Dear Dr. Joshua,
I am trying to find out if a brain cyst can be diagnosed and said to be benign if only a cat scan was done. I was told today that I have one and I am very concerned because no treatment or follow up or futher testing was discussed. I can find […]

I’m a 24 yr old female. For the past 12 yrs. I have had these hallucinations at night while sleeping. They range from a strange figure standing in my room to things falling on me. They are very real and scary to me. I literally run through my house screaming during these. I average about […]

In November of last year I was hit right by spine with a literature textbook that was thrown across the room from a distance of about 5 or 6 feet. The day after I started having tremors in my whole body. I had MRI’s of my head and back that show good. I’ve also had […]

My daughter is 20 and very fit until a week ago when she passed out during a very severe headache attack, nauseous, very unsteady on her feet and slurring her speech as though she was drunk.
I took her to a British NHS hospital where she was admitted. A neurologist saw her, said it was migraine […]

Here is a follow-up question, please see a previous post:
Fever and Paralysis
Date of admission: 20-10-2003
Diagnosis:
- recurrent polymyalgia
- ? recurrent guillain-barre syndrome (polyradiculoneuritis)
Presentation:
14 years old female presented with weakness of all limbs, but more profound in lower limbs, with cough & greenish sputum with fever for 3 days.
Past History:
She had milder episodes of weakness in the […]

Gender: Female
Date of birth: 1989
Nationality: Pakistani
Family history: No-one has such a disability on either side (maternal or paternal)
My problem is: Whenever I suffer through fever I become unable to walk, before I used to have dis weakness in my legs only but the second last time I had this fever I even got this weakness […]

I am hoping that I may get any kind of idea of possibile condtions that could cause the symptoms I am experiencing. My pcp has ordered brain MRI with and w/o contrast which I will have in few days, however I am not scheduled for f/u for 5 wks. which is a long time to […]

My sister has a brain abscess that originally was located in the center of the brain and she developed spinal meningitis. A week ago, the CAT scan showed the abscess had moved to the “right ventricle”. The doctors are puzzled about the bacteria and are unable to find out what the bacteria is and have […]

Hi,
On Christmas Day I was suddenly hit with a head pain that my husband had to help me to a chair ..I was holding my head i could not scream the pain was bad!!! But then my left arm had a shooting pain that made me unable to use my hand was like paralized.My husband […]

I am a thirty-five-year-old female who follows an active and healthy lifestyle. However, over the past year and a half, I have been experiencing some symptoms on the right side of my face that concern me: eye discomfort (sensation of pressure and a feeling that something is in my eye), particularly upon waking; eye twitching; […]

By way of brief background, I am young (24 year old male), athletic (former personal trainer), do not smoke, use drugs or drink heavily, and have no medical history of any clinically significant illness or injury. I have been taking low doses of Adderall (10mg or less) occasionally for the last 3 years. […]

Dear Dr. Joshua,
I have been experiencing very severe pain starting in my neck, and radiating across my shoulder, down my arm and into my thumb. This started just before Christmas. I have been seeing my Chiropoactor who suggests that I have a “C6 impingement”, but based on my pain level, he suggested I go to […]

I have had neck/back pain since a young child. I am 31 now. I had whiplash from being startled by a spider in June. I started doing Yoga which helped until Sept. when I started having severe muscle cramps in my legs and feet. My hand began to “wobble” back and forth when I would […]

Let me start by saying, off and on for most of my adult life (I am 35) I have had passing out spells and migraines…sometimes together, sometimes totally unrelated to one another. In the past couple of years I have started having what my husband believes to be seizures. I always have a horrible headache […]

In Jan. 1990(at 51 yrs of age), I had a “Pontine” stroke. Prior to that I hadn’t been considered a “stroke candidate”, as I watched my cholesterol,plus wasn’t overweight, or had high blood pressure, etc. I had been a bicycler, swimmer, & runner, plus ate “healthy” food, so a stroke was very unexpected. […]

New Year’s Eve, I was working at home before going out to dinner. Probably due to the workout of working t home, I started feeling kind of weird. Having already being diagnosed with and being pharmaceutically treated for high blood pressure, I felt that is was high just from a feeling that I get. I […]

Doctor Joshua’s Simplified McDonald Diagnostic Criteria of MS for the Layman:
I have simplified the 2005 revised McDonald criteria here to make this (hopefully) understandable for non-medical persons. Remember, this is just for general information - it’s not an official list of criteria.
(Medical professionals and others who wish to research this topic further, please see original […]

Dear Dr. Joshua,
I had a full brain MRI and was told I have hydromyelia of the middle of my spinal canal. it is a smaller syrinx and and I have had this for 4 years but it has gotten a little larger now. I am experiencing tingling, numbness fingers, toes. I have burned […]

My mom has had a heart attack 20 yrs ago , heart surgery 15 years ago and three strokes 10 years ago,6years ago and 2 years ago. Her doctor told her today that she had had a mini stroke the day before. He said she would have more and needs to go […]

Please forgive the length of this post, I want to make sure I give you all of the information. Also, my wife is a neuro nurse, so I know just enough to be dangerous.
4 weeks ago, my friend complained to his wife that he thought he had the flu. Over the next two days, he […]

I have been diagnosed with Pseudo Tumor Cerebi roughly 2 years ago (due to my weight and being on bith control). I had an MRI (which was normal) and a spinal tap(which they said was in the higher, normal range). I was prescribed Diamox 500mg. They worked wonders (but the manufacturer has […]

Dr Joshua-
I am a 27 year old male with a huge concern. I am worried about a brain tumor. Now, I rarely get headaches and I don’t think I have gotten a migraine in my life that I could remember. No vomitting or anything like that. Vision is ok as well.dizziness though one day like […]

About three weeks ago an 11 year old girl in my family was not feeling well (having pain in her neck) and went home from school because of it. Later in the day her father found her in the washroom on the floor having a seizure. He called an ambulance right away and had her […]

I am the mother of a 20 year old who has had the following symptoms for at least 4 years now. Legs that fall asleep anytime she sits for any length of time, within the last few months, she has started to have severe headaches and has started to experience memory loss and dizziness. […]

How valid is a CT scan result? Isn’t it possible that if , let’s say an aneurysm, is very tiny it may not show up? I have a metal clip, so MRI’s are no good for me. I had an AVM removed years ago. I had a migraine last year that was the worse I […]

My husband recently had an MRI on his neck. His primary care physician told him he has a 100% blockage on the left side in his carotid artery. The right side is fine. He then made an appointment for him to see a vascular doctor in February of 2007. I’m worried about the appointment being […]

This is all new to me so if anyone can help it can’t be worse than the 14 doctors I have been to. When I was 18 i would become shaky inside and out at work maybe every couple months. As the years went on the shakiness became much more. I now […]

My father who is 55,undergone a surgery for blood clot in brain almost a year back (it was a very sudden operation).Operation was very successful and he recovered within 15 days.During this operation we came to know,that he had High blood pressure and Sugar(diabetics) too (may be they where from longtime ,but we did’nt tested […]

I am a 39 y.o.(131 lb.) female who has had a seizure disorder for 20 yrs. I am presently on Tegretol 200mg/tid. (I have had grand mal seizures and myoclonic jerks, in the past) I have been experiencing quick sharp pains and burning sensation on the top of my head on and off for the […]

I am a 37 year old female from Kentucky. For the past two years I have been suffering from a constant headache, pain in the back of my neck, tingling in my left arm and leg, dizziness, buzzing tongue, facial pain, visual disturbances, and cognitive problems (short term memory loss, trouble finding words, etc.) […]

Dear Dr. Joshua,  I’m 34 years old. I’ve been experiencing tingling/ pins and needles in my hands - pinky and ring fingers, and a bit up the forearm. It started about 3 years ago, while I was pregnant, and just came on if I fell asleep on my back. The tingling is now constant, worse […]

My mother is 53 years of age, has diabetes, a non smoker, (recently stopped in Feb of 06). She suffers from sever shaking in her hands/arms/neck. Pain in her lower back/neck and now is moving to her legs and feet. She is unable to complete simple house work i.e. dishes/mopping etc. […]

First of all I have no health insurance and that is why I am asking for advice online before I go to the doctor for nothing. Today as I was sitting on the couch my left arm went numb as well as my hand and fingers only on the left side. Later I noticed the […]

Fibromyalgia, possible multiple sclerosis symptoms?
I am a 36 year old female diagnosed with fibromyalgia, degenertive disc disease, and osteoarthritis. I have had tingling and numbness from my right knee down through my toes. The numbness is so bad I can not walk or drive a car. I have also has muscle twitching (it looks like […]

Since having a hernia operation and heart, lungs and kidneys failing during the operation and spending 2 months in CCU and a month in Rehab to wean me off the ventilator—I am at home now with no tastebuds and I always loved to eat. Why no tastebuds?
Dr. Joshua’s Answer:
Sometimes loss of taste is actually […]

I have a friend who is reluctant to see a doctor.  Up until recently, she was left-handed. Then all of a sudden, over the course of a few days, she was unable to write with this hand anymore, and has since almost completely switched to her write hand. It is as if her dominant hand completely […]

Dear Doctor,  I am from Bangalore, India. My mother, 67 years old, had a lesion on her left lung which was operated. After 6 months we found that she had a 2 cm tumor in the left lobe of her brain. Had radiation, SRT, chemo,temodal etc but it did not shrink. The last was surgery. The […]

I came across your website while researching brain aneurysms. My aunt suffered from one 2 weeks ago and we are extremely concerned for her. I would really appreciate your opinion on her case:   Fri, June 2, 2006 - aneurysm ruptured (we believe the location was left front, don’t know the size of the aneurysm).  Sun, […]

Dear Dr. Joshua,  My uncle is residing in India, he is 67 years old and in 2001 was diagnosed with a type of myopathy in his lower back spine. He does not have pain but has lost the strengh to get up from a bed or chair. He was told that this a rare degenerative disease […]

Tnank you for taking the time to read this. I realize you are a very busy person and am grateful for this service you provide. I am writing because I don’t know what to do from here and need some advice. Please forgive my wordy post.  10 years ago I began having neurological issues that were […]

Hello Dr. Joshua,   Over the years, I’ve had some problems with numbness. There is a spot on my right leg right above my knee, about the size of a baseball that has never returned feeling. Nothing went wrong for it to go numb, it just did. Also, there is some numbness between my legs, again […]

My mother had a procedure done in 1960-61 to correct for calcium deposits in the ear. the doctor used a metal wire & some skin from hear earlobe and inserted into the ear after removing the calcium deposits. My question is was/is there a particular type of metal that has always been used. She needa a MRI of her neck […]