hand fingers and hand are slower, less "movable" than my left. I cannot kick with my left leg near as good as I can with my right.
Can I EVER be normal again?
Brief Answer:
It will be difficult to say anything just based on history , physical examination will be vital for diagnosis.
Detailed Answer:
Dear Sir,
Thank you for posting your query on HCM.
Well looking into your problem I would like to tell you that the history of weakness that you are giving can be a consequence of earlier stroke but I dont know if you had any as you havent mentioned about it .
Secondly we need to rule out myositis , we would advise to get muscle enzymes like CPK, LDH , Aldolase done . If any of them comes abnormal a possibility of myositis will exist.
Thirdly some muscular dystrophies can present like this . In your case it is very important to examine the muscle power to see which group of muscles are affected and to what extent . Till the time we dont have a diagnosis it will be difficult to say how much recovery is possible . But physical therapy and maintaining normal activity is very important for muscle conditioning so carry on with that at least.
You can discuss these possibilities with your treating doctor and get back to me with reports. Stem cell therapy can only be decided after determining the cause.
Take care.
Dr. Shruti
It will be difficult to say anything just based on history , physical examination will be vital for diagnosis.
Detailed Answer:
Dear Sir,
Thank you for posting your query on HCM.
Well looking into your problem I would like to tell you that the history of weakness that you are giving can be a consequence of earlier stroke but I dont know if you had any as you havent mentioned about it .
Secondly we need to rule out myositis , we would advise to get muscle enzymes like CPK, LDH , Aldolase done . If any of them comes abnormal a possibility of myositis will exist.
Thirdly some muscular dystrophies can present like this . In your case it is very important to examine the muscle power to see which group of muscles are affected and to what extent . Till the time we dont have a diagnosis it will be difficult to say how much recovery is possible . But physical therapy and maintaining normal activity is very important for muscle conditioning so carry on with that at least.
You can discuss these possibilities with your treating doctor and get back to me with reports. Stem cell therapy can only be decided after determining the cause.
Take care.
Dr. Shruti
Above answer was peer-reviewed by :
Dr. Vinay Bhardwaj
You mentioned the possibility of an earlier stroke.
In late-spring of 1994, in the Chick Fil' A in the mall, I was hitting my face, angrily cursing. I hit it and suddenly the vision in my right eye got just a tad blurry, mind you not enough to impair my vision. It went away in a few days and returned to normal. Maybe that will offer you a further clue.
WHAT kind of stroke would it have been? Bleeding? Blockage? I know of know other kind. What kind could be caused by trauma to the head?
A chiropractor recently suggested it was an upper motor neuron lesion.
I recorded the actual conversation in this video:
http://youtu.be/t8TX4ss9tFg
Oct 21 is my birthday. I will be 42 years old.
In late-spring of 1994, in the Chick Fil' A in the mall, I was hitting my face, angrily cursing. I hit it and suddenly the vision in my right eye got just a tad blurry, mind you not enough to impair my vision. It went away in a few days and returned to normal. Maybe that will offer you a further clue.
WHAT kind of stroke would it have been? Bleeding? Blockage? I know of know other kind. What kind could be caused by trauma to the head?
A chiropractor recently suggested it was an upper motor neuron lesion.
I recorded the actual conversation in this video:
http://youtu.be/t8TX4ss9tFg
Oct 21 is my birthday. I will be 42 years old.
Brief Answer:
Follows.
Detailed Answer:
Dear Sir,
Thank you for reverting back.
By injury bleeding can occur like subdural haemorrhage which can occur due to trauma , so yes definitely there is a possibility that you may have bled internally .
Upper motor neuron lesion is due to spinal injury it will hardly present like this.
But what ever said and done the main mot important thing is your recovery which by only means is physiotherapy and high motivation for getting better .
The neurological injury when occurs , heals but the neurons are not able to regenerate leaving the neurological deficit behind which is not recoverable although lot of new approaches are being tried. But none of them is approved for the same .
Dr. Shruti
Follows.
Detailed Answer:
Dear Sir,
Thank you for reverting back.
By injury bleeding can occur like subdural haemorrhage which can occur due to trauma , so yes definitely there is a possibility that you may have bled internally .
Upper motor neuron lesion is due to spinal injury it will hardly present like this.
But what ever said and done the main mot important thing is your recovery which by only means is physiotherapy and high motivation for getting better .
The neurological injury when occurs , heals but the neurons are not able to regenerate leaving the neurological deficit behind which is not recoverable although lot of new approaches are being tried. But none of them is approved for the same .
Dr. Shruti
Above answer was peer-reviewed by :
Dr. Chakravarthy Mazumdar
(You wrote: "The neurological injury heals, but the neurons ARE NOT able to regenerate...") Does stem cell or skin cells hold out possibility for neuron recovery?
I've read that pulsed electromagnetic field therapy encourage neuron regeneration, can it REALLY?
What are some of the other approaches you mentioned that are being tried?
I've read that pulsed electromagnetic field therapy encourage neuron regeneration, can it REALLY?
What are some of the other approaches you mentioned that are being tried?
Brief Answer:
Follows.
Detailed Answer:
Dear Sir,
Thanks for reverting back.
Any of the treatment approach can only be used for general patients when it is approved by FDA or some regulatory authority for the same . Till the time its under trial only the patients who have participated in the trial have an access to it .
Yes lot of research is being conducted on stem cell therapy and electromagnetic therapy . You can try either of these there is no harm but how much recovery you would get cannot be predicted. In my opinion try the electromagnetic therapy as its non invasive and see what it hold for you .
No the bleed would not have continued since then it would have stopped on itself just few days after injury .
Dr. Shruti
Follows.
Detailed Answer:
Dear Sir,
Thanks for reverting back.
Any of the treatment approach can only be used for general patients when it is approved by FDA or some regulatory authority for the same . Till the time its under trial only the patients who have participated in the trial have an access to it .
Yes lot of research is being conducted on stem cell therapy and electromagnetic therapy . You can try either of these there is no harm but how much recovery you would get cannot be predicted. In my opinion try the electromagnetic therapy as its non invasive and see what it hold for you .
No the bleed would not have continued since then it would have stopped on itself just few days after injury .
Dr. Shruti
Above answer was peer-reviewed by :
Dr. Chakravarthy Mazumdar
Brief Answer:
Follows.
Detailed Answer:
Dear Sir,
Thanks for reverting back.
Yes definitely recurrent injury would contribute to that , see obviously trauma could disrupt the neuron fibres and eventually can lead to neuron degeneration . Repeated injury would have also interfered with the healing process of already damaged neurons.
Whatever has happened cannot be reversed , we need to look at the positive side of present situation . Keep your spirits high , it very important for your recovery.
Take care.
Dr. Shruti
Follows.
Detailed Answer:
Dear Sir,
Thanks for reverting back.
Yes definitely recurrent injury would contribute to that , see obviously trauma could disrupt the neuron fibres and eventually can lead to neuron degeneration . Repeated injury would have also interfered with the healing process of already damaged neurons.
Whatever has happened cannot be reversed , we need to look at the positive side of present situation . Keep your spirits high , it very important for your recovery.
Take care.
Dr. Shruti
Above answer was peer-reviewed by :
Dr. Prasad
So whatever happened cannot be reversed, even with stem cells or skin cell therapy?
ALSO... I have been taking twice daily Lorazepam .5 mg to keep from feeling dizzy and like sh** and woefully pooped. It works.
Every morning I get up with the vision in my right eye significantly diminished until my vision "warms up" an hour or so later. Still, I feel pooped for two ours or so, but that night, after my second Lorazepam, I can go the whole night my normal self.
I have been MRI'ed and found to have herniated bulging disks in my neck. Could THAT be the culprit? Even at night if I do way too much walking I start feeling a slight headache behind my right eye sometimes like a flushing on the top right of my head.
(I take my first at 1 P.M., after I get up, and my second @ 7 P.M.) I think the dosage needs to be upped because at 1 and 7 I am starting to feel that frightening dizziness.
WHAT is happening to me THERE? I HAD a stroke Thanksgiving Day, 2013.
My terror is that long term Lorazepam will make me... addicted? mentally wacky?
I ALSO take two 50 mg trazodone's to sleep at night.
ALSO... I have been taking twice daily Lorazepam .5 mg to keep from feeling dizzy and like sh** and woefully pooped. It works.
Every morning I get up with the vision in my right eye significantly diminished until my vision "warms up" an hour or so later. Still, I feel pooped for two ours or so, but that night, after my second Lorazepam, I can go the whole night my normal self.
I have been MRI'ed and found to have herniated bulging disks in my neck. Could THAT be the culprit? Even at night if I do way too much walking I start feeling a slight headache behind my right eye sometimes like a flushing on the top right of my head.
(I take my first at 1 P.M., after I get up, and my second @ 7 P.M.) I think the dosage needs to be upped because at 1 and 7 I am starting to feel that frightening dizziness.
WHAT is happening to me THERE? I HAD a stroke Thanksgiving Day, 2013.
My terror is that long term Lorazepam will make me... addicted? mentally wacky?
I ALSO take two 50 mg trazodone's to sleep at night.
Brief Answer:
Follows.
Detailed Answer:
Dear Sir,
Its not like they would not work but to what extent they would be beneficial cannot be predicted . Disc herniation in the spine can occur normally also so how much it is causing the symptoms depends upon the extent of spine compression if any resulting due to spine and nerves compression .
Lorazepam is not that addicting specially in the dose you are taking but nothing can be said with confirmation . What I feel is that a lot of anxiety component has also come to play in your case .
Have belief on your treating doctor , he will do everything in your favour.
Dr. Shruti
Follows.
Detailed Answer:
Dear Sir,
Its not like they would not work but to what extent they would be beneficial cannot be predicted . Disc herniation in the spine can occur normally also so how much it is causing the symptoms depends upon the extent of spine compression if any resulting due to spine and nerves compression .
Lorazepam is not that addicting specially in the dose you are taking but nothing can be said with confirmation . What I feel is that a lot of anxiety component has also come to play in your case .
Have belief on your treating doctor , he will do everything in your favour.
Dr. Shruti
Above answer was peer-reviewed by :
Dr. Chakravarthy Mazumdar
Off the beaten track I have a question that began plaguing me in 2008.
From 2001 - 2008 I did 4 sets of 12 push-ups everyday except Sundays (rest day). In retrospect I realize I was contorting my posture to do them, because doing them with both legs equal irritated my lumbar back spine.
In 2004, and in Dec, 2007, I suffered excruciating back sprains that tok 3 days before I could walk normally again. (WHAT happened?)
In 2008 I stopped doing push ups and instead opted for lying on my back and moving dumbbells outward-to-inward with my arms in the air. Soon thereafter, I began noticing a strain in my groin that would not heal. My doctor prescribed everything from steroids to a damn sitzbath. The only thing that would make the groin strain go dormant was completely stopping my exercises. I'd then feel I could restart them, but, the groin strain would resurface after a few days, nonethe diminished!
In April, 2009, I began to feel a (flushing? gentle burning sensation?) on the left side surface of my groin. At first I thought it was from radiation from too many X-rays the same month. This would oppress me for a year afterwards. A gentle burning sensation on the surface of my skin, sometimes it would go deeper and becoming a aching deeper in my groin that made me feel like groaining.
It was so bad in 2009 and 2010 I could not get up and rap karaoke without exacerbating not only this groin pain, but a muscle pain deep in my gut and my pec muscles. (WHAT was THIS?)
I tried vitamin supplements, Ibuprofren, trips to the ER many times, all in vain. I remember lying in my bed till 3 in the afternoon because of the dull achy feeling in my pecs muscles that would not go away.
Today, I can exercise, just 15 min twice a week. Anymore than that and the muscle sorenesses start to reappear, albeit not as atrociously as they were in 2009-2011. If I completely stop exercising, my muscles began to feel weary and sore.
I remember rapping in LA in Nov, 2011, and throwing my arms around, and feeling pain in my left elbow, like arthritis. Today, that has gone dormant. In 2012 I began feeling stiffness in my fingers, but that too has gone dormant.
Could the then-slowly degenerating back and neck disks been the cause, or was it something else, or maybe a combination of both?
PLEASE watch these videos as I describe this throughout the past years:PLEASE excuse the cursing: being such a lugly guy I am just an old malcontent in pain.
http://youtu.be/jhq4B4O7j9Y?list=PLA4Hptn3cXkxFjPEXFDkITvO7E5GEdPU2
http://youtu.be/XY-UsXN45S4?list=PLA4Hptn3cXkyI3CcHxBIpYPNleSXQRkrd
http://youtu.be/4-husmV_1PQ?list=PLA4Hptn3cXkyI3CcHxBIpYPNleSXQRkrd
From 2001 - 2008 I did 4 sets of 12 push-ups everyday except Sundays (rest day). In retrospect I realize I was contorting my posture to do them, because doing them with both legs equal irritated my lumbar back spine.
In 2004, and in Dec, 2007, I suffered excruciating back sprains that tok 3 days before I could walk normally again. (WHAT happened?)
In 2008 I stopped doing push ups and instead opted for lying on my back and moving dumbbells outward-to-inward with my arms in the air. Soon thereafter, I began noticing a strain in my groin that would not heal. My doctor prescribed everything from steroids to a damn sitzbath. The only thing that would make the groin strain go dormant was completely stopping my exercises. I'd then feel I could restart them, but, the groin strain would resurface after a few days, nonethe diminished!
In April, 2009, I began to feel a (flushing? gentle burning sensation?) on the left side surface of my groin. At first I thought it was from radiation from too many X-rays the same month. This would oppress me for a year afterwards. A gentle burning sensation on the surface of my skin, sometimes it would go deeper and becoming a aching deeper in my groin that made me feel like groaining.
It was so bad in 2009 and 2010 I could not get up and rap karaoke without exacerbating not only this groin pain, but a muscle pain deep in my gut and my pec muscles. (WHAT was THIS?)
I tried vitamin supplements, Ibuprofren, trips to the ER many times, all in vain. I remember lying in my bed till 3 in the afternoon because of the dull achy feeling in my pecs muscles that would not go away.
Today, I can exercise, just 15 min twice a week. Anymore than that and the muscle sorenesses start to reappear, albeit not as atrociously as they were in 2009-2011. If I completely stop exercising, my muscles began to feel weary and sore.
I remember rapping in LA in Nov, 2011, and throwing my arms around, and feeling pain in my left elbow, like arthritis. Today, that has gone dormant. In 2012 I began feeling stiffness in my fingers, but that too has gone dormant.
Could the then-slowly degenerating back and neck disks been the cause, or was it something else, or maybe a combination of both?
PLEASE watch these videos as I describe this throughout the past years:PLEASE excuse the cursing: being such a lugly guy I am just an old malcontent in pain.
http://youtu.be/jhq4B4O7j9Y?list=PLA4Hptn3cXkxFjPEXFDkITvO7E5GEdPU2
http://youtu.be/XY-UsXN45S4?list=PLA4Hptn3cXkyI3CcHxBIpYPNleSXQRkrd
http://youtu.be/4-husmV_1PQ?list=PLA4Hptn3cXkyI3CcHxBIpYPNleSXQRkrd
Brief Answer:
Follows.
Detailed Answer:
Dear Sir,
Thank you for reverting back.
Well I would like to tell you that it will be difficult to give you a reason for this pain but I think the groin pain seems to be unrelated to your whole issue . I dont think your complaints even fit into any kind of arthritis but still if you want I can tell you certain tests to rule it out.
Dr. Shruti
Follows.
Detailed Answer:
Dear Sir,
Thank you for reverting back.
Well I would like to tell you that it will be difficult to give you a reason for this pain but I think the groin pain seems to be unrelated to your whole issue . I dont think your complaints even fit into any kind of arthritis but still if you want I can tell you certain tests to rule it out.
Dr. Shruti
Above answer was peer-reviewed by :
Dr. Chakravarthy Mazumdar
Yes! Tell me tests I can get, please!
Brief Answer:
Follows.
Detailed Answer:
Dear Sir,
Thank you for reverting back.
Rheumatoid factor , Anti CCP antibody , ANA , HLA B 27 , ESR are the relevant tests that should be done in your case . If any of them is positive further testing is suggestible and we will do it accordingly .
Dr. Shruti
Follows.
Detailed Answer:
Dear Sir,
Thank you for reverting back.
Rheumatoid factor , Anti CCP antibody , ANA , HLA B 27 , ESR are the relevant tests that should be done in your case . If any of them is positive further testing is suggestible and we will do it accordingly .
Dr. Shruti
Above answer was peer-reviewed by :
Dr. Chakravarthy Mazumdar
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