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TStewart31

Active member
Joined
Oct 24, 2010
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51
Reason
Learn about ALS
Country
UK
State
Yorkshire
City
York
I introduced myself on another thread but i would like your opinions and advice.

31 year old male here from York in the UK......On here because i have some symptoms that i am quite worried about so thought i would seek your opinions.

I am having some issues right now mainly with my throat and mouth....The issues are.

-Now and then i get some hoarseness...If i clear my throat it instantly goes away.
-Sometimes i wake up with a very wet pillow.
-Throat is very sore
-Have to swallow quite a lot to clear my throat.
-Excess saliva and sometimes a dry mouth.
-Some problems with swallowing.
-I have choked on my saliva once or twice.
-My tongue feels uncomfortable.
-Speech is ok as far as i know...I have not noticed anything and i have had no comments from others.
-Sometimes i choke on food, I seem ok on liquids.
-Stiff neck.
-In my opinion my throat and/or mouth is weakening.

These symptoms have been happening for the past 8-9 weeks.

The NHS sucks over here.....I have seen my General Practioner who to be honest is not doing enough....There has been no explanation for my current problems....No referral and very little done in general....The only test i have had is 1 blood test and also a general neuro exam performed by my General Practioner.

I know i am quite young and I have only recenly thought about M.N.D and i know it is a rare disease......But that is not very reassuring as i am sure other people my age have developed M.N.D?

I do take Escitalopram as i do suffer from panic attacks and a bit of anxiety.

The waiting list to see a Neurologist is 2-4 months.....Privately i could see one within 2 weeks but i do not have the money to do this so i am at a loss what to do?

What are your opinions on this?

Looking forward to seeing your advice.

TStewart 31.
 
TStewart I would look at other possibilities that are more common than ALS such as sleep apnea and/or gastric reflux to explain your symptoms. My money would be on sleep apnea with the drooling and sore throat.
Regards,
Laurel
 
Laurel.........Thankyou for your opinion....It would be good if it was just down to gastric reflux or something else that is not too serious.....I spoke too soon earlier as i have just been choking on apple juice.
 
You are welcome. My advice would be for you to leave this forum and stay away from the internet to search for answers. You say that you are taking a SSRI medication for anxiety so you are prone to worrying. Often medical students are told "when you hear hoof beats, don't look for zebras" i.e. the most common thing is usually the culprit. Maybe the Escitalopram is the culprit or perhaps it is exacerbating your anxiety instead of helping it.
Laurel
 
Forgot to mention something else above, I am getting short of breath more, I am asthmatic....but sometimes my medication does not always relieve it.

I have only in the last few days started choking on food now and again and occasionally on liquids...I would like to know if my symptoms are typical bulbar symptoms?....What I would really like to know though is.....If I had bulbar M.N.D would I choke on all liquids everytime I drank something?...The same goes for food.

I have not been much reading up on M.N.D all I know is that it is an extremely rare disease.

I was under the impression that bulbar M.N.D affected people in their 50's or 60's?
 
Laurel....My symptoms started 9 weeks ago...I was only put on Escitalopram 4 weeks ago due to a panic attack.
 
Your symptoms are not Bulbar ALS (MND) symptoms so I would not worry about that. If you are prone to panic attacks that could be all that it is. Try to put it out of your mind, relax and see what happens.
 
TStewart...what you really need to do is see a Dr because we can not tell you what is or isn't wrong with you. I know you said there was a long wait to see a good neuro but go ahead and make an appt. It would be better to know that you are going to get an answer then to keep imagining the worst.
 
@Joelc....Thankyou joel for your advice.....I honestly thought that my symptoms were or could be bulbar M.N.D....Would i choke all the time when having liquids if it was bulbar M.N.D? I am having a lot of problems with my throat.....I am not prone to panic attacks....I have only ever had two and have not had one for some time now.

The thing i am most curious about is what would i be experiencing if i did have bulbar M.N.D?.....Could you tell me more about food and drink and what happens in the beginning of bulbar?.....The problems with choking don't occur all the time just now and again.....i do have some difficulty swallowing....speech is normal as far as i can tell and the tone of my speech seems normal to me and nobody has made any comments.

I do wake up now and again with wet on my pillow but i only do it once or twice a week sometimes less than that......I have choked on my saliva a couple of times....I do feel like there is excess saliva in my mouth and i have to clear my throat more than usual....My mouth and tongue feel uncomfortable and i keep getting constant sore throats.

Obviously this is concerning me and i am starting to worry about it a bit.
 
@TedH5.....Hello Ted and cheers for the post.....I have already very recently been to see my General Practioner who examined me and made me go through an examination of my reflexes.....I guess what concerns me about that is i would not have problems in other areas right now would i if i had bulbar M.N.D? I would just be having problems with my mouth and throat?.....Going to see a Neuro here in the UK is not straight forward or easy unfortunately...unless my General Practioner sends me to one i cannot get to see one.

Would bulbar M.N.D stand out?......would i choke on everything all the time?.....Would other people notice things?......As i said above i am also getting out of breath quite a bit recently i do have asthma but my breathing seems worse lately and of course that worries me even more.

I am also very tired....I sometimes sleep for 10-12 hours a day.....What is your opinion Ted?.....Possible bulbar M.N.D or not?....Cheers.
 
Oh and since monday i have had pain in the back of my mouth and throat and my eyes, head and face....
 
We are not doctors.
 
@Sadiemae......I have only asked for opinions not a diagnosis....I would not ask for a diagnosis on a forum.
 
Tstewart..... You have been through all this on the UK forum and been given the same advice/opinions on there as your getting here.
I understand your worried, but until u see a neurologist and get it confirmed as MND you need to try and stop thinking or looking for the worst thing that could be wrong.
I really hope you don't have this awful desease and wish you luck.

Chris.
 
Thanks Chris. Yes, we have been through all this on the UK forum. To me, a clear case of anxiety taking over, relentlessness of posting, content of the posts and so on.

Despite all its shortcomings the UK NHS does not suck, they make referals if and where appropriate, and in this case it is clearly deemed as not necessary.

I hope you find some answers and move on.

Dani
 
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