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jessmaja

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Firstly, I would like to take the time to appreciate anyone who may answer my concerns.

I am a 24 year old female. While I know for my age, ALS is very rare, I still have troubling symptoms which I fear may manifest in that way. For the last 4 months I have been having all over body twitching that initially originated in my right foot, spread up my right leg, and from there on. After 2 months, I saw a Neuro who did a basic exam and stated everything appeared normal, come back in two months. The last 4 weeks, I have noticed tongue twitching (while not resting) in primarily the tip and side of my tongue. My jaw also tremors when positioned certain ways. I have also noticed the past year or so that I frequently finding myself needing to yawn or sigh in order to feel like I've gotten an adequate breath. I get hiccups frequently all the time, having eaten or not. All times of the day, but not constant. I feel also as if I've had some trouble speaking, not slurring per se, but more like tongue feels kind of stiff and I can't pronunciate certain things efficiently. Next, the muscle that looks like a ball in the foot, just adjacent to the ankle down from the pinky toe, in my right foot, has vanished. I saw the Neuro yesterday who stated he was slightly concerned about my tongue (but only examined it while stuck out all the way) and wants to watch it over time. He won't consider an EMG at this point, but did schedule an MRI. My CK was normal. I'm not really terribly stressed about anything, just want to find out what's going on with my body so I can pick up from there.

Do my symptoms sound typical of early stages of ALS (Bulbar or Classic)? Why or why not?
Again, thank you. The Neuro has somewhat brushed me off more than likely because of my age, so during the waiting period, I wanted to see if I could get some answers from some people who have been through the whole process. I have so much respect for you all. Thank you.
 
Try reading the stickies for this subforum like you were supposed to do before posting questions. Most of them will be answered there. Then and only then ask about what you didn't understand
 
Honey the neurologist 'brushed you off' probably only seemed that way. These really smart doctors perform tests that seem to be nothing much and gain a lot of information from them.

Since you do no have ALS symptoms, not even classic ones, your neurologist is approaching this the correct way. You need to understand ALS is a diagnosis of exclusion, and progression needs to be demonstrated. Progression is not more twitching.

To show your great respect, would you now please leave this forum and get more active in life out there. The people here are dealing with a terminal disease, or caring for someone with one. One has very kindly replied, and now a second - me.

I sincerely wish you the best with your health issues.
 
Hello Jess, It can be unsettling when our body is functioning irregularly, but it does happen to even the healthiest of us. Quirks come and go and mostly we brush them off with humour; "Dude, check out my eyelid twitching!" Friends are good to share these things with because often they share that they've had something similar or maybe advise you to get to a doc pronto... or laugh at us and call us a hypochondriac. In any case, take some comfort in your Dr. recommending you follow up. He/She sounds like a good soul to do so rather than shoo you out the door. If you did have this tragic burden of ALS a Dr. would similarly advise you to carry on with your life and again, recommend seeing you again in three months.
So either way enriching your days is the goal as there is no cure and in my case, little by way of medication that effectively eliminates all symptoms, which you seem to have few of and low impact ones at that.
I am new to the forum so take me lightly, but the impression I get is that reading all the posts is insightful for you but making inquiries on your symptoms frowned upon unless you have been diagnosed or had a physician supportive of a "possible ALS" opinion. As to the "Stickies" some stear folks to, I found them after several days of ticking through postings last year and quite randomly. I dislike this interface but it is what it is. I tried a search for "Stickies" to no avail. Eventually, after reading all the FAQ's to learn etiquette before joinin I searched for "Sticky". Bingo. The browsers I use maybe different than developers designed for ideally and perhaps I am not the brightest because after reading what they are I still took too long to find. Ha. I even read on here for two years, joined, posted, AND THEN found a sticky for "Read this before posting"! My point if any is, I wish you luck and good health. Click on the far right categories and when you do the top messages in a few of the categories will be marked as "Sticky"... knock yourself out but call some friends and hear what they have to say about your symptoms and your Dr.'s view, they may give you the assurance you are needing.
And do make the best of your days. Go for a run or ride your bike for me!
Regards,
Aaron
 
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