View Full Version : Cold/numb toes
Hello again,
I'm dealing with quite a few neuro symptoms and the last one is a cold/numb feeling in the toes of my left leg. It's not like they are completely numb...but it seems I don' feel them normal...and they seems cold (or at least colder than the right ones). I've had (and still have) a weak feeling on my left leg...but now I'm more concerned about this "strange" feeling of me toes.
Anyone with something similar?
Thank you
Did the cold feeling come on in a period where you have been anxious because when my anxiety levels are high I experience hot/cold numb sensations in hands legs etc.
I guess it has been before...but it's more noticable the last few days (I had a bad hangover last friday) and the fact that I'm focusing on it is making it worse...
It's horrible to worry about things like that, give it 2 days and if no better go to the doctors and get his opinion, I know it's hard but try to forget about it for now.
I hope it will get better...I'm scared to go to the docs and avoid them all the time
I am exactly the same I sit and worry that not only I might be Ill but that I might have to go to the doctors I freak out, I'm 18 and I make my mum go with me to docs I get that worked up lol.
I'm a bit older...so can't get my mom with me :)
Oh well hope the problem goes away soon :)
The odd numb finger, toe or thumb and the random nature of it is part of the parasthaesia caused by anxiety. It is mentioned in the list of symptoms section of this site:
http://www.nomorepanic.co.uk/articles/symptoms/
Another symptom directly resulting from this is tingling in fingers and toes. A sure sign of hyperventilation. The numbness is a symptom that its hard to get used to , why 3 fingers and not the whole hand or just the right side and not the left etc. This often leads people to self diagnosing strokes and fits whereas this is just hyperventilation and extremely easy to correct.
When I was suffering I went for several days with either a toe, a couple of toes or a finger would feel numb. Sometimes the numbness was at the tip, sometimes it was under the nail bed. It was often but not always accompanied by a tingling/burning sensation in my hands or feet and/or around my mouth. This could also last for days.
The doctor told me it was caused by chronic hyperventilation. Worrying about it makes it worse; not worrying makes it fade away.
Thank you Jules...I've had before numb sensations...however the difference this time is that it's accompanied by a cold feeling. I'm workin in a A/C room now and the toes of my left leg feel so cold, while the right leg toes normal...
Coldness and numbness can go together, especially in an A/C room! I get the impression that it is the asymmetry that bothers you - why the left but not the right? See above, especially the emboldened bit in the quote.
The weird thing about anxiety is the randomness, chaos, disorder and multitude of symptoms and sensations. Some are fleeting, some are more enduring. The good news is that you won't get them all at once because you don't have limitless supplies of adrenaline. The bad news is when they go they are often replaced by others.
The really good news is asymmetry is not a harbinger of anything sinister.
Practise 7/11 breathing and don't worry if this isn't an instant success, it takes practice.
You're right assymetry bothers me...especially since I'm worried about MS which in the beginning is assymetrical....
Most of my symptoms are in the left side...rarely get a numb feeling on my right arm...
MS was my fear too at the time. Have you been diagnosed with anxiety?
Yes I'm diagnosed with anxiety and taking meds since about 4 months. The odd thing is that with anti-anxiety meds (especially Xanax) the symptoms get better. However they don't completely go away, which makes me thing there must be something else like MS and that anxiety is a side effect of MS which makes the symptoms worse...
I was prescribed with Citalopram but I ended up not taking it as I was due to go on holiday and didn't want to be breaking in a new drug, especially an SSRI, while I was away in the South of France. My doctor said when he prescribed them that they would make me feel better but I would still have good and bad days, just fewer bad days. My first CBT and mindfulness appointment came through within a couple of days of me coming back so I didn't bother taking the pills as I was hopeful that the therapy was going to be more effective.
The drugs will alleviate your symptoms but they won't address the underlying cause and until you have done this you will always have symptoms to a lesser degree.
Google the Hamilton Anxiety questionnaire (HamA) devised in 1959. You will note that there are groups of symptoms relating to the physical, emotional and to your thoughts. If you compare this with the modern DSM IV diagnostic questionnaire you will notice that all of the questions refer to thoughts and feelings and none to physical symptoms.
I asked my therapist why this was so and this was his reply,
"If we can fix your thoughts and feelings, the physical sensations and symptoms will go away."
And they did. It wasn't immediate but with each weekly session my physical symptoms bothered me less and were less noticeable just as my DSM IV anxiety scores fell back from 14 at the first session to a normal 5 after the third or fourth session of therapy. When my score based on thoughts and emotions had fallen back to 5, the physical sensations were all but gone. They disappeared completely after the fifth session.
Now I get the odd occasional twinge but I am equipped to deal with it so that it doesn't take hold and cause the vicious cycle to recommence.
I suggest to you that the underlying cause for your symptoms is your thoughts and not MS. Ask yourself which is more likely. Accepting the diagnosis of anxiety is more than half the battle. The mind is a very powerful tool. You underestimate its power over your bodily functions.
Thanx for all the information...it's helpful.
When I try and be rational, all the "neuro" symptoms started after my first anxiety attack (back then I didn't know it was anxiety). I was more than 1 year ago when in the middle of the night, I was sweating a lot, couldn't breath, seemed like my heart would stop, etc...the a month or so later a tingling in my left forearm started...in april/may I did a lot of examinations and there was nothing wrong so all the symptoms faded away. However just as I was getting better I had an episode (probably anxiety/panic attack) when my left leg felt so weak that I thouhg it would not support me. I was able to walk back home but was depressed and for some time didn't go out of the house fearing that would not be able to get back. It was at this time that anxiety was diagnosed and started meds. Since then most things have improved, but this weak feeling in my leg never goes away completely. Along with that I still get weak feeling in my left arm, tingling in different places (doesn't bother me that much now) and some others.
Normally anxiety would be much more probably than something like MS...but it's not easy to dismiss it. I'm planning a neruo examinations and hopefully nothing bad will show up.
I have edited my post above btw and added bits.
For as long as you buy into the alternative underlying cause notion your symptoms will persist for that is the nature of the condition. Seeing a neuro will bring short-lived reassurance and relief and then the doubts will pop back into your head because you still won't have accepted the diagnosis and will be still rooting for an underlying cause.
My left side was worse than my right too. My left arm often felt weak and hardly ever my right. I used to clench my fist as a checking behaviour. Although there are a multitude of symptoms that come and go you will likely have "favourite" symptoms and "hot spots." This is normal.
It seems I'm still in the early phase of this...and haven't yet realised what anxiety can really do. The problem is that everyone thinks that his/her case is different and will spend a lot of time worrying until finally accepting it as anxiety...there doesn't seem to be "shortcut"
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