Let me preface everything foremost by taking the time to express sympathy for everyone on this site. There's an immense amount of positivity, but it's still hard to not truly admire the strength of everyone. Also, let me thank you for your time, apologize for making the following post so lengthy, and assuring you that I have read the stickies. Now, I'll TRY and make this as brief as possible.
I am a 25 year old male. have had an ongoing battle with depression/anxiety a severe concussion playing football. It has been several years, and my bouts come and go. Typically they are caused by panic attack of which there is no specific origin. I was good for several months, when out of the blue I had one a few weeks ago. Since then, my anxiety has been severely heightened. I have had on going issues of being a hypochondriac in that past, so I know that may nullify the validity of my concerns.
That said -
I'm not exactly sure what symptoms caused me to consult Dr. Google initially, but they have progressed. That could be predicated on my anxiety, of course, but I still feel as though everything seems too coincidental.
I am a bodybuilder with several competitions under my belt. Hence, training in the gym is an enormous part of my life and I am extremely in tune with my body.
About three weeks ago I was training my calves. I had a decent workout, but hardly anything out of the ordinary. In fact, it was actually significantly less than I typically do, with no changes in diet. For some reason, I was excruciatingly sore for the next week. Generally I don't have soreness lasting more than I day or two. I could barely walk for days. A few days later I did hamstrings and had the same issue, but to a slightly lesser degree.
I over the two weeks I have had continuous twitching in my calves, forearms, quads, and neck. It is mainly localized in my left calf and left hand. Last week at work, I had a strange feeling in my hand and foot (I understand that ALS is not sensory). If I was wearing a glove and a sock, the area in those two would be affected and nothing else. It was just my left hand and my left foot. It wasn't necessarily "pins in needles" but rather I could sense that my hand and foot were there. Not vibrating, but it felt like the VERY tail end of when your limbs fall asleep.
I have been a mess the past couple of weeks (e.g. no sleep, no appetite, panic attacks, etc). I am convinced I have ALS, and have scheduled an appointment with my GP. Ever since the hand and foot incident, I have been doing insane amount of strength tests, which from what I read is common among people with anxiety of ALS. I am constantly testing my grip, walking on my heels, standing on my toes, and even altering my training at the gym to focus on areas that are giving me trouble to see if there is any type of a strength decline. From what I can tell, I haven't had any.
The past few days, I have had an issue with my pinky finger. The sensory has stopped, but my pinky finger seems to be getting in the way of fine motor movements. I'm okay typing this, but I notice it seems to be in awkward positions at times and twitches pretty often, and sometimes has a slight, dull pain in my hand on the outside and it occasionally works its way up the arm, but it's not very prominent.
Yesterday I was at the gym doing calves (go figure) with lots of unilateral movements so I could focus on one calf at a time. I noticed that when I stand certain ways, I am unable to flex my left calf, but I can flex the right. I change positions, though, I can do both calves equally and flex both of them. It kind of freaked me out. As I was walking around the gym, I noticed that it was hard to "feel" the inside of my left calf. I didn't, however, have any decrease in strength, which is promising. When I stand, it seems as though the inside of my left calf is extremely soft whereas the inside of the right is hard. I'm not suggesting atrophy, but rather that something is awry. I went home and had similar issues, and spent about three hours flexing and walking to try and get an accurate feel for my calves. My "mind-muscle-connection" as we call it in bodybuilding was lost. I woke up with a similar issue, but wasn't super sore like I thought I'd be.
This morning, I am having almost identical symptoms with my left bicep. I can flex it, but it doesn't feel right when I do. I haven't feel the contraction of my bicep. When I lift my arm and flex, though, it contracts but simply doesn't feel right. Now when I move my left arm, it doesn't move as quickly it seems.
I can go into greater detail about tons of stuff, but allow me to think out loud and generate some talking points.
Thinking objectively about the positives -
-Twitching has a correlation with being localized, but isn't exclusive to one area
-I'm only 25
-No true strength decreases
Here are some concerns/questions -
1. I know there are no 'absolutes' but does ALS typically manifest in two limbs at once? I thought it generally will start in one limb, wreak havoc to at least a degree where clinical weakness would be noticeable, and then move to another. Just hoping it is strange that it is happening in my arm and leg.
2. I have read a lot (during my 3+ hours per night google panics) that suggest clinical weakness to be a first sign. In theory, especially for someone in tune with their body, wouldn't clinical weakness come after generalized strength loss? Surely I wouldn't just wake up with a drop foot. Some people may, but I am very in sync with my body and would certainly notice minor changes.
3. Again, I understand there are no absolutes, but is this progression normal? Meaning if I was noticing foot, calf, and pinky issues, would they have at least showed a drop in strength?
4. Is is my anxiety that causes the symptoms to appear to be "moving" and progressing now? Is it common to work up a limb with causing noticeable damage first? Meaning, prior to any bicep issues, wouldn't my hand be showing failure or something close to clinical weakness?
Again, I apologize for the length and moreover for cluttering this page. My symptoms seem different from other ASL scared from anxiety sufferers, so I'd figured I'd ask. Thanks for your time everyone.
I am a 25 year old male. have had an ongoing battle with depression/anxiety a severe concussion playing football. It has been several years, and my bouts come and go. Typically they are caused by panic attack of which there is no specific origin. I was good for several months, when out of the blue I had one a few weeks ago. Since then, my anxiety has been severely heightened. I have had on going issues of being a hypochondriac in that past, so I know that may nullify the validity of my concerns.
That said -
I'm not exactly sure what symptoms caused me to consult Dr. Google initially, but they have progressed. That could be predicated on my anxiety, of course, but I still feel as though everything seems too coincidental.
I am a bodybuilder with several competitions under my belt. Hence, training in the gym is an enormous part of my life and I am extremely in tune with my body.
About three weeks ago I was training my calves. I had a decent workout, but hardly anything out of the ordinary. In fact, it was actually significantly less than I typically do, with no changes in diet. For some reason, I was excruciatingly sore for the next week. Generally I don't have soreness lasting more than I day or two. I could barely walk for days. A few days later I did hamstrings and had the same issue, but to a slightly lesser degree.
I over the two weeks I have had continuous twitching in my calves, forearms, quads, and neck. It is mainly localized in my left calf and left hand. Last week at work, I had a strange feeling in my hand and foot (I understand that ALS is not sensory). If I was wearing a glove and a sock, the area in those two would be affected and nothing else. It was just my left hand and my left foot. It wasn't necessarily "pins in needles" but rather I could sense that my hand and foot were there. Not vibrating, but it felt like the VERY tail end of when your limbs fall asleep.
I have been a mess the past couple of weeks (e.g. no sleep, no appetite, panic attacks, etc). I am convinced I have ALS, and have scheduled an appointment with my GP. Ever since the hand and foot incident, I have been doing insane amount of strength tests, which from what I read is common among people with anxiety of ALS. I am constantly testing my grip, walking on my heels, standing on my toes, and even altering my training at the gym to focus on areas that are giving me trouble to see if there is any type of a strength decline. From what I can tell, I haven't had any.
The past few days, I have had an issue with my pinky finger. The sensory has stopped, but my pinky finger seems to be getting in the way of fine motor movements. I'm okay typing this, but I notice it seems to be in awkward positions at times and twitches pretty often, and sometimes has a slight, dull pain in my hand on the outside and it occasionally works its way up the arm, but it's not very prominent.
Yesterday I was at the gym doing calves (go figure) with lots of unilateral movements so I could focus on one calf at a time. I noticed that when I stand certain ways, I am unable to flex my left calf, but I can flex the right. I change positions, though, I can do both calves equally and flex both of them. It kind of freaked me out. As I was walking around the gym, I noticed that it was hard to "feel" the inside of my left calf. I didn't, however, have any decrease in strength, which is promising. When I stand, it seems as though the inside of my left calf is extremely soft whereas the inside of the right is hard. I'm not suggesting atrophy, but rather that something is awry. I went home and had similar issues, and spent about three hours flexing and walking to try and get an accurate feel for my calves. My "mind-muscle-connection" as we call it in bodybuilding was lost. I woke up with a similar issue, but wasn't super sore like I thought I'd be.
This morning, I am having almost identical symptoms with my left bicep. I can flex it, but it doesn't feel right when I do. I haven't feel the contraction of my bicep. When I lift my arm and flex, though, it contracts but simply doesn't feel right. Now when I move my left arm, it doesn't move as quickly it seems.
I can go into greater detail about tons of stuff, but allow me to think out loud and generate some talking points.
Thinking objectively about the positives -
-Twitching has a correlation with being localized, but isn't exclusive to one area
-I'm only 25
-No true strength decreases
Here are some concerns/questions -
1. I know there are no 'absolutes' but does ALS typically manifest in two limbs at once? I thought it generally will start in one limb, wreak havoc to at least a degree where clinical weakness would be noticeable, and then move to another. Just hoping it is strange that it is happening in my arm and leg.
2. I have read a lot (during my 3+ hours per night google panics) that suggest clinical weakness to be a first sign. In theory, especially for someone in tune with their body, wouldn't clinical weakness come after generalized strength loss? Surely I wouldn't just wake up with a drop foot. Some people may, but I am very in sync with my body and would certainly notice minor changes.
3. Again, I understand there are no absolutes, but is this progression normal? Meaning if I was noticing foot, calf, and pinky issues, would they have at least showed a drop in strength?
4. Is is my anxiety that causes the symptoms to appear to be "moving" and progressing now? Is it common to work up a limb with causing noticeable damage first? Meaning, prior to any bicep issues, wouldn't my hand be showing failure or something close to clinical weakness?
Again, I apologize for the length and moreover for cluttering this page. My symptoms seem different from other ASL scared from anxiety sufferers, so I'd figured I'd ask. Thanks for your time everyone.
