Tingling foot.. brain tumour worry?

[kayleighb22]

For almost 3 years (with a year where I was ok in between) I have had constant headache at one side and a tingling foot at the opposite side. I had a CT scan 3 years ago when it first started which was 'normal' I also see a lot of floaters in my vision and recently I have noticed occasional blue flashes in my vision which lasts about a second and then goes away. The headaches aren't especially severe but they are always there and the tingling in my foot is annoying and worrying. The left side of my body feels weaker than my right. My doctor is baffled and I am going to a headache clinic. I had my eyes tested at the start of this year and she said that everything looks normal behind my eyes. I have recently started taking microgynon contraceptive pill last week (I switched from the implant) and I have been taking citalopram for almost 3 weeks.
Does this sound like a brain tumour? I am so scared.. and if not.. what the heck is it?

[Florance]

HI Kayleigh, it doesnt sound like the symptoms of a brain tumour. Floaters are quite common for all of us from time to time. There are numerous reasons for the symptoms you are feeling, if your gp thought it was anything serious he/she would have sent you for another CT scan. Tension and anxiety can give you headaches and also visual disturbances,plus tingling and weakness in your limbs, I would try not to worry too much, Easier said than dont I know!

[Raidenshred]

It doesn't sound like a brain tumour. Floaters are perfectly normal. The majority of people aren't even aware of them, just tune them out like dust on a TV screen. It's mostly us HA sufferers who can't unsee them. If you had a brain tumour, your doctor and your clinic would have known pretty quick.

[kayleighb22]

I haven't been to the headache clinic yet my first appointment is in May, what could be causing the tingling foot though? its the opposite side of my body to the headache which makes me think it must be a tumour on the right side that is effecting the left side of my body and making my foot tingle.. x x x

[Florance]

a tingling foot could be down to any number of simple things, including pinched nerves, a brain tumour would be causing you a lot more problems than you have. Go to the headache clinic and speak them there, or discuss again with your gp, I really wouldnt be too concerned that it is anything serious :)

[kayleighb22]

Thank you :) I hope that it isn't anything serious x

[Fishmanpa]

If it were sinister, I think you'd be pretty sick or worse in three years.

Positive thoughts

[kayleighb22]

It will be 3 years ago in august since I first started with it. Do you think it was a tumour the scan I had would have picked something up even if it was without contrast?

[Fishmanpa]

Kayleigh,

Cancer is a beast. I know this first hand. It doesn't stop growing and progressively gets worse. If you had a brain tumor that started three years ago, you wouldn't be writing here. I'm not a doctor but that's just common sense. You had a clean scan too. The key is treating the issue that is evident and that's your anxiety.

Positive thoughts

[kayleighb22]

I just don't know how to deal with it as I aren't getting a diagnosis as to what is causing the headaches and tingling? I've seen 2 doctors, a nurse and an option ion and have that scan but no one can tell me so I just go back to thinking it is a brain tumour x

[Florance]

in health terms, no news is good news, if it was something serious, then you would know about it :)

[Jimmy28]

I'm exactly the same and this is also my 3rd year. I guess we should not ignore the fact that we have clear scans (I also did a CT scan the first month 3 years ago, when the pain first occurred), lots of doctors confirming us we do not have a brain tumor and that if we do have (untreated) brain tumor we'd probably be dying by now, or we'd already be dead. I guess we're okay :)

[kayleighb22]

Do you think so florence? Know about it in what way? what are your symptoms jimmy? x

[Florance]

I do think so, if medical staff think there is something serious you know about it, and usually quickly, for example, I had a smear done, got a letter when I got in from work saying abnormal results and I needed to make an app. Didnt think much of it untill the called me at 9am the next day and had me booked in within 2 days for a biopsy. With CT scans you can also see almos straight away any tumours in any part of the body. its been 3 years, I really wouldnt be worried. like i said no news is good news :)

[kayleighb22]

oh really? poor you, I hope that everything was ok. When I have been to the doctors they don't seem to be alarmed they just say its promising that the CT was clear and that they can see no sign of pressure behind my eyes but they have reffered me to this clinic next month as something isn't right and they need to get to the bottom of it. I just can't understand what can cause constant headache and tingling that isn't serious (other than anxiety, but the headache is causing anxiety!) and then I think what if the tumour was too small to see back then but has grown now etc etc :-/ xx

[Florance]

I was ok, two years of frequant smears, all clear! :) I understand that you are anxious about the headaches, as I said before, you would have far more severe symptoms from a space occupying tumour in your brain. Problems with your spine (non serious) can cause all sorts of issues across various parts of the body, I had a lower back problem many years ago and it felt like I was sat in running water from the waist down for 6 months due to damage to a nerve from an operation I had. I dont think you need to worry :)

[kayleighb22]

Really? Yeah maybe it is just a spine problem I always just connect it with the headache. I hope that you are right & it isn't anything to worry about x

[maribel]

Did you get any x-rays on your spine? Could be something with a disc or maybe a pinched nerve (an x-ray wouldn't pick up a pinched nerve but I'm just throwing out some other things it could be). And floaters and flashing eyes are from inside the eyeball caused by the vitreous fluid pulling on the retina, that doesn't originate in the brain.

[Serenity1990]

As above if you had a brain tumour for three years you'd be very ill by now, with symptoms patently obvious to any doctor.

[Jimmy28]

I have unusual head pains (not really a headache), mostly a weird pressure on the right side on the back of my head or just like a sensation and shooting pains everywhere.

[kayleighb22]

No I haven't had any X-rays or anything to do with my spine tested. I just worry cos on top of the headache and tingling I feel sick, dizzy and have lost my appetite. But it seems like the doctors just don't want to know

[Serenity1990]

No I haven't had any X-rays or anything to do with my spine tested. I just worry cos on top of the headache and tingling I feel sick, dizzy and have lost my appetite. But it seems like the doctors just don't want to know

These are all very common anxiety symptoms.

I think the biggest thing I've learned over the past few months on my journey is that the actual list of symptoms is largely irrelevant, it's their presentation that matters. A huge amount of illnesses, serious and non-serious, share the same list of symptoms. Headaches, nausea, loss of appetite, tingling could be caused by such a huge list (by which I mean thousands) of illnesses, ranging from the common cold to anxiety to brain tumours. What's important is the finer details: when do these symptoms occur? Do they occur together? Where is the headache? What sort of pain? These are the questions that tell doctors what to look for, if anything, and how to treat it. This is the reason twelve years of medical school can't be replaced with a free search engine.

I am no doctor, but certainly what you present with is almost identical to hundreds of threads I've read on here, all of which turn out to be boring old anxiety. Having these symptoms and ignoring the obvious cause (anxiety), as well as all the benign and boring conditions that could be causing them instead jumping on the most extreme, rare and serious cause is in itself is a symptom of anxiety. By the way, my anxiety was kicked off by doctors saying they needed to "rule out" a brain tumour with me (it turned out to be something entirely different), so I did an awful lot of research into brain tumours and spoke to an awful lot of medical experts about them, and they don't sound like what you've got. My experience also lends me some knowledge that I should pass onto you: in today's suing culture doctors will test for every single possibility, however unlikely. The fact that even despite your worry the doctor doesn't even think this worth pursuing should be indicative of your likelihood of actually having one.

So given your chances of actually having a brain tumour are 0.016% to begin with, and much lower still having had doctors say you don't gave one, I'd say your chances of having one are slightly lower than winning the lottery three weeks running, getting struck by lightning after the purchase of each winning ticket and discovering the next unknown decimal place of Pi next week. :)

[kayleighb22]

These are all very common anxiety symptoms.

I think the biggest thing I've learned over the past few months on my journey is that the actual list of symptoms is largely irrelevant, it's their presentation that matters. A huge amount of illnesses, serious and non-serious, share the same list of symptoms. Headaches, nausea, loss of appetite, tingling could be caused by such a huge list (by which I mean thousands) of illnesses, ranging from the common cold to anxiety to brain tumours. What's important is the finer details: when do these symptoms occur? Do they occur together? Where is the headache? What sort of pain? These are the questions that tell doctors what to look for, if anything, and how to treat it. This is the reason twelve years of medical school can't be replaced with a free search engine.

I am no doctor, but certainly what you present with is almost identical to hundreds of threads I've read on here, all of which turn out to be boring old anxiety. Having these symptoms and ignoring the obvious cause (anxiety), as well as all the benign and boring conditions that could be causing them instead jumping on the most extreme, rare and serious cause is in itself is a symptom of anxiety. By the way, my anxiety was kicked off by doctors saying they needed to "rule out" a brain tumour with me (it turned out to be something entirely different), so I did an awful lot of research into brain tumours and spoke to an awful lot of medical experts about them, and they don't sound like what you've got. My experience also lends me some knowledge that I should pass onto you: in today's suing culture doctors will test for every single possibility, however unlikely. The fact that even despite your worry the doctor doesn't even think this worth pursuing should be indicative of your likelihood of actually having one.

So given your chances of actually having a brain tumour are 0.016% to begin with, and much lower still having had doctors say you don't gave one, I'd say your chances of having one are slightly lower than winning the lottery three weeks running, getting struck by lightning after the purchase of each winning ticket and discovering the next unknown decimal place of Pi next week. :)

Thank you serenity, your message has made me feel a bit better (for the moment at least!) I have headache every day at some point, sometimes it's all day, and some days and weeks are worse than others. It can be worse in a morning when I first wake up quite often. It's a headache that is worse on the right side, and the place where I get a lot of pain is the right side of my hairline, where my forehead meets my hair kind of area. That's always right sided and that's where the worst pain is. The headache and tingling started in August 2011, went away after I had my CT scan in October 2011, I had headaches in between but not as bad or as long lasted and the tingling seemed to totally go away. And then in February 2013 the headache came back (more right sided this time) closely followed by the tingling and it has been constant ever since. The tingling is always in my left foot, never my right, and it not totally numb as I can feel it but it constantly has that feeling like when you have been sat on it and it is just about to go to sleep. The numbness occasionally goes up my left calf too and recently my left calf has been feeling very stiff, as though i have pulled a muscle when I walk but I haven't, and my whole left calf just feels different to my right one. The severity of headache normally stays at around a 3 and goes up to a 7 on a bad day. The headache can sometimes be made worse when I bend forward also. I have dizziness sometimes, I feel sick a lot and don't have much appetite. I have lost a stone since Christmas. The first doctor I saw basically told me to relax and that it's probably a tension headache (that wouldn't cause tingling?) and she pretty much said they can't afford to keep sending me for scans just to reassure me. The second doctor I saw who is the principle of the surgery said that it is reassuring I had a clear CT scan and when he looked behind my eyes he could see no sign of raised pressure but he referred me to the headache specialists at the hospital, who I am seeing next month. I haven't really had any other checks done, they haven't done a blood test and they have done a couple of tests where they ask me to push against them to test muscle but not in depth. I just don't understand what else could be causing these symptoms other than a tumour on the right side of my brain which is effecting my left side.
I started citalopram 3 weeks ago but it has just seemed to make me worse and I started the oral contraceptive pill last week so now I'm worried this will up my chance of having a stroke and make the problem worse.
From what you know of you think this still does not sound like a tumour? Thank you;

[maribel]

You could be getting yourself all upset about the tingling and "creating" the other stuff. I made my stomach so bad from worry I lost 25 pounds in one month (and for me that's 20% of my body weight!) So yes, it's possible to create REAL symptoms.

[kayleighb22]

Can I really be imagining all this though? :(

[Fishmanpa]

Can I really be imagining all this though? :(

If you take a read of the "Symptoms" link on the left side of the page, you'll see dozens of real physical symptoms associated with anxiety. You're not "imagining" the symptoms as they are real, but based on what you've said it has every indication of being caused by anxiety.

I didn't imagine the chest pain that eventually sent me to the hospital. It was very real but having had a two heart attacks I knew it was different. Based on my history I went and got checked out. Anxiety and acid reflux were the causes. So, I was prescribed a more potent PPI and a mild med for the stress. I haven't had any reflux since starting the new med and I can start taking the anxiety med a couple of weeks before my appointment with the cancer team.

So there you go. As I posted earlier, common sense dictates that if you had something sinister going on, you'd be very ill or not even here by now. Reassurance only works for a short time. the key is treating the root of the problem.

Hope everything comes out Ok and you start on the road to healing.

Positive thoughts

[blueangel]

Just here to agree with the good stuff you have been told. The thing you have to get over with HA is constantly seeking reassurance. Serenity gave you a really good explanation, and at the end of your reply you were already asking again about whether or not they thought it was a tumour!

HA makes us constantly seek reassurance, whether it's from a doctor, people on here, friends, family or Dr Google - although of course Dr Google always issues the nightmare scenario.

For the headaches, you have been referred, which is good news. There are literally dozens of different causes for headaches, and the great majority of them are not serious - it may even be that they are caused by tension in your jaw from anxiety, as that is really common.

As Fishmanpa has said, you need to get to the root of the problem.

[kayleighb22]

Thanks you fushmanpa and blue angel :) I just don't know how I can get to the root of the problem without having another scan to find out if there is a tumour or not.. I'm already on antidepressants until I see the neurologist so I just don't know what to do x

[Fishmanpa]

Kayleigh,

The root of the problem isn't a scan. It's the fact that you're needing to get one to reassure you again that's at the bottom of it all. The root is the questioning itself. Meds are a step in helping you cope but perhaps seeking therapy in the form of CBT or one on one with a mental health professional would help you solve the issues?

Now, no one here is a doctor, so we can't diagnose. That being said, this screams of anxiety.

Best of luck and positive thoughts

[maribel]

What's important is the finer details: when do these symptoms occur? Do they occur together? Where is the headache? What sort of pain? These are the questions that tell doctors what to look for, if anything, and how to treat it. This is the reason twelve years of medical school can't be replaced with a free search engine.

This was a great paragraph! That alone is something I am going to copy and paste into my "fear" document! (that's something that when I find something comforting I put it there so I can refer back to it) Currently I'm not in any health anxiety mode, but I know the next one is just around the corner.

[kayleighb22]

Kayleigh,

The root of the problem isn't a scan. It's the fact that you're needing to get one to reassure you again that's at the bottom of it all. The root is the questioning itself. Meds are a step in helping you cope but perhaps seeking therapy in the form of CBT or one on one with a mental health professional would help you solve the issues?

Now, no one here is a doctor, so we can't diagnose. That being said, this screams of anxiety.

Best of luck and positive thoughts

Thank you :) so do you reckon this could all be down to anxiety rathe than a physical problem? X

[maribel]

Can I really be imagining all this though? :(

No you aren't IMAGINING it, it's real - your brain can create REAL pain and real sensations.

[kayleighb22]

How does it do that though? and how can I stop it? x

[Fishmanpa]

How does it do that though? and how can I stop it? x

Hi Kayleigh,

First read this:
Symptoms (http://www.nomorepanic.co.uk/articles/symptoms/)
It explains the physiology behind anxiety and the real physical effects it can have on you.

And then go here and download the free CBT course.
Free CBT Course (http://www.nomorepanic.co.uk/showthread.php?t=131665)
At the very least read through it. It also explains the reasons why your body physically reacts and why. You stop it by challenging that way you think about things and using techniques to help you do so.

Positive thoughts

[kayleighb22]

Thank you fishmanpa.. I'm going to check it out now x

[marshallp09]

Hey I had to comment on this... it does not sound like a brain tumor Im having the EXACT same symptoms besides the headach im terrified of having MS because of the tingling. Even tho it happens for a second and the. Goes away. I had floaters and got my eyes checked and im at 100 percent. There was a guy on a chat I met that said anxiety can cause you to be more vigilante of things. For example the floaters ... you prob had them and never noticed. I have the tingling feeling wich im still scared about but I have bee. Told intermitant tingles isnt associated with MS so im trying to keep my mind off. Try a d keep busy and see if u notice the symptoms less. Good luck we all have this problem and I recently noticced its a real issue not just that were nutts :-)