my doctor told me its just stress but i know myself better....very frustrated...

[Arriella]

Hi.. I'm 41....about 6 months ago i started noticing that my hands felt weak..mostly on my left side...sometimes usually when my hands were cold...or if i held them in a certain way..i would get a spasm in my left hand..it would feel achy during the spasm but not hugely painful...then my right hand started doing it now and then also...my arms now feel weak...somedays are much worse than others....about 3 months ago i started having twitches...i dont mean like how peoples legs might twitch at night sometimes or how eyelids sometimes twitch if you r nervous.....my arms...and legs and hands twitch all the time...it never stops...at least one twitch every minute...sometimes ten a minute.....constantly....but what scares me the most is that i cant swwallow food without drinking water...i woke up one morning....and tried to eat a bit before work and it was like...have you ever taken too big of a bite of food and it kinda got stuck in your throat at the base of the neck and you had to wash it down with water...well thats what it was like except it wasnt a big bite...it has never gotten better but has stayed the same for over a month now..it makes it well past the choking point ..i swallow food and it goes like to the bottom ot my neck and it sits there till i wash it down with something..its very scary..im talking about every single bite of food i eat...its not normal and i know there is something wrong with me...i finally went to the doctors (cause i have no health ins and i hate going) she did some blood test and an mri...both came back perfect...i rescheduled an appt and she came into the room and told me she thinks its just stress (i really wasnt stressed untill this happened) she kept saying "im not trying to say this is in your head" but that is exactly what i think she believes..its frustrating because my symptoms are things other people really cant see...i look fine on the outside....i left there and cried all the way home...its very frustrating...my mom has made me an appointment with another dr for 2pm today..ill post tonight about it...does this sound like it could be mnd? im hoping not...
thank you for your help ...ARRIELLA

 

[jb63]

Many things can cause the symptoms you have, going to the top dog of illnesses is not in your best interest and will increase your anxiety. Bulbar ALS: drinking water is a problem. Hope this helps.

 

[HelenL]

Hi Arriella, as jb63 said, many things can cause the symptoms that you're describing... for instance, lack of vitamin D can cause some of the twitching, and lack of B12 can be problematic as well. A hypothyroid condition can cause swallowing problems, did the pc do blood tests measuring your T3 and T4 (I think!) levels? As the other poster said, if it was bulbar, you wouldn't be washing pills and food down with water, you'd be choking on the water itself.

You need to get health insurance pronto... and THEN go get an EMG to see if you truly have issues... it will detect problems long before you show any physical signs of twitching and atrophy. Remember perceived weakness is not necessarily "clinical" weakness.

Good luck, remain positive, and get some insurance! Then go get this pursued further.

 

[CoachMeg]

Take a deep breath and relax. Follow through with the second opinion, but have your eyes and ears wide open when you meet with the doctor. Stress can wreck havoc on our systems, trust me, I know. You need to not worry about ALS until absolutely everything else has been ruled out.
Good luck!

 

[trfogey]

Nope, doesn't sound like ALS to me. Good luck finding out what it is.