LitPhD07
New member
- Joined
- Sep 7, 2015
- Messages
- 2
- Reason
- Other
- Country
- UK
- State
- Norfolk
- City
- Norwich
Dear all,
I really appreciate that you take time to reply to anxious people on this thread. I have read the stickies, but am still unsure, and my parents and I would just like to be educated/reassured, if that’s okay. I have been referred to a neurologist, but have a long wait, so some perspective would be appreciated.
I am 26, and a month ago I woke up having lost feeling in the back of my hand (still numb now). I didn’t think much of it, but a few days later my muscles started twitching, and I developed a lump in my throat (low, near my clavicle, which comes and goes). Since then I have had intermittent bouts of very tight breathing, which seems to be related to uncontrollable tension in my chest, neck and jaw muscles (also intermittent). I do not suddenly clamp my jaw or anything like that, I just feel unable to properly relax my muscles. This leads to some aching, headaches, and tooth pain. I also seem to be clearing my throat constantly, though not to dislodge food – it seems more to be clearing out my lungs. (I have also been referred for a chest X-ray). My neck particularly is very easily strained, and I’m unsure if this is due to weakness. My teeth have also become out of line, and occasionally it feels like my vocal chords are straining to talk, and my jaw/neck gets tired from chewing.
However, though I have felt weak, shaky, and stiff at times, I don’t appear to have any clinical weakness or loss of movement. Though my tongue/mouth sometimes feel stiff or achey, it is still generally agile, as is my numb hand. My swallow appears to be fine, and my speech sounds okay to me. My muscle twitches are not localised but all over, though predominantly in my legs, sometimes in big jumps rather than small fasciculations. And all of these symptoms seem to come and go (this doesn’t appear to be correlated to how much I exert myself, though I always feel better in the morning).
I know that this is likely not ALS, especially given my age, but I’d be very grateful for some reassurance about whether any of this sounds plausible or familiar in the early onset, so that I know what I’m looking for, or so I know to stop worrying. For example, is it usual that progressive weakness in my neck and face would present this way, or would I be experiencing more obvious signs of muscle failure? Am I right in thinking that symptoms would not be this varied, this intermittent, and would not arrive this suddenly or progress this quickly (it has only been 1 month, and symptoms all arrived within 3 weeks)?
Thankyou so much for your time!
I really appreciate that you take time to reply to anxious people on this thread. I have read the stickies, but am still unsure, and my parents and I would just like to be educated/reassured, if that’s okay. I have been referred to a neurologist, but have a long wait, so some perspective would be appreciated.
I am 26, and a month ago I woke up having lost feeling in the back of my hand (still numb now). I didn’t think much of it, but a few days later my muscles started twitching, and I developed a lump in my throat (low, near my clavicle, which comes and goes). Since then I have had intermittent bouts of very tight breathing, which seems to be related to uncontrollable tension in my chest, neck and jaw muscles (also intermittent). I do not suddenly clamp my jaw or anything like that, I just feel unable to properly relax my muscles. This leads to some aching, headaches, and tooth pain. I also seem to be clearing my throat constantly, though not to dislodge food – it seems more to be clearing out my lungs. (I have also been referred for a chest X-ray). My neck particularly is very easily strained, and I’m unsure if this is due to weakness. My teeth have also become out of line, and occasionally it feels like my vocal chords are straining to talk, and my jaw/neck gets tired from chewing.
However, though I have felt weak, shaky, and stiff at times, I don’t appear to have any clinical weakness or loss of movement. Though my tongue/mouth sometimes feel stiff or achey, it is still generally agile, as is my numb hand. My swallow appears to be fine, and my speech sounds okay to me. My muscle twitches are not localised but all over, though predominantly in my legs, sometimes in big jumps rather than small fasciculations. And all of these symptoms seem to come and go (this doesn’t appear to be correlated to how much I exert myself, though I always feel better in the morning).
I know that this is likely not ALS, especially given my age, but I’d be very grateful for some reassurance about whether any of this sounds plausible or familiar in the early onset, so that I know what I’m looking for, or so I know to stop worrying. For example, is it usual that progressive weakness in my neck and face would present this way, or would I be experiencing more obvious signs of muscle failure? Am I right in thinking that symptoms would not be this varied, this intermittent, and would not arrive this suddenly or progress this quickly (it has only been 1 month, and symptoms all arrived within 3 weeks)?
Thankyou so much for your time!
