Daphne
Active member
- Joined
- Dec 23, 2009
- Messages
- 30
- Reason
- Loved one DX
- Country
- US
- State
- Missouri
- City
- St. Louis
Hi All,
I've visited this site many times but I've never before posted. Currently, my brother is in the later stages of ALS, and I am on a mission to discover whether anxiety over him is causing my strange symptoms (yes, I just started therapy and have an anti-anxiety drug if I need it), or maybe they're a side effect of a beta blocker I was on for three years (which I quit, but symptoms persist), or maybe I, too, have ALS.
I notice a common theme that those with real ALS often poo-poo the fears of sick people, and I've probably already commented about this problem before, and I've probably already said that I understand both sides of it. So with this knowledge, I ask my question with trepidation...
Did anyone's ALS present with one main symptoms: muscle twitches? For my brother, it was frequent, painful muscle cramps (for 7 years, he says!) and then eventual left hand cramping and weakness.
Like so many sufferers out there, I have been experiencing muscle twitches, in my case for 8 months now -- everywhere: limbs, trunk, face, mouth. I have occasional almost-cramps in muscles. The only consistent thing I can identify is that the twitches seem to be an inflammatory response, ie. when I drive, my right knee area has twitches, and when I use the computer mouse, my right arm twitches, etc. Even pressure on an area can cause this angry muscle response. The twitches are rapid-fire and painless, usually of short duration but sometimes lasting hours. And also, when I am ill from a virus or some other illness, my whole body flares up, twitching all over.
Finally my GP is listening to me and is concerned. She's already tested me for thyroid and nutritional problems (all normal). Now she's sending me in for nerve conduction tests, and she requested that a neurologist be present. I had recently learned to just live with it, and my anxiety had become reduced, but her alarm has me anxious again.
I have no paralysis or muscle weakness, but a muscle is easily fatigued with use. I'm 44. My brother is almost 50.
Any thoughts for me?
I've visited this site many times but I've never before posted. Currently, my brother is in the later stages of ALS, and I am on a mission to discover whether anxiety over him is causing my strange symptoms (yes, I just started therapy and have an anti-anxiety drug if I need it), or maybe they're a side effect of a beta blocker I was on for three years (which I quit, but symptoms persist), or maybe I, too, have ALS.
I notice a common theme that those with real ALS often poo-poo the fears of sick people, and I've probably already commented about this problem before, and I've probably already said that I understand both sides of it. So with this knowledge, I ask my question with trepidation...
Did anyone's ALS present with one main symptoms: muscle twitches? For my brother, it was frequent, painful muscle cramps (for 7 years, he says!) and then eventual left hand cramping and weakness.
Like so many sufferers out there, I have been experiencing muscle twitches, in my case for 8 months now -- everywhere: limbs, trunk, face, mouth. I have occasional almost-cramps in muscles. The only consistent thing I can identify is that the twitches seem to be an inflammatory response, ie. when I drive, my right knee area has twitches, and when I use the computer mouse, my right arm twitches, etc. Even pressure on an area can cause this angry muscle response. The twitches are rapid-fire and painless, usually of short duration but sometimes lasting hours. And also, when I am ill from a virus or some other illness, my whole body flares up, twitching all over.
Finally my GP is listening to me and is concerned. She's already tested me for thyroid and nutritional problems (all normal). Now she's sending me in for nerve conduction tests, and she requested that a neurologist be present. I had recently learned to just live with it, and my anxiety had become reduced, but her alarm has me anxious again.
I have no paralysis or muscle weakness, but a muscle is easily fatigued with use. I'm 44. My brother is almost 50.
Any thoughts for me?