Hello, Hoping for some advice and Help please! Serving soldier terrified.

[Mitch96784]

Good Afternoon/ Morning.

I have read the sticks numerous times but it makes me feel better for a few days then Bam!

A brief history. I am Currently a serving soldier in the British Army.

Well it all started last November the 29th I have had an operation on my left ankle due to being deployed. I can't walk properly ever again let alone run. I had 6 weeks of and started to notice a aching pain running down my arm after using crutches. I just took it as getting used to them. But it carried on then moved to my left arm and a constant aching pain running down my arm and hand my left ( non dominant) hand does not feel strong compared to my right one. I made the mistake of researching All this and bam this come up. I went to my doctors who did the normal tests and took bloods everything come back fine and he said I show no signs of weakness. I asked him if I could just go to a Neuro to put me at ease he said " why do I want to waste yours or his time" we will send you to a physiotherapist and let them see if they can tell you anything. I went and said that my back is extremely tight and constantly spasming. Had a massage to release the tension. I have been having twitches everywhere. I was looking at my calf on my right leg and was noticing the calf twitching but I could not feel it just looked like it was pulsating randomly. My whole upper body fatigues really quickly if I do any form of strength exercise and for me that is unusual. I am currently seeing a Mental Health professional due to past experiences ( nothing to do with health)

I hope someone can reply as I have been staring at the register button on this site since December. I totally understand you really must be tired of all this. And I know you are all not doctors but a lot of you understand it ALOT more.

Take care

Mitchell

 

[Nikki J]

Hi Mitchell
You have been through a lot- deployment with an injury whether in actual combat or not is very traumatic. Plus you say you will never fully recover. But good news this really does not sound like ALS. Pain feeling fatigue. As an experienced lurker you know that is not how ALS acts. And a normal exam. The twitching is NOT significant. Really. Read the sticky see dr Hardiman's comments quoted there

Good luck with your recovery. I had a major ankle injury a while back ( nothing to do with ALS) they told me I would never recover. It was never 100 percent but it was pretty close with a lot of work! So keep working on it

 

[Mitch96784]

Thanks Nickki.I'm not really to fussed to be honest about my ankle less weight to carry around . It's just scary that this all happened at once. But thank you for your reply

 

[Atsugi]

You don't have ALS, Mitchell. We know ALS pretty well, and you don't have it at all. Good luck.

 

[Mitch96784]

Thank you very much. I appreciate your response. I forgot to mention I am 23 even more of a reason why I don't. Again thank you very much. Take care

Mitch.

 

[lgelb]

Mitchell,
Your body and mind have been through a lot, and it's not unusual for their combined misfiring to produce feelings of pain, fatigue and weakness in "uninjured" parts. Whatever caused the injury to your ankle could easily have created "invisible" tears in other muscles. Moreover, since you were obviously off exercise for a spell, the process of reconditioning can produce its own fallout. And I'm willing to bet there were stages that you did out of order, less/more than you should, etc.

Besides possibly hitting the rewind button on your workout programs (for example, going back to several minutes of static stretches daily), I would reconsider all the basics for feeding those muscles: sleep, diet, hydration, rekindling some sort of pastime/passion and facing whatever your feelings are head-on. Therapy may take you back or abstract your experience, but your own mind takes you forward.

If the massage helped, I would go back for more, learn some self-massage techniques for yourself and look into other bodywork that might help you (not very macho, maybe, but ballet, Pilates, whatever dancing you like). There are many vids on line that can start you out.

You are still coming to terms with not "walking properly" again. It's a perfect time to walk through places with benches like gardens, parks, museums, plazas, and appreciate the beauty that your eyes can still see, your ears can still hear, your fingers can still touch and your legs (however awkwardly) can still traverse. The world is way bigger than the twitches you see. Follow that path, out of yourself and back to the world. You have a whole life still to find and live what is most precious to you, and trust me, as you well know, it is not staring at your legs.

All the best.

--Laurie

 

[Mitch96784]

Thank you Laurier for your reply. It is just scary but yet a coincidence that this happend all around the same time I was on crutches and had a lot of time to think. I went to the doctors told them. I have weakness feeling in my arms and hand, my right leg twitches mainly my calf and thigh and for some reason my foot. I can still lift weights easily as I do push-ups everyday. But my legs I find it hard to do 20 non weighted squats, but my friend who is a bodybuilder said its because I have skinny legs and never train legs I'm used to running. My doctor told me its all happening within a few months and said that's not how ALS works Mitchell so you need to calm down. Quote " you have felt like this for 4 months something would be paralysed by now" is he correct? I know I am 23 and like I said this is the only time I have posted on here and will be the last time now that I have everything out of how I feel. Are these twitches normal? Does anything I am saying sound anything like a motor neurone Disease? If not I will be on my way. I asked if I could see a neuro. " why do you want to waste your time and his for something that clearly does not show"

 

[affected]

Respectfully no, nothing sounds like a motor neurone disease. You have had enormous stress which can produce all that is happening now.

All the best

 

[Atsugi]

You're stressing. Mitchell. . Listen to the details that Laurie posted. Try an anxiety forum. You really don't have any business being on an ALS forum. Good luck.

 

[skipper66]

You have heard from several knowledgeabel people Mitchell. Please kindly take their advice and move on from this forum. You don't have any symptoms of ALS. So, sorry to hear that your having any health issues at all though. You might try a anxiety forum as Atsugi suggested. But, please for your own health stay away from Dr. Google or the internet for your health issues. Go to a good doctor for your answers. You might get misleading info on the internet that will just cause you to stress out unnecessarily. Good luck to you as you move on from here. Kim

 

[13yearsago]

My symptoms are very similar to yours. I have burning pain down my arms and legs, my back, and shoulders, and many times it feels like I am on fire. My legs and arms throb sometimes too. I had symptoms as bad as these 13 years ago for about 2 years and then they stabilized and got better and they started reappearing last year. I have to see a neuro on the 28th. Good luck to you, and I hope its nothing

 

[affected]

13years you must stay in your own thread, this is not a general health anxiety forum. Please read the sticky again.

 

[13yearsago]

Tilly, my only intention was to relate and being sympathetic to him, since many of my symptoms are similar to his. I have read the stickies many times. I do not think the cause of my problem is anxiety, although once you start feeling some unexplainable symptoms, anxiety is one of the effects, of course.

 

[GregK]

13years, you are hijacking this thread.
Had you read the Sticky you would recall that hijacking threads, or just plain posting outside your thread, is not allowed.

Stick to your own thread or just leave this site.

 

[Mitch96784]

Thank you I appreciate all your advice you have given. I think I may be natural worrier. You are correct I have been through a lot of stress the last year.

But these feelings I am having are REALLY scary. For the last few days now I have had the feeling my arch of my foot wants to cram but I quickly shake it off before it becomes painful. All these things happening on my right leg and right arm. And my military doctor will not do anything for me untill the end of May. As he is convinced it's to do with my crutches he said something to do with the bracial plexus being bruised. I am my own worst enemy when it comes to this stuff. And as I'm
Sure your all aware being a soldier doing my job requires a lot of focus and all I am focusing on is the stupid aches and pains.

My calf twitches I can't feel them but I can see them
If I look at an angle like something is pushing out. Up and down from the top of my calf to my ankle.

The arch of my foot twitches.
The arch of my foot tries to feel like it's cramping.
When I go on my tip toes on my right foot it feels like my calf is tighter than my left.
My right calf constantly feels like someone is squeezing it.

My arms if I do simple tasks become fatigued really quickly and ache the next day.

The 5 doctors I have seen said they won't refer me as there is no need.

As I am aware this probably breaks a lot of you men/women and I know it's the same old stuff just a different day.

I appreciate everything you say to me and I know I have read everything from previously it's just this now cramping has come along it's just bothering me and I don't want my doctors to believe I'm
Crying wolf when in fact I'm just frightend.

All the best Mitch C x