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ScaredArkansan

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Learn about ALS
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arkansas
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little rock
Hello all,
Thank you in advance for taking time to look at my post. I am 22 about to turn 23 and recently found out I am going to be a father. Seven years ago I was diagnosed with central sleep apnea. A massive battery of tests were performed of every variety, all of which turned up clean. About three months ago I was hospitalized with atrial fibrillation, echoes and stress echoes were done showing that structurally my heart was very sound. The only theory that sounded reasonable was that I may have had a mild shock reaction to a food additive combined with gastrointestinal irritation which I have always had, irritated my vagus nerve causing the A-Fib.

I was put on atenolol and asprin as well as prilosec and sent home. Fast foward a month or so I began to notice that I was having more minor muscle spasms then I normally have. Then about two weeks ago I had a twenty minute long episode of my left arm trembling and jerking at the wrist. Ever since then I have noticed that sometimes it feels like I am vibrating from my chest up even though I can see no particular movement, I have also had some minor tingling in my hands and I continue to have muscle spasms everywhere from my legs, stomach, and arms, those being the main areas I notice them. I have also noticed a great deal of fatigue as of late. I have also notice some muscle cramping in my legs and pain in my back, though I have had pain in my back for a long time. I attribute the back pain to the fact that I have been overweight for quite a while and recently lost 50 pounds.

Last week I saw an internist/pulminologist who seemed interested in my symptoms but did not seem to think they were anything particularly serious. This morning I saw my pcp, he ran a full blood panel (results still out) and had me do all sorts of things from following his finger with my eyes to squeezing his fingers and walking heel to toe forward and reverse, as well as testing my reflexes at the knees. He said that all of these tests were passed with flying colors. He said that my symptoms pointed towards no one thing in particular and seemed rather perplexed. I have an MRI and EEG scheduled next month and should here back on my blood work by Friday. The only thing he could think of off the top of his head was that I may be severely vitamin deficient, he speculated this beacuse I revealed that in the past three months I have eaten only turkey sandwiches, chicken breast, and chips and drank only water and apple juice.

Now that I am finished subjecting everyone to that massive wall of text, I guess the reason I am here is that with a child on the way I am terrified of the worst and was wondering what the opinions of those who had more experience with this subject were.
Once again thank you for taking time to read this and any responses will be greatly appreciated.
 
Listen to your doctors. It doesn't sound anything like ALS. Congratulations on your upcoming fatherhood!
 
turkey sandwiches, chicken breast, and chips and drank only water and apple juice.

Seriously? I hope you have gone straight to the vit a min shop for a multi-vit and perhaps some green barley extract. Also, you need to make sure you are hydrated. Get some sports drinks into your system.

None of your symptoms sound remotely like ALS...maybe a combo of malnutrition, hydration and impending father hood.

Good luck with your new family life.
 
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My first suggestion would be to get off here, but I know, easier said than done.

Now for starters son, have you looked at your diet? I'm serious. Vitamin de fi cien cies can and will wreak havoc on your body. Po tass ium (K), Magnesium (Mg), Calcium (Ca) and one other is very important for the inner workings. When the test re sults come back, you may want a referral to a di e ti cian. Eating healthy is something you want to pass on to your upcoming blessed event.

So your job is to be patient and wait for re sults. Listen to your doc tor, he seems very comp e tent. Start eating healthier and stay away from doc tor go og le.

And b t w, your symp toms don't sound like mine (neur olog ically speaking).

Good luck to you and take care of that special gift.
 
I, too, have a strange constellation of symptoms so I understand the frustration in not getting answers as fast as we'd like. We have some things in common, other things not at all, but feel free to click through some of my past posts. Good luck and keep us posted.
 
Congrat on becoming a dad! Life as you know it will change in the best way possible! That being said, pay attention to your doctors....your symptoms don't sound anything like my husband's. Good luck!

Jen
 
Thank you all for your responses, they are helping to put my mind at ease, I will be honest and say that the first thing I did when all of this started was fire up google and l have learned quickly that it was the worst possible idea. I have no insurance at the moment so this whole process has been mentally taxing since the bout of A-fib, trying to figure out how to pay for all the tests that have been needed and now the added concern of a new semester of school and a child on the way. Luke I read through some of your posts and to be honest it sounds like you have far more difficult symptoms than I do, I wish you the best in your search for answers. I will keep everyone here updated as my test results come back. Once again thank you for being so supportive.
 
Thank you all for your quick responses, they are helping to put my mind at ease. Luke I read through your posts and I hope you get the answers your looking for swiftly.
 
I intended to post this earlier but forgot, brooksea and Toto's Dorothy suggested that a deficiency could be an issue and I agree as well. Part of the problem with my diet stems from the fact that everything outside those items gives my stomach fits. I had got to the point awhile back that I nearly lived on mylanta. I actually have a G.I. appointment tomorrow to start the process of getting to the bottom of my stomach and colon issues. Once again thank you to everyone, your posts are very reassuring.
 
If your vitamin levels are that bad, for most of them your gp can set you up with IV injections. Chewables digest and give you vitamins better than normal adult tablets - you can either eat a proportional amount of kid's chewables or go someplace that sells adults ones like trader joe's. One important thing though, watch out how much iron is in them. Iron supplements are really, really hard on a GI systems, and might screw up getting any of the other vitamins up to proper levels, so shoot for 50% or less of your daily value of iron.

For the breadth of neurological symptoms the ones you probably need the most are b-12, magnesium, and potassium. B12 comes as under the tongue (no stomach problems), so take it, but the other two are probably much more lacking in your very restricted diet.

As someone who at points gets my calories half from juice, trader joe's (and probably other outlets) has one called dynamo that has a huge amount of vitamin supplements in it. It will help a lot more than apple juice.

Your situation sounds like a pretty straightforward case of malnutrition and pre-fatherhood jitters, but that doesn't mean getting healthy isn't important.
 
Congratulations to you on your upcoming fatherhood! Sounds like you've got a lot going on in your life right now.

Please take the advice of your Doc and our members and get your diet sorted out. I too believe that may be a source of some of your problems. So glad you have an appointment with the GI guy.

Nothing you posted sounds like my presentation.
 
Had my G.I. visit yesterday, unfortunately he showed little interest in my case, was unwilling to talk about things I could do to improve my diet without tearing my stomach up and essentially shutdown as soon as he found out that I am uninsured. My pcp's office called me this morning to inform me that they messed up my blood tests somehow and I have to have them redrawn. I am still stressing out over everything and I feel very shaky and clumsy fingered today, the frequent muscle spasms aren't helping anything either. On a positive note though, I purchased a multivitamin and have started taking them.
 
Woo Pig Sooie! I'm from Arknasas too. Born in Little Rock lived there until two years ago. Sorry about Dr. visit. I think there are some free clinics in LR but I'm not sure if they are able to work with the kind of symptoms you have. You might try Whole foods if it's still around. It's a health food store and may have some suggestions for you. It used to be off Rodney Parham behind Chili's in a shopping mall.
 
Hello I am back with a few more questions.
So following the advice of members I have added substantially to my diet and have started taking a multivitamin daily. However I am still scared to be honest, the internal vibrating sensation is gone for the most part as it seemed to be connected to stress, I also notice less tingling sensations and perhaps a slight reduction in the overall number of twitches I experience. However I still have more twitches than I am comfortable with particularly in my legs, and I have noticed sometimes that if I press on a particular area I can feel small rapid twitches, are these something to be concerned about? I also feel sometimes like I am slightly off balance in my legs and I still have some tremoring in both hands now, again is this something I should be worrying about?
I am trying my best to stay busy and not allow myself to focus on it, I have been lifting weights every other day, not heavy mind you but 15lbs, I also have been walking my neighborhood. I feel better and my wife and mother have both noticed an increase in the tone of my arms but I still can not quit worrying about these other symptoms. Any thoughts, comments or recommendations would be welcomed.
 
Sounds like you've done great in less than 10 days. Keep it up. Don't worry about occasional twitches - many people have them and they're usually harmless.

You'll soon be in perfect form. Keep toning those arms - all the better to hold your baby!

Congratulations on becoming a Dad.
 
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