What is this tingling sensation I'm having?

September 26, 2019 3:24 PM

About 24 hours ago my left foot and right hand started getting "pins and needles" feelings. Mostly toward the tips of my toes/fingers, though it's gotten a bit more spread out and less specific-feeling since then. What is causing this?

My foot started first, and has had more of a painful feeling over the 24 hours. Almost like I have multiple tiny splinters or scrapes. (I don't.) My hand is more of just that pins & needles "just woke up" feeling. Neither are numb and I have full use of both. The tingling has been constant as far as I can tell.

Nothing else has really changed for me over the last few days. I've exercised, worked and slept normally. (My exercise is ice skating, so I really would have noticed ASAP if I didn't have full use of my foot, but it was fine.) I have had a little bit of an upset stomach -- nothing even worth taking Tums for, just a general feeling of not being that hungry, or wanting only things that I think would be easy on my stomach.

I feel like in general I'd associate the pins & needles with a pinched nerve or something like that, but is there one spot in my body that'd affect both the left foot and right hand? Anything else I should be thinking of?

posted by BlahLaLa to Health & Fitness (10 answers total)

I believe that nerve pinches happening at the spine can cause that sort of tingling in the extremities.
posted by Greg_Ace at 3:32 PM on September 26, 2019

People with thoracic outlet syndrome often report symptoms in both arms and legs.

I'd like to hear whether you think your stomach upset could be due to post nasal drip into your stomach.
posted by jamjam at 4:09 PM on September 26, 2019

This sounds a bit like peripheral neuropathy. You should definitely get this checked out.
posted by alex1965 at 4:40 PM on September 26, 2019 [2 favorites]

If I were you, I’d see a neurologist.
posted by ocherdraco at 5:09 PM on September 26, 2019

A friend of mine had this and it turned into numbness on half his body. He feared the worst thinking ALS or maybe neuropathy per his mother's diagnosis. She's a nurse. Luckily it turned out to be shingles. I don't know how they treated it but after a few scary days he found out that he would be fine and he is AOK.
posted by Che boludo! at 5:21 PM on September 26, 2019

I had similar symptoms and it was peripheral neuropathy due to a pinched nerve in my spine. It took a LOT of testing to figure out where the problem came from. If the pain or tingling get severe, I take Gabapentin and it completely blocks the nerve signals and gives relief. But 99% of the time (as it comes and goes) it isn't annoying enough for medication.
posted by tacodave at 6:15 PM on September 26, 2019

I'd get it checked out for sure. I've experienced the same thing from a pinched nerve, but even that would be worth seeing a doctor over.
posted by shapes that haunt the dusk at 8:01 PM on September 26, 2019

This happens to me when I am very low in B12. Definitely go to the doctor and get checked out.
posted by Feminazgul at 8:40 PM on September 26, 2019 [1 favorite]

Response by poster: So it went away, after about a total of less than 48 hours. But I already have a doctor's appointment in a few weeks that's going to include blood tests, so I'll plan on mentioning it then, or making a new appointment before that if it comes back.
posted by BlahLaLa at 1:44 PM on September 27, 2019

I had this. Had a bunch of tests, found nothing. Neurologists says it may have been a virus. I also started taking multivitamins for a few weeks after it happen, and apparently it could have been low B12(?), and so I might have unintentionally fixed it.
posted by kjs4 at 5:46 PM on September 29, 2019