pager27
Member
- Joined
- Apr 29, 2014
- Messages
- 24
- Reason
- Learn about ALS
- Country
- US
- State
- New York
- City
- Islip
Hello!
My name is Ray. I am having some serious symptoms and have been terrified that they could be ALS. I have twitching in my foot, which started a few months back and has gotten worse over time. Now this twitching is fairly constant, even upon awakening in the morning. Within the last couple of weeks, this twitch has also appeared on my calf and shoulder; all on the left side. I have been clumbsy and without good balance. My foot/ankle feels weak; the affected foot that is. It swells up a lot on certain days as well. My left hand has a tremor and my ring and middle fingers on that side are pretty disaligned. I even get twitches in the abdomen and in my head. Sometimes I feel like my whole body is shaking and nobody can appreciate it because it is internal, meaning not visible. I urinate a lot, have been suffering from nasal congestion that is seemingly unclearable and stuck behind my nose, if that makes any sense. My saliva gets very slimey and my tongue feels heavy. This is not all the time. I also get a sensation of my throat closing up at night. I can walk on my heals and my toes but my balance is not great when doing so. I also feel much weaker on the left foot than the right when attempting this. However, I do no have any signs of foot drop. I've noticed that I have bit my tongue a few times within the last couple of weeks. My left leg and left shoulder also feel extremely stiff. I have hand pain which occurs intermittently. I have been experiencing a drooling sensation and keep wiping my lip, only to find that nothing is there. I get pins and needles in my hands and feet and experience an occasional warm sensation in my left hand. These pins and needles are not the normal kind that go away in 30 seconds or so after a quick shake-off. They last for sometimes up to ten minutes. I have had memory loss, cognitive dysfunction, depression, extreme anxiety and outright sadness. I am 31 years old and am an Honors College Student with big plans. I have had a troubled past and have been trying very hard to redeem myself over the last few years and have been met with an extreme up-hill battle, with respect to my health. By the way, I also have respiratory problems and am on two different inhalers as well as an oral medicine for it. Over the last few years I have had many health problems, but none really pointed to ALS. They were pretty much all over the place. I've had Edema of the feet, pins and needles, shortness of breath, constipation and or diarrhea, blurred vision, excessive urination, fatigue, facial numbness, painful neck stiffness, uncontrollable shaking, cold sweats, constant throat clearing/congestion, Gerd or Erosive Esophogitis, on and off oral thrush, jaw pain, extremely dry hands, especially at night, bitter metalic taste in mouth, random moles popping up, mouth sores , oral blisters and white patches, blackened tongue; which lasted about a month, palpitations, distended abdominal area, elevated triglycerides and more. Now the last symptoms are all over the place and have lasted a few years. I do not assume they are all ALS related. The symptoms I mentioned earlier have been leading me to believe I might have something very serious on my hands. I have been to the Gastro, Cardiologist, Opthamologist, Urologist, Neurologist, ENT, Infectious Disease specialist, many primary physician visits, hospital visits, sonograms, XRays, Cat-Scans, MRI's, Blood Work, etc… Most recently the Neuro did a brain as well as upper and lower spine MRI and and EMG/NCS. We also did a Lumbar Puncture and it has been three weeks with no results. The EMG/NCS was upper and lower and found carpal tunnel in both my left and right hands. The bottom half of my body was fine; however, since then, my symptoms have grown worse. This was a couple of months ago. The lower spine MRI was unremarkable and the upper spine MRI showed minor degeneration, I believe. The brain had something going on with my frontal lobe but nothing remarkable. They want to follow up in a year for that. We did an MRI on the knee and they found a popliteal cyst and a sprain I believe which makes no sense b/c I did not injure that knee. This knee is the affected leg, by the way. Anyway, between the twitching, the foot weakness, the leg and shoulder stiffness, the tremors, drooling sensation, breathing problems, pins and needles, cognitive difficulties, warping of the fingers, hand pain, clumsiness and balance problems, I am terrified where this might be going. I have also considered parkinsons, Lyme and MS, which would obviously be preferable to ALS. Not that anybody would want any of them. I am just so terrified and don't know what to do. I really need help. I have even made an apt. to see a pyschiatrist. I am distraught. I am just completely devasted and want so much to feel better. I would give anything for it. Please help me. Also, please do not get angry with me. I see that many times people who have a disease on these forums get angry at inquiring members. I don't mean to insult anyone and although I do have extreme anxiety, I do not believe it to be the cause of my symptoms. I believe that my symptoms are more likely to be the cause of my anxiety. I mean nobody harm and do not wish to insult anyone, but as you can see, this is just too much to handle for a 31 year old. I should be healthy right now. Every doctor looks and says that every time. I get so upset because these symptoms are not a choice. I just want to cry, but I can't. I feel stuck in a body that I have no control over and I am terrified. Please Please Please, HELP ME!
My name is Ray. I am having some serious symptoms and have been terrified that they could be ALS. I have twitching in my foot, which started a few months back and has gotten worse over time. Now this twitching is fairly constant, even upon awakening in the morning. Within the last couple of weeks, this twitch has also appeared on my calf and shoulder; all on the left side. I have been clumbsy and without good balance. My foot/ankle feels weak; the affected foot that is. It swells up a lot on certain days as well. My left hand has a tremor and my ring and middle fingers on that side are pretty disaligned. I even get twitches in the abdomen and in my head. Sometimes I feel like my whole body is shaking and nobody can appreciate it because it is internal, meaning not visible. I urinate a lot, have been suffering from nasal congestion that is seemingly unclearable and stuck behind my nose, if that makes any sense. My saliva gets very slimey and my tongue feels heavy. This is not all the time. I also get a sensation of my throat closing up at night. I can walk on my heals and my toes but my balance is not great when doing so. I also feel much weaker on the left foot than the right when attempting this. However, I do no have any signs of foot drop. I've noticed that I have bit my tongue a few times within the last couple of weeks. My left leg and left shoulder also feel extremely stiff. I have hand pain which occurs intermittently. I have been experiencing a drooling sensation and keep wiping my lip, only to find that nothing is there. I get pins and needles in my hands and feet and experience an occasional warm sensation in my left hand. These pins and needles are not the normal kind that go away in 30 seconds or so after a quick shake-off. They last for sometimes up to ten minutes. I have had memory loss, cognitive dysfunction, depression, extreme anxiety and outright sadness. I am 31 years old and am an Honors College Student with big plans. I have had a troubled past and have been trying very hard to redeem myself over the last few years and have been met with an extreme up-hill battle, with respect to my health. By the way, I also have respiratory problems and am on two different inhalers as well as an oral medicine for it. Over the last few years I have had many health problems, but none really pointed to ALS. They were pretty much all over the place. I've had Edema of the feet, pins and needles, shortness of breath, constipation and or diarrhea, blurred vision, excessive urination, fatigue, facial numbness, painful neck stiffness, uncontrollable shaking, cold sweats, constant throat clearing/congestion, Gerd or Erosive Esophogitis, on and off oral thrush, jaw pain, extremely dry hands, especially at night, bitter metalic taste in mouth, random moles popping up, mouth sores , oral blisters and white patches, blackened tongue; which lasted about a month, palpitations, distended abdominal area, elevated triglycerides and more. Now the last symptoms are all over the place and have lasted a few years. I do not assume they are all ALS related. The symptoms I mentioned earlier have been leading me to believe I might have something very serious on my hands. I have been to the Gastro, Cardiologist, Opthamologist, Urologist, Neurologist, ENT, Infectious Disease specialist, many primary physician visits, hospital visits, sonograms, XRays, Cat-Scans, MRI's, Blood Work, etc… Most recently the Neuro did a brain as well as upper and lower spine MRI and and EMG/NCS. We also did a Lumbar Puncture and it has been three weeks with no results. The EMG/NCS was upper and lower and found carpal tunnel in both my left and right hands. The bottom half of my body was fine; however, since then, my symptoms have grown worse. This was a couple of months ago. The lower spine MRI was unremarkable and the upper spine MRI showed minor degeneration, I believe. The brain had something going on with my frontal lobe but nothing remarkable. They want to follow up in a year for that. We did an MRI on the knee and they found a popliteal cyst and a sprain I believe which makes no sense b/c I did not injure that knee. This knee is the affected leg, by the way. Anyway, between the twitching, the foot weakness, the leg and shoulder stiffness, the tremors, drooling sensation, breathing problems, pins and needles, cognitive difficulties, warping of the fingers, hand pain, clumsiness and balance problems, I am terrified where this might be going. I have also considered parkinsons, Lyme and MS, which would obviously be preferable to ALS. Not that anybody would want any of them. I am just so terrified and don't know what to do. I really need help. I have even made an apt. to see a pyschiatrist. I am distraught. I am just completely devasted and want so much to feel better. I would give anything for it. Please help me. Also, please do not get angry with me. I see that many times people who have a disease on these forums get angry at inquiring members. I don't mean to insult anyone and although I do have extreme anxiety, I do not believe it to be the cause of my symptoms. I believe that my symptoms are more likely to be the cause of my anxiety. I mean nobody harm and do not wish to insult anyone, but as you can see, this is just too much to handle for a 31 year old. I should be healthy right now. Every doctor looks and says that every time. I get so upset because these symptoms are not a choice. I just want to cry, but I can't. I feel stuck in a body that I have no control over and I am terrified. Please Please Please, HELP ME!
