Heroin Neurological Issues from Heroin

[Andrew138]

I’ve come here out of desperation as I’m scheduled to have surgery on my spine in a few days and I don’t believe I got a proper diagnosis.

Here’s the background on my nightmare.

I was using black tar heroin (administered nasally) for awhile, and overtime, I lost the ability to run. And after a few more months, it progressed into difficulty walking. And it hasn’t let up since.

My symptoms are many at this point and include generalized numbness, clonus, muscle spasms, a pins and needles feeling in my hands and feet, a strange clicking sound in my ears, and a plethora of other delightful issues.

So upon having a few MRIs and some other tests, my neurologist believes I have cervical spinal stenosis and he wants to operate next week. But the thing is, he assured me that heroin couldn’t be to blame but I’m 100% certain that it is.

I’m hoping that someone on here might have some knowledge or suggestions as to what I could be suffering from and what I should do. I’m pretty sure I’m gonna ditch on the surgery but I don’t know where to go from here and this ailment is extremely debilitating.

Any insight you could offer would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks.

 

[tracedwards313]

What makes you believe 100% that it was caused by heroin? Red fag

You need to listen to your doctor! Ditching surgery would be unbelievably foolish! Man, think about what you doing...?

You have serious health problems. Don't be a fool.

The symptoms you described dont sound like issues related to heroin use. Not at all.

You are assuming things you can not possibly know and risking your health/life by doing so.

 

[LadyAlkaline]

Heroin may have brought on your condition faster, but you need to listen to the doctor.

 

[somnilicious]

I don't necessarily agree with the consensus that you should just listen to your doctor. I suggest getting a second opinion.

I have been wrongly diagnosed many times in my life and have had doctors tell me that if I didn't get a surgery done I would have debilitating pain. It is now 25yrs later and I run circles around most people my age.

Ask your doctor about the dangers of holding off said surgery till you can discontinue heroin and assess the situation. I have had similar symptoms from opiates. I have used them for over 20yrs and have at times developed Parkinsons like symptoms and ataxia from the sleep cycle disruption that opiate abuse causes. The symptoms appear and once I quit using or binge patterns and my sleep returns to normal they disappear. Lack of sleep and alcohol abuse are known to cause ataxia. I have experienced this from several different downer type drugs.

It is very strange and I am always having to argue and convince the skeptics that this is indeed caused by opiates. Once my sleep cycles return to normal I can literally feel some transformation taking place in the area of my cerebellum and medulla oblongata. It happens especially after dream cycles return as I have intense half awake dreams and a low shock, throbbing sensation, like a knot in the soft spot where my skull meets the back of my neck.

 

[Keif' Richards]

It surely is possible that there was something bad in the Heroin that you were using, but it would be very difficult to determine what that might be or if it even exists.

If you are concerned, I would definitely start by getting a second opinion.

 

[somnilicious]

In fact check out this med article of clicking in the ears from a patient with cerebral ataxia.

[A case of progressive ataxia and palatal tremor (PAPT) with ear clicks] - PubMed

A 71-year-old man noted clicking sounds in the ear. At the age of 75, he developed progressive unsteadiness of gait and became unable to walk without assistance at the age of 76. There was no family history of neurologic illness. Neurological examination revealed truncal ataxia and 1-2 Hz...

pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov

Also tons of articles of pins and needles in extremities from sleep disruption and Cerebral or vestibular ataxia...

 

[Deru]

I second the idea of a second opinion. Not all doctors are created equal. It more than likely has nothing to do with the heroin, regardless, matters like this should always have a few opinions honestly. Especially before treatment is agreed upon - advocate for your health.

The other issue is, sometimes the only issue is what caused something - as long as the cause has been eliminated going forward, then what matters is how to treat the symptoms.

 

[somnilicious]

These articles may also be pertinent. Notice the mention of dopaminergic pathway disfunction and RLS(known to be caused by opiate withdrawals).

Sleep disorders in cerebellar ataxias - PubMed

Cerebellar ataxias comprise a wide range of etiologies leading to central nervous system-related motor and non-motor symptoms. Recently, a large body of evidence has demonstrated a high frequency of non-motor manifestations in cerebellar ataxias, specially in autosomal dominant spinocerebellar...

pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov

Disturbance of rapid eye movement sleep in spinocerebellar ataxia type 2 - PubMed

Five genetically confirmed spinocerebellar ataxia type 2 (SCA2) patients were admitted to our sleep laboratory for two all-night video-polysomnographies. A standard montage was used, including electroencephalography, vertical and horizontal electrooculography, electromyography of mental...

pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov

Chronic opiod use and constant cessation of opiates have a profound effect on sleep cycles, the nervous system, brain and endocrine system. They are not as benign to the human body as has been implied on this site in the past. Sure opiates don't destroy your liver or kidneys but that does not mean they aren't doing severe damage.

I'm not a doctor and you definitely need to consult one but not every doctors word is gospel.

I actually diagnosed myself overtime as I became very interested to know what was causing the weird sensation in that region of my brain after waking from intense rem sleep and what could possibly cause all my symptoms that definitely seemed to be linked to drug induced sleep disturbances and insomnia.

I now get this from prolonged use and cessation of heroin, methadone, benzos or phenibut. It goes away completely after a few weeks(with short acting opiates) to a month(in the case of benzos or methadone) of stopping the drug. In my case this is 100% caused by heroin as the corrolation is obvious.

I actually find it interesting that the ear clicking has also been attributed to cerebral ataxia and sleep disturbance because that is one symptom I never personally experienced.

Worth investigation
and consideration.

Its actually appalling that your doctor completely dismissed the idea of your heroin use being linked to your symptoms because a quick Google search of opioid induced sleep disturbance and ataxia brings up a
Multitude of med articles.