I must have been drawn back to BL to help you specifically last night...
Going to the doctor is ALWAYS a first recommendation among members of this board when bad things happen.
And sometimes doctors DO help.
But often they prove unable and uninterested.
It kinda depends on who you end up with - and emergency room nurses are often the first and only contact you will make.
Let me tell you, as the son-in-law of a 20 year ER nurse (a very good one), these people see a LOT of drug users that complain about their bodies.
They are not only poorly qualified to discuss ANYTHING regarding the nervous system, but they are fed up and uninterested in the types of patients that come in with ill effects due to drug use.
Fortunately you have the option of NOT going to an ER.
Make an appointment with your Primary Care Physician, if you have one.
They might be able to give you the answers you want.
If not you can request a referral to a specialist.
This is probably the ONLY way to obtain answers.
Other than listening to me.
I am not a doctor, nor have I ever claimed to be.
And my 'research' efforts were halted long ago, so I could resume some semblance of a 'normal' life.
But I always felt like reading medical research came second nature to me.
Luckily for your friend, one of the subjects I encountered on BL early on I also read about in a book called The Other Brain.
It turns out she is not the only person to fall asleep under the influence of drugs only to awaken to dead nerves.
That is what has happened - she cut off the blood supply to the sensory nerves around her hip, due to her body weight pressing the hip bone into the floor.
Normally a person will wake up if in an uncomfortable position, because the nerves send pain signals to the brain!
But sometimes drugs prevent this signal from being received, especially ones that block pain signals.
I read a few entries on BL from people with 'dead arms' or even 'both legs' because they fell asleep in a bad position while on heroin!
MDMA can and does cause facial numbness, and for me SS cause facial sensations and micro seizures for a YEAR...
But what happened to her is simple nerve death from lack of oxygen.
The MDMA exhausted her to the point that she didn't wake up from the pain, its that simple.
GOOD NEWS - the nerves will regrow.
That is the outcome of the other severe stories I read, and the opinion of the neuro 'expert' whose book I read.
But it can take a LONG time.
Your nerve cells are surrounded by supportive cells, including the insulation known as myelin.
Taking fish oil is known to improve myelination in the brain, so this is one of the most well known examples of myelin.
But this group of insulating cells is actually an outgrowth of GLIAL cells, which is a funny term that means 'glue'.
These 'glue' cells were long ago labeled this because it was not understood what their role was.
It was clear that they did not function like neurons, which send information from axon to dendrite using electrical impulses.
So the 'glue' cells of the nervous system were thought to be nothing more than supportive structural cells for neurons.
But HALF of the brain, or more, is made up of these useless 'glue' cells!
And they are considered the next frontier in brain science.
Recently it has been discovered that glial cells, of which there are many types, DO communicate with each other.
Where neurons talk to each other like a phone line, sending signals down a chain, glial cells function more like a cell network - dispersing messages across a sea of cells like a wave in a pond.
More exciting than this is the fact that glial cells are now known to LISTEN in on neuronal activity!
They are influenced by the electrical and chemical impulses of the nerves that they surround.
And they also have the power to save dying neurons in the brain by supplying anti-oxidants (think MDMA toxicity) AND they can KILL neurons that are standing in the way of normal brain function. The chemicals that are used are gluthianone, the most powerful anti-oxidant, and glutamate, and excitatory neurotransmitter.
The glial brain has the power to save or destroy neurons.
And to REGROW them!
That's right - certain sub types of glial cells have been demonstrated to turn into neuronal 'stem cells'.
The exciting part is the fact that they are scattered throughout the brain.
While we have known for a while that 'neurogenesis' occurs in key regions of the brain (the olfactory bulb SVZ and hippocampus), it may be possible that glial cells throughout the brain are capable of turning into 'progenitor' cells that become NEW neurons!
This would mean that neurogenesis may not be linked to the special zones that we have identified so far.
But it widely thought that this glial transformation may only occur after INJURY or damage.
So these cells are responding to a change in the the nearby neurons...
This is all pretty new stuff, so many more years are required.
It is also known that glial cells in the brain and spinal cord do NOT allow neurons to regrow, in fact they prevent it.
It is the glial cells that are responsible for paralysis in neck and spinal injuries!
And research is focusing on their role as a means of preventing paralysis.
Why don't glial cells allow nerves to reconnect in the brain and spine?
This seems counterproductive, but it suggests something about their overall function.
Perhaps the same property that allows this to occur is critical to their basic function throughout the development and maintenance of the brain.
Can we even imagine what would be the result of disabling this property of glial cells?
So here is the point that I remember from reading - outside of the brain/spine the glial cells that form the myelin sheath around nerve cells actually ALLOW regrowth of dead nerves.
That's right.
Throughout the rest of your body, the myelin sheath serves as a 'scaffolding' upon which nerves can regrow and find their distant targets.
The same cells that interfere in the CNS are the actual savior outside of the CNS.
So tell your friend that the nerves in her hip are growing.
They are pushing out, trying to reconnect.
And one day, perhaps months from now, she will suddenly regain sensation.
One BL member had a dead hand for over a year.
And then it came back to life!
These are the things that most doctors cannot tell a patient.
They do not have the time, interest, or patience.
But luckily for her a few of them DO, and I just happened to hear there opinions.
She is going to be FINE.
Avoid the unnecessary medical bills and skip the doctor.
Tell her to exercise as this releases nerve growth factors.
And wait....
Good luck.
