Worried about My Husband

[Cathy1982]

Hello Everyone,

My Husband has been experiencing some problems for the past few months, he keeps complaining of muscle stiffness, weakness and joint pain, he also keep waking up at night and twitches alot all over his body especially his shoulders and legs, He also gets pain in his knees especially behind right knee .

We took him to see a Neuro who ordered a MRI first and then EMG/ NCS but they didn't find anything wrong at the time, during the test i saw them check his whole body with NCS test and then for needle test they checked right side of his body in various places such as arm, leg, thigh hand.

Lately he has been complaining of more twitching and weakness, his tongue has also developed some fasciculations that were not noticeable last month and he says it feels numb or tingling and sometimes he feels he can't swallow well, but he has an existing problem with Acid reflux and i have tried to convince him that it could be causing issues with swallowing and discomfort in the throat. He is extremely worried all the time and it is affecting our marriage.

Please help me figure out whats wrong with him.....

Thank you

 

[DontShrink]

i would look for a second opinion

 

[DontShrink]

i would also suggest therapy/counseling as a couple

 

[Dusty7]

"He is extremely worried all the time."

Anxiety is a major cause of twitching. That and caffeine, Rx drugs, fatigue, etc.

If his EMG found nothing, take ALS off the table.

 

[Atsugi]

muscle stiffness >>> not ALS
joint pain >>> not before paralysis
waking up >>> not diagnostic of ALS
twitches alot all over >>> can be anything, or nothing at all
pain in his knees >>> ALS isn't painful
tongue has also developed some fasciculations >>> ask the neurologist
numb or tingling >>> not ALS

Hi Cathy, I've read your post and considered the symptoms you present and it doesn't sound like ALS to me. ALS typically starts as footdrop, where the muscles of the foot are paralyzed (limp and useless), not stiff or painful. Also, ALS starts in one place, either the foot or the tongue, but not all over like you describe.

In this forum, we know ALS really well, but don't diagnose other problems. On your way back to your doctor, visit a general health forum. Good luck.

 

[Cathy1982]

Thanks so much to all of you for your useful answers and information hopefully this will help resolve my Husbands issues. I do have one question though about tongue fasciculations, from what the doctor told us earlier, he said usually small twitches in the tongue do not point to ALS, usually patients with ALS have a good deal of quivering in their tongues along with twitching which they can not even feel, is this true ?

 

[Atsugi]

Yes. The tongue gets quite discombobulated in that type of ALS.

You don't have to worry about ALS. Your doctor has done a thorough investigation, especially using the EMG. NErve damage shows up quite early on an EMG. Since your husband's EMG was clear, you can rule out ALS.