Carpal Tunnel Syndrome and Meralgia Paresthetica

Recently in July, my neurologist tenatively diagnosed me with Carpal Tunnel Syndrome (CTS) and Meralgia Paresthetica.

CTS causes numbness, pain and tingling in the fingers, hands, arms.  This began about 25 weeks of pregnancy and got progressively worst at the time of birth and continued for 6 weeks postpartum.  Today, I still feel weakness in my arms and pain in my arm muscles but not much tingling or numbness.  Losing 54 pounds in 7.5 months postpartum has greatly reduced the swelling that existed in my arms putting pressure on the median nerve in my wrist.  But another cause of CTS is relaxed muscle tissue.  As long as my body is filled with biotoxins, this muscle tissue will continue to be relaxed to the point of not being able to prevent pressure on that nerve.  Biotoxins must go!

Meralgia Paresthetica is a syndrome that comes from damage to the LCNT (Lateral Cutaneous Nerve of the Thigh).  The LCNT arises from the lumbar area specifically the L2 and L3 spinal nerves emerging from the border of the psoas muscle and the iliacus muscle deep to the iliacus fascia passing to the anterior superior iliac spine.  This condition can be cause by involvement in a motor vehicle accident like the one I was in 2 years ago as the seat belt is across this nerve over the hips.  Other causes or worsening conditions can also be caused by muscle weakness from Biotoxins!

My chiropractic history has revealed some definite low back pain!  More recently, after my accident I had pubic bone pain and hip pain for the first time in pregnancy.  I also had this pain only after the exposure to mold during mid-pregnancy.

My neurologist would love to do nerve conduction studies or electric shock tests but I'm gonna forego that for now.  I know I have pain in both areas of my body.  I accept his diagnosis.  The question is, would there be complete healing once Biotoxins are removed from my body?  Only time will tell us the answer once a final determination of which Biotoxins I'm suffering from is revealed and treatment is rendered.  But for now, I'll deal with the symptoms knowing that already both conditions have gotten better in the last week or so living out of my home, back in my remediated home and taking supplements like anti-inflammatories and probiotics, diet changes like gluten-free, low-sugar and being in a mold-free environment for the first time in years.

Treatment from a neurological stand-point would be with medication like steroids including shots or surgery neither of which I'm hoping for in the end.

My CTS and Meralgia Paresthetica will either disappear or need further treatment because too much damage has been done.  Stay tuned on these neurological conditions.

Questions, Questions, Questions...Answers Cannot Come Fast Enough!

OK let's start by laying out what we already know...

1) I'm not well.  My litany of symptoms makes this all very frustrating and confusing.
2) Inflammation is very much present in my body in multiple systems
3) I was found to be Vitamin D deficient in March 2012
4) I've been diagnosed with food allergies in late May 2012 - dairy/egg
5) I was recently diagnosed with two neurological conditions (both caused by inflammation in the body irritating nerves) although I am confident this neurologist is missing the mark - neither of the conditions he believes are my issue lead to either pain in the lower extremities past the thigh or memory/focus issues, so although he may be correct those nerves he diagnosed are affected, they are not the only problems. 

Now where to go from here...

1) I'm very well read on Fibromyalgia.  To-date it is the one condition I've extensively researched that seems to match all of my symptoms I suffer with daily.  But what is next if FM is my true diagnosis?

• I need to find a practitioner to do the body mapping to confirm FM and have a starting point.
• I would go on Dr. St. Amand's guafenisen protocol to reverse the symptoms of FM

 2) My naturopath is testing for candida at my next appointment end of July to see if this is a major factor.  I do have regular issues with yeast.

3) I'm going to make an appointment with an LLDM (Lymes Literate Medical Doctor) who can definitively rule this out.  So far, I've tested negative for Lymes in the April 2012 including the Western Blot test.  When I got an email from someone who was in my Guai Support Group that had undetected Lymes not FM, I decided to follow-up on my negative tests because they could have been wrong.  Dr. Burrascano's list of Lymes symptoms is extensive and also match my litany of symptoms. 

Visit www.LymeNet.org  and  www.ChronicLymeDisease.com for more info.

4) Neurological:  I will do the nerve conduction studies with my neurologist.  I'll also find a neurologist at Hopkins or surgeon if needed at Union Memorial for further evaluation, testing and possible surgical fixes if time will not heal these issues.  I still believe if I find the underlying cause of my inflammation taking over multiple systems, then the inflammation causing these nerve pains will disappear, hopefully.

My goals...

I hope to get better within the next 12 months.  No matter the ending diagnoses, I want to find the best, healthiest and most long-term healing and treatment plans possible.  I'm in pain every single day.  All day long.  I live with it.  I type now through the pain radiating in my hands.  I try to make sense in these blog posts despite my sharp mind fading in focus, concentration and memory.  My house is suffering because I have a hard time doing any physical work.  I want to exercise but I hurt my back severely whenever I attempt it.  I want to have energy not fatigue.  I have four kids to raise and want to have more.  I have a life to live.  I can't live it like this.  This is taking over my life.  It's slowing down my success as a mother, wife, household manager, childbirth educator, doula, midwifery student, etc...  I will not allow this to go on.
I will find MY cure.