Muscle weakness, tremors, and arm pain after exertion; also experiencing facial numbness

For about a year now, I’ve been dealing with this issue where my left arm starts shaking uncontrollably and loses its strength after I use it too much. It stays like that for a while before finally settling back to normal...

It’s happened a handful of times already, always triggered by physical exertion—like lugging something heavy or, just the other day, during a boxing session...

Basically, I lose all my strength and the hand starts trembling, even though my right arm feels perfectly fine. Now, about 30 hours after the last episode, I’m starting to feel some muscle soreness...

What do you think this could be? A muscle issue? Something with a nerve?

I had an appointment with my neurosurgeon today, and when I close my eyes and have her check the sensation on both sides of my face at once, there's a noticeable imbalance. It’s supposed to feel roughly 50:50, but for me, it feels more like 30:70—meaning the left side just feels significantly duller than the right.

She's sent me in for a brain MRI, so I'm curious: what could be causing this? She wasn't willing to speculate or offer any guesses, which I respect, but I'd love to know what the actual possibilities are...

Carl Vaughn74 said:I had an appointment with my neurosurgeon today, and when I close my eyes and have her check the sensation on both sides of my face at once, there's a noticeable imbalance. It’s supposed to feel roughly 50:50, but for me, it feels more like 30:70—meaning the left side just feels significantly duller than the right.

She's sent me in for a brain MRI, so I'm curious: what could be causing this? She wasn't willing to speculate or offer any guesses, which I respect, but I'd love to know what the actual possibilities are...

It could range from anything from a minor stroke or some kind of lesion on the right side of the brain down to simple nerve inflammation.
Go look in the mirror and tell me if the left corner of your mouth looks like it's drooping a bit. Also, try smiling—do both sides move symmetrically, or does the left side seem more slack than the right?

Angela Wright said:It could range from anything from a minor stroke or some kind of lesion on the right side of the brain down to simple nerve inflammation.
Go look in the mirror and tell me if the left corner of your mouth looks like it's drooping a bit. Also, try smiling—do both sides move symmetrically, or does the left side seem more slack than the right?

The left side does seem a little looser, specifically at the corner of my lip... It’s actually pretty tough to tell if they're perfectly symmetrical when I smile. What am I looking at here?

Carl Vaughn74 said:The left side does seem a little looser, specifically at the corner of my lip... It’s actually pretty tough to tell if they're perfectly symmetrical when I smile. What am I looking at here?

Look, most likely you're dealing with some kind of brain swelling that's putting pressure on that side, causing a neurological glitch. That’s usually the culprit, but you have to figure out what caused the swelling in the first place. You need to get a CT scan or an MRI of your brain immediately; that's your best bet! Honestly, the smartest move is to head today to the ER neurology department. Tell them your lip is drooping and you aren't feeling right, and they'll run all the tests right away. Brain swelling can escalate incredibly fast, and things could turn south before you know it if you don't get it under control. Make sure you bring along the records from your doctor. Most places aren't doing routine MRIs today unless it's an emergency, so you might actually be able to get it done right now. Do not put this off!

I see you box. It's entirely possible you took a nasty hit that resulted in a traumatic brain injury.

Angela Wright said:Look, most likely you're dealing with some kind of brain swelling that's putting pressure on that side, causing a neurological glitch. That’s usually the culprit, but you have to figure out what caused the swelling in the first place. You need to get a CT scan or an MRI of your brain immediately; that's your best bet! Honestly, the smartest move is to head today to the ER neurology department. Tell them your lip is drooping and you aren't feeling right, and they'll run all the tests right away. Brain swelling can escalate incredibly fast, and things could turn south before you know it if you don't get it under control. Make sure you bring along the records from your doctor. Most places aren't doing routine MRIs today unless it's an emergency, so you might actually be able to get it done right now. Do not put this off!

I see you box. It's entirely possible you took a nasty hit that resulted in a traumatic brain injury.

To be fair, I did take a somewhat hard hit. I was wearing my headgear, but my head was pounding all day long. I popped two Tylenols and went to bed early—boxing was at noon, and I turned in by 8:00 PM, even though I usually stay up until 1:00 or 2:00 AM. That was back on Tuesday.

Carl Vaughn74 said:To be fair, I did take a somewhat hard hit. I was wearing my headgear, but my head was pounding all day long. I popped two Tylenols and went to bed early—boxing was at noon, and I turned in by 8:00 PM, even though I usually stay up until 1:00 or 2:00 AM. That was back on Tuesday.

Get to the ER right now!
If you took that hit on the right side, there's a very high chance that's what we're looking at. Tell them exactly what happened and mention that your lip is drooping on one side. They'll get you an MRI immediately.