Numb On One Side

Yes, I am numb on one side. Help! Yes, I have been professionally fitted to my bike. I have ridden well over 300 miles (a lot for me) since I bought it about a month ago (bad bike mommy, I forgot the date). I did not have any problems until I started using my trainer indoors-could be a coincidental-I have no idea. When I ride the trainer it is for a hard 45-60 minutes. Here is what happens...

I notice an odd feeling in the last 3 toes of my left foot-I ignore it and ride, ride, ride. After I get off the trainer I start to feel as though my left leg and left arm are asleep-very numb, yet I still have all my strength. I am guessing i am pinching a nerve?

So, it only happens on my trainer. I am not stopping my indoor riding. :) Yet this problem needs to be solved. I use clipless, so I *assume* my feet must be doing the same thing on the trainer as well as on the road.

I am at a loss. Any ideas? I just want to stop this pinched nerve feeling.

TIA!

Wow Jennifer - I'm sorry to hear you are having this problem. I bet it is a bit unnerving, not to mention odd given you were fitted.

Speaking of fitted, obviously you were, but I've always felt that the dynamics of riding indoors (whether on rollers or a fluid trainer) change the variables a bit. When you ride outside I think you tend to move around much more for reasons that are readily apparent - whether the usual stopping/starting to changing your line to going uphill/downhill.

I know this may seem like a no-brainer but when you first get this feeling, have you tried moving your toes and arm around? Sort of the same thing you do to shake off the foot falling asleep syndrome? When I do really long climbs (say 10+ miles) I have a tendency to start feeling a little numbness in my hands - so wiggling my fingers a bit, plus not gripping the bars so tightly gets rid of the numb feeling quickly.

I hope some of this helps, or that one of us can come up with useful ideas for you.

Hang in there, it will be better :)

No, I have not paid any attention to it, since I did not think it was from my bike. I have severe migraines and I thought they were the problem. It is the bike/trainer combo. I will try moving around a bit more, wiggling my toes. I can only assume I am pinching some nerve or I did bother a nerve and it has not had a chance to heal, since I am always on the trainer?

Have you checked to be sure that your bike is level in trainer? It took me a while to realize that the front wheel leveler would raise the front end of the bike different heights, depending on which way I turned it (the leveler). You could be putting too much pressure on a nerve somewhere.

KB

It's pretty unusual to have both upper and lower extremity go numb. There isn't one nerve you can pinch that will affect arm AND leg on one side.

The three toes sounds like a Morton's Neuroma (irritated by the staying in one position while on a trainer, while in the real world you do shift around a good bit). BUT, that doesn't explain the left-sided stuff in arm and leg.

I'm betting on something central nervous system making left arm and leg go numb after you get off the trainer. (brain blood vessel that expands with increased bp post exercise, thereby putting pressure somewhere in the right hemisphere, or some other migraine related vascular event)

Or it could be the condition I have, which (coincidentally) effects my left arm and leg. That's a brain-stem issue. But I have migraines, too. And a Morton's Neuroma. Your situation is eerily familiar...

Call your doctor.

Could you have a pinched nerve?

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Originally Posted by KnottedYet

It's pretty unusual to have both upper and lower extremity go numb. There isn't one nerve you can pinch that will affect arm AND leg on one side.

The three toes sounds like a Morton's Neuroma (irritated by the staying in one position while on a trainer, while in the real world you do shift around a good bit). BUT, that doesn't explain the left-sided stuff in arm and leg.

I'm betting on something central nervous system making left arm and leg go numb after you get off the trainer. (brain blood vessel that expands with increased bp post exercise, thereby putting pressure somewhere in the right hemisphere, or some other migraine related vascular event)

Or it could be the condition I have, which (coincidentally) effects my left arm and leg. That's a brain-stem issue. But I have migraines, too. And a Morton's Neuroma. Your situation is eerily familiar...

Call your doctor.

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Ack, exactly what I was hoping not to hear. Drat. I really am not in the mood for another MRI. Sigh.

Well I have had time to worry myself silly, calm down to find out my doctor is gone until Tuesday, freat more, then I had a thought. :rolleyes:

I vigorously exercise every single day and numbness never happens. My other exercise is far more cardiovascularlly challenging than riding on the trainer, yet numbeness never occurs. It only happens when I ride my bike on the trainer. It never, ever happens when I ride outside.

So, I am thinking I did something and did not allow it to heal-which I am guessing could be the cause of the arm pain-I did hurt my shoulder, but it had been feeling better, yet I never gave it time to heal. How I hurt my shoulder is embarrassing-I talked on the phone for 5 (yes 5 hours) holding it between my chin and shoulder, 1 1/2 of those hours were on the trainer. :o

If that is the case, then the two incidences would not be related and allowing the shoulder thing to heal should in theory solve that problem. Then it may be my positioning of my lower body when I am on the trainer?:confused:

I am going to check my trainer to make certain it is level and take a break and see where things stand on Tuesday.

Don't fret. I didn't mean to scare you!

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Originally Posted by KnottedYet

. . . . (irritated by the staying in one position while on a trainer, while in the real world you do shift around a good bit).

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I really have no clue but Knotted is right on target with the one position thing. What is your workout on the trainer? Trainers can be brutal at the best of times but if you're just sitting for the whole session. :eek: :eek: :eek: I like doing a lot of standing intervals so I don't put pressure on the same contact patches for the entire time.

If you have other workouts that are "far more cardiovascularlly challenging than riding on the trainer" you need to get Spinervals and let Coach Troy yell at you. That will keep you from sitting in one spot.:D

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Originally Posted by KnottedYet

Don't fret. I didn't mean to scare you!

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Oh you did not. I do enough of that all on my own. :o I could never get through med school, I would have every illness. I was impressed at my restraint from looking up vascular related issues on the web. I figured I would have myself dying by the end of the day. :eek: My migraines are very severe and I am very hyper-vigilant to "unusal" sensations in my body.

I appreciate your honesty. If I did not want to hear options, I weould not have asked. :) To put my mind at rest, I will be calling the doctor Tuesday-I cannot believe he took the day off. Now, if they would offer to sedate me during MRIs. I hate those things!

I got valium for mine!

Can you ask for valium?

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Originally Posted by SadieKate

I really have no clue but Knotted is right on target with the one position thing. What is your workout on the trainer? Trainers can be brutal at the best of times but if you're just sitting for the whole session. :eek: :eek: :eek: I like doing a lot of standing intervals so I don't put pressure on the same contact patches for the entire time.

If you have other workouts that are "far more cardiovascularlly challenging than riding on the trainer" you need to get Spinervals and let Coach Troy yell at you. That will keep you from sitting in one spot.:D

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I do not have any training videos except the video that came with the trainer (I have not watched it). I literally sit and bike for 45-60 minutes-it is rather boring and I do not change position much, except to wipe off sweat or to drink water.

I have a heart rate monitor and I get a far better cardio workout off the trainer. I do both forms of exercise daily. I love the trainer, as I am trying to gain strength as a bike rider. To show how new I am, I had no idea there were workout videos. I will be looking into these. I would assume these would immensely help! Thanks. :)

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Originally Posted by KnottedYet

I got valium for mine!

Can you ask for valium?

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My last MRI was about a year ago and they refused to give any medication.:mad:

I will definitely ask the doctor this time and see if he will make certain I have something. I really hate MRIs.

There is an open MRI where I go. Great big disk thing hanging over your head but completely open to the sides and over your body. The cage for your head is a little claustrophobic but I learned long ago to breathe deeply and think of lovely things. I usually fall asleep.

I would need valium for an enclosed MRI. They do give it to my dad.

SK,
That sounds actually nice. Is an open as loud as the closed MRI?

Haven't a clue. There still are all the clunks and bangs of the magnets. I just listen to the music and nod off.

Maybe there's something about the shape of the SEAT of your trainer that is pushing against the main nerve/artery of your leg, lessening the circulation to that leg just a bit- enough for it to cause numbness after a while. Just like when we sit on our foot and it goes numb. It could be subtle and cause the effect slowly. Can you put a different seat on it to try? At the very least, stop riding the trainer for a week to see if that is the culprit rather than something wrong with you. Seems a bit excessive to me to schedule MRI's and such if it's just something putting pressure on a nerve or vein.

Lisa, the seat is my brooks. :) I have one bike, so when it is not outside with me, it is inside on the trainer. I too think I am sitting wrong and causing a nerve thing (technical, I know ;) ). I agree, a week off would do me some good. As for an MRI, I would not choose one ever, but I know my history and doctor well enough to know he will schedule one. I detest the things and I have had enough you would think I would be used to them. I shall try to be good and stay off the trainer and see how I feel next week. Thank you for your suggestions. :)

The odd bit is that it is her left leg and left arm that both are going numb when she gets off the trainer.

And it's interesting that it's when she gets off the trainer, not while she's on it.

The isolateral symptoms sound out CNS. The change from exercise to rest (off the trainer) sounds out vascular/bp related. Sensory but not motor also sounds out CNS. A pinched nerve hits both sensory and motor.

With a history of severe migraine, the vascular stuff is a juicy place to look. And with the positional stress on the blood vessels to the brain on a stationary bike (neck position not changing like it would IRL) that's another reason to look at vascular effects.

Generally the docs get all excited about this kind of symptom cluster and start hollering for MRIs, at the least to cover their @$$es. Migraineurs know the drill...

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Originally Posted by KnottedYet

Migraineurs know the drill...

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All too well. I have had more "pictures" of my brain then I can count.

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Originally Posted by Bikingmomof3

My last MRI was about a year ago and they refused to give any medication.:mad:

I will definitely ask the doctor this time and see if he will make certain I have something. I really hate MRIs.

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That is such crap. If they're that worried about drug seekers, they can just prescribe one pill with no refills. Geez. I suppose you could swallow a quarter of a little bottle of valerian or something. :D