Docs..Neurologist ? Need an opinion

[Drdogface]

I spent last week in the hospital with (likely) a nasty stomach virus...vomited all day Monday and could not stop so finally went to ER. Got admitted and was there for a week. Now home I note that my right arm is numb/tingling all the way up to the arm pit and my hand cannot tell hot from cold. Yes, I had IV's in that arm at the elbow and had to keep it straight to keep from cutting off the drip.

I have had IV's before and blood draws hundreds of times but never had a sequel like this... I got home from the hosp on Friday and the arm is no better...

Anything to worry about here ?

[Zeke]

Similar symptoms for my stepdaughter after a lengthy drip. Not saying you should ignore it, just telling you it may not be something to get too excited about.

[Tobra]

Probably not related to IV lines, unless they did one upper arm and stabbed your brachial nerve. More likely neuropraxia secondary to compression, you laid on it funny. Should be better by now though.

I would call my primary care doc. I would also decline if they suggested nerve conduction tests.

[Drdogface]

Originally Posted by Tobra

Probably not related to IV lines, unless they did one upper arm and stabbed your brachial nerve. More likely neuropraxia secondary to compression, you laid on it funny. Should be better by now though.

I would call my primary care doc. I would also decline if they suggested nerve conduction tests.

Thanks guys. Tobra, never heard that word before...'neuropraxia' . I do and did sleep and lay on my right shoulder a lot of the time. I don't think they put anything in my upper arm though. Now at home I have to lay on my left side and rest my right arm on a pillow or it bothers me some. I do have to call my Doc today..

[Tobra]

Doctors and their damn jargon, sorry. I have heard it referred to as "barstool syndrome" too. You sit, hanging the arm over the back of the barstool and compress the nerve in your arm pit.

How is the strength in the numb hand?

[Crowbob]

A week in the hosp for a 'stomach virus' is suspicious. In addition, the arm symptoms appeared after you were discharged and are persistent. Menningococcal bacterial infection is a possibility. Fever? Elevatad WBC? Any history of immune disorder, chemo?

[Drdogface]

I asked the nurses if they had been seeing this type 'viral' condition lately and they all replied that they had...big time. The Doc and PA all tried to tie it all together with my URI. My WBC was normal to low...suggesting a viral infection. Fever was 99-100.3 and lasted from Monday to Wed nite. I was and am on Levofloxacin and Flagyl (my idea on that) given the flagellates that live in your mouth and I'm due for a cleaning...anyway.

My left hand strength is OK but the sensations are disturbing. I can feel a kind of tickle in my hand and all the way up to my arm pit and sometimes the side of my neck. I'm gonna get with my Doc tomorrow if I can...was thinking of calling a neurologist but that may be over kill right now...

Edit: I had nerve conduction tests several months ago on my legs by the VA. Didn't bother me at all but most guys in my VA Men's group said it was awful. I have tingling in my feet which is supposed to be a symptom of Agent Orange exposure but they NEVER award for it..never.

No history of immune problems or chemo

[Tobra]

Does it bother you to stand and hold your hand over your head, what about turning your head side to side, tilting it right and left, shrugging your shoulders?

I had a campylobacter, I guess they call it helicobacter now, food poisoning in college and I probably should have been in the hospital for at least a few days, and that was as a strapping young man in my twenties, a week for gastroenteritis is not really that unusual.

I got sick on Easter. Had a runny nose on Saturday, fever Sunday morning. 102, so the wife goes all "nurse" on me, couple asprin, repeat temp in an hour, 102.8. She wants me to go to the hospital, but I just drank plenty of fluids and had a fever for a few days. Drank enough gatorade and water so never stopped peeing, so not toodehydrated. Had to put the pillow on the drying rack out back when the fever broke, soaking wet. Missed work from being sick for the first time in my life.

First time I had a fever since I was a little kid in the '70s. Talked to a couple of the smart, real doctors at the hospital and they tell me it is going around, I will cough for a few weeks after the fever. Seems like if you know I am going to cough for a few weeks, you ought to be able to tell me what it is and what to do, "some virus, get cough drops" they say. Viruses are some scheisse man, electron micrograph will make you think they are from outer space or something. Not really alive unless they are causing an infection

Here is a shot of HIV

[Drdogface]

Thanks Tobra. I'm familiar with both Campy and Helico but never knew they were the same bug... Yeah, viri are fugly, no doubt. Fever of 102 in an adult is really tough to bear..wow.

You were a kid in the 70's ? Hell, then you still are one ...

[Tobra]

Childish, but no child