why am I having tingling "patches"?

Factual Questions
1

This has gone on for about two months, off and on, and it’s stuck around long enough to officially weird me out. Still, I’m not sure that it necessitates going to the doctor.

I’ve been having recurrent “tingling” patches on my extremities - not quite an itch, and not quite as intense as having something “fall asleep.” The sensation is very much on the surface only, not deep into the limb, and limited to a relatively small area. It started on the top of my foot, right where the foot meets the leg, and stuck around for about a week, off and on. A few weeks passed with nothing, then the same thing happened just about my left knee. That stuck around for three or four days, and now a few days later, it’s happening on the side of my other foot, right above my ankle.

It doesn’t hurt, but it’s enough to get my attention. Anyone have any ideas?

2

Could be anything from a pinched nerve to circulatory problems. See der doktor.

3

If this were a Star Trek series, I’d say you were infested with transdimensional parasites feeding off your polarized axon flux.

Barring that, I’d say you should be talking to a doctor.

4

I don’t mean to be pessimistic or anything (it just comes naturally…) but I have read that tingling/numb extremities can be an early symptom of Multiple Sclerosis. But don’t trust me…I’m not a doctor.

5

Well, you might have a type of arthritis. I have pshoriatic arthrritis, and my specialist has a questionaire I fill out when I come in. It includes a reference to symptoms of this general type. I also have Reynaud’s disease [a hereditary circualtion problem] that can cause tingling of the extremities, too. You could have something like that. There are other things that could do it, too. You probably need to see a diagnostician/internal medicine specialist to find out. He will send you to the proper specialist. Well, don’t be alarmed, it probably is in the early stages of something that can be dealt with easily at this point.

6

Interesting. Since it’s entirely on the surface of my skin, I’m not that woried about MS or something similar - no deep-muscle problems here. Reynaud’s is an interesting idea.

Either way, I guess I’ll suck it up and go to the doctor.

7

I don’t want to scare you, but isolated regions of skin numbness are among the commonest “first signs” of MS.

It might be nothing, but get thee to a doc, anway, m’kay? And don’t ask the SDMB to suggest diagnoses. There are some real loons here. Like me.

8

surface numbness is quite common in early MS, trust me on that - IANAD but I do have MS. It could also be a hundred other things, so see a doctor.