Pins and needles

[Sarah72xx]

Hi all plz can somebody help I keep getting pins and needles in left arm and mouth tingles what can it be?

[wedgewood]

Dear Sarah72xx

It's possible that it is B12 decifiency maybe caused by Pernicious Anaemia. That is a common sympton. You should go to your GP and get a blood test,and preferably the active B12 test,which is more accurate. Have you any other symptoms,like extreme tiredness, brain fog or confusion? You could read the book called"Could it be B12" by Sally Patchlok. That is very informative and helpful. Hope that this helps a bit. There are some very helpful knowledgeable members on this site who could help you further. Best of luck.

[Secondchance in reply to wedgewood]

It could be lots of things so see your GP. My first symptoms were pins and needles in my arm. It could well be B12 deficiency but mine was not discovered for several years after symptoms first started. I had one B12 test a couple of years ago which was just over 200 so B12 deficiency was (wrongly) ruled out, so things didn't come to a head until last year with fairly major symptoms - falls, leg weakness, poor balance in dark especially eg in shower when washing hair or going to toilet at night. At this stage I had a level just below reference range which GP wasn't going to treat. I insisted. It worked and all those major symptoms settled in 8 weeks of alternate day injections.

To cut a long story short, get B12 and active B12 checked as B12 alone is inaccurate. If active B12 is borderline you can get MMA and homocysteine checked. Don't supplement until after tests as it will mess up results and mask any deficiency you might have.

[shevie]

I can only reinforce what the others have said here. It is most likely B12deficiency, although other things should not be ruled out. Do not supplement with anything, even a low dose multi vitamin, as getting replacement therapy is difficult enough without skewing the figures. If you have been supplementing, then you'll need to stop for a good 4 months before getting tests. The MMA and Homocysteine tests are very helpful in determining whether or not you have a deficiency. But, they are expensive and GPs are reluctant to use them. If you ask your gp for tests to be done, ask for a Full Blood Count as well as a b12 serum, folate and ferritin reading, ask for a printout of the results, you are perfectly entitled to them, bring them here and tell us what they say. Someone here will be knowledgeable enough to help you if things are in the grey area or a little difficult to understand.

I wish you well

[Laura5]

Also consider hypoparathyroidism (though much rarer than vitamin B12 deficiency I think).

From Wikipedia: "The main symptoms of hypoparathyroidism are the result of the low blood calcium level, which interferes with normal muscle contraction and nerve conduction. As a result, people with hypoparathyroidism can experience paresthesia, an unpleasant tingling sensation around the mouth and in the hands and feet, as well as muscle cramps and severe spasms known as "tetany" that affect the hands and feet. Many also report a number of subjective symptoms such as fatigue, headaches, bone pain and insomnia."

[Polaris]

Lots of good advice from others here Sarah and on the site below, which may help check any other symptoms you have, which can often be quite subtle and take years to develop:

b12deficiency.info/signs-an...

(Excellent film on here too)

[Marcieb]

Hi, Marcie here, I have had PA for about 8 years, it took 8 months of my complaining and a second opinion followed by hospital check to get diagnosed. I had mouth ulcers for 8 months prior to diagnosis, and am told that is a biggie with us PA's. I get them again at about 5 weeks from my injection, sometimes much worse than others. I am trying to persuade my GP to let me come down from 8 weekly to 5 weekly injections. By 5 weeks I just want to go back to sleep in the mornings, it takes me between an hour and two hours to get properly awake, I am very clumsey quite often having falls. I just trip over myself. I feel so "ill", you cannot quite describe it can you, my body doesn't want to work. If I do too much one day and try to do same the next I am rubbish, I yearn to lie down and sleep, and when I do f they dropped a bomb I would not hear it. Once I am gone into one of those "sleeps" I can be out for at least 12 hours anything up to 36 is my worst. It is so scarey, I am on my own now and isn't it awfull to wake up and not know what day it is - have to put the tv on to figure it out. Thank goodness having other like poorly people to talk to, do you find if people don't know about PA they think you are putting it on? Guess it does sound mad. I am getting alot of sort of pins and needles in my legs, sometimes just feels like a cold ache particularly in my left leg. Try asking for Difflam from your GP, I have it on repeat now and use it when my mouth starts to feel that tingle of the start of mouth ulcers. It is really good and only on prescription. All the best x