Hello all,
I wonder if anyone can advise me or has any opinions and insights they could share?
Just to rewind a bit initially:
Back in 2015, I developed a problem with my left foot dragging if I didn't actively think to pick it up. Shortly after this began I developed intense back pain and was diagnosed with a slipped/prolapsed disc.
I teach children with extremely challenging behaviour problems and often get assaulted and sometimes I have to use restraint techniques (though I am no longer allowed to because of my back problem) so the slipped disc pain would come and go but the stiffness in my legs (especially the left one) and the tendency for my left foot to drag remained. I had injections into my spine in March 2016 which sorted the pain through to about November when I began to struggle again.
I had an open discectomy (operation on my spine to correct the slipped disc) in January, which sorted the leg pain, but the back consultant remained mystified with why my legs seemed so stiff and I stuggle to get in and out of chairs. Last time I saw him he took bloods to check for infection but nothing.
Fast forward to March and I found that I started smelling a very unpleasant, indescribable mystery smell that wasn't there. My wife has an excellent sense of smell and can never smell it. To begin with, I made no connection with my left foot which was still showing a tendency to drag and both legs are troubled by stiffness - I put this down to the operation and I'm sure much of it is.
In April my left shoulder became very stiff and has become increasingly painful to the point where it wakes me at night sometimes when I turn in my sleep (incidentally I have a lot of problems voluntarily turning over in bed).
A couple of weeks ago I mentioned the mystery smell to my wife who was quite alarmed by it and told me I must see a doctor.
Instead, I thought I ought to look up my mystery smell on the net. NHS Direct suggested a number of things including Parkinsons. So I looked up Parkinsons. Left foot tends to drag if not consciously lifted, left shoulder stiff and painful, left arm swings much less than right when walking, phantosmia (smelling things that aren't there), a bit 'wobbly' on my feet at times; all of these symptoms of mine seemed to check with PD.
I put off going to the GP but eventually, my wife ordered me to so I went yesterday. To begin with, I described my mystery smell, I then went on to say I had looked it up on NHS Direct and it mentioned Parkinsons. I then described my foot, shoulder and lack of arm swing. The GP said that these were completely unrelated to both my mystery smell and to PD. She said that PD is characterised by extreme stiffness and tremor and anyway doesn't occur in people my age (I'm 47).
I explained that it was NHS Direct that had suggested the PD link. She then typed 'change of smell' into her 'GP Notebook' software which came up with no results. I said that the NHS Direct website had called it Phantosmia. She typed this in with an F to begin with but then with the PH when I corrected her but still no results. She typed in smell but it came up with a list of smells that people might give off and their causes.
Eventually, she said that it is probably just an infection inside my nose that I am smelling and sent me home with a prescription for an anti-biotic cream to put inside my nostrils for ten days!
Should I just put my problems down to my back op? Or should I be looking to have my investigation done? To be honest they don;t trouble me too much. My left foot scuffing often jars my dodgy back but the rest of the symptoms don't really bother me overly. I have learnt not to reach for things with my left arm as it can sometimes cause my shoulder to send an electric shock of pain through my body.
All of my symptoms seem to come and go. Some days stairs aren't a problem, whilst on others its like climbing a mountain.
Anyway, I'm waffling now! What do people think?