bhebs210
New member
- Joined
- Sep 6, 2013
- Messages
- 2
- Reason
- Learn about ALS
- Diagnosis
- 10/2013
- Country
- US
- State
- D.C.
- City
- Washington
Hello,
First off thank you to anyone that takes the time to read this post. I would like to gain some knowledge from some peers to see if my symptoms could be related to something other than ALS.
I am a previously healthy 25 year old. In Fall of 2012 I began noticing that my gait had changed. I was stiff when walking and would fall often or trip over my feet. I brushed this off as normal clumsiness and the stiffness due to my inability to handle cold weather. As winter approached I realized I had lost a large amount of muscle. By spring my arms would start shaking while I was eating and brushing my teeth. Lifting a blanket on to a shelf or standing on the bus all of the sudden became a chore. In March I started noticing my fascics, mostly while at work at my desk typing. Now they occur through out the day even when I am just sitting on the bus. My grip has also begun to be a problem, I drop things when handed to me and can not zipper or button my clothes with out using some creativity. At the end of March my family pointed out how my body was doing these things and their growing frustration with my nasaly voice. Since it was spring I assumed this was sinus related and part of my allergies, however, two prescriptions of nasal spray and antibiotics had zero impact. In fact, my voice has only become more constricted. I often feel like I am choking on my words and most people who just meet me cannot understand me and presume I am drunk.
After my prescriptions did nothing for my symptoms I went to my general practitioner. She performed a physical exam, she then referred me to a neurologist. My neurologist found that I had low levels of B12 (215) but told me she believed that this alone would most likely not be the only source of my symptoms and ordered a spine and brain MRI and an EMG. My spine and brain MRI came back normal and my EMG is in a week. I want to believe the B12 is causing all of this but some family members are concerned this could be a bigger issue. Please let me know if you know of other possibilities for my symptoms or if this sounds like ALS.
First off thank you to anyone that takes the time to read this post. I would like to gain some knowledge from some peers to see if my symptoms could be related to something other than ALS.
I am a previously healthy 25 year old. In Fall of 2012 I began noticing that my gait had changed. I was stiff when walking and would fall often or trip over my feet. I brushed this off as normal clumsiness and the stiffness due to my inability to handle cold weather. As winter approached I realized I had lost a large amount of muscle. By spring my arms would start shaking while I was eating and brushing my teeth. Lifting a blanket on to a shelf or standing on the bus all of the sudden became a chore. In March I started noticing my fascics, mostly while at work at my desk typing. Now they occur through out the day even when I am just sitting on the bus. My grip has also begun to be a problem, I drop things when handed to me and can not zipper or button my clothes with out using some creativity. At the end of March my family pointed out how my body was doing these things and their growing frustration with my nasaly voice. Since it was spring I assumed this was sinus related and part of my allergies, however, two prescriptions of nasal spray and antibiotics had zero impact. In fact, my voice has only become more constricted. I often feel like I am choking on my words and most people who just meet me cannot understand me and presume I am drunk.
After my prescriptions did nothing for my symptoms I went to my general practitioner. She performed a physical exam, she then referred me to a neurologist. My neurologist found that I had low levels of B12 (215) but told me she believed that this alone would most likely not be the only source of my symptoms and ordered a spine and brain MRI and an EMG. My spine and brain MRI came back normal and my EMG is in a week. I want to believe the B12 is causing all of this but some family members are concerned this could be a bigger issue. Please let me know if you know of other possibilities for my symptoms or if this sounds like ALS.
