Status
Not open for further replies.

corwin

Active member
Joined
Oct 20, 2015
Messages
47
Reason
Other
Diagnosis
00/0000
Country
BG
State
VN
City
vn
Hi!
Sorry for my English but I`m from small country named Bulgaria and we don`t speak English as native language.
So i`m 32 y. old and I have very nasty symptoms..
Everything starts 5-6 years ago with twitching from stress... No weakness.
1 year ago I start yawning - maybe 40-50 times a day.
5 monts ago twithching starts to get widespread and very constant( I start to take SSRI and ATARAX for anxiety)
Now thitching is not so inntensive and it`s getting better ( less twitches)
I go to neuro and he did some test
MRI head clear, Mri Cervical - c5-c6-c7 mild ostephytes( bone spurs), , Lyme negativ, HIV negative, electrolyt balance in norm, Thyroid hormones - in norm. CK 170
I have had 4 EMG for 2 months.
1st EMG - 10.09.2015( the neuro was just finished school) . only on legs , the tested 6 muscles in both legs - EMG was all clear.
2nd. EMG - 11.09.2015the lady neuro tested 4 in legs and 3 in arms - All clear.
3rd. - the lady tested my left hand - EMG DIRTY! LEFT FIRST DORSAL INTEROSSEU fibrilation, sharp waves and fasciculations. All other 6 muscle fine, all muscles in hand fine. Anothe hand also fine...
4th EMG - yesterday.20.10.2015 ( they said come for follow up)
EMG about 1 hour, a lot muscles that are tested. Still fibrillation, PSW and fisciculations in only 1 muscle - FIRS DORSAL INTEROSSEU. The neuro told me( I ask a ton of questions ) somethimes trauma can cause fibrillation in this dorsal muscle. All other muscles in hand and wrist are OK, no fibr. No sharp waves, no giant wave.
Reflexes are bilateral 2+ , no hoffman, no babinsky
Diagnosis Mild c6-c8 Radiculopathy with denervation in firs dorsal interossei -ulnar. Follow up in 1 year.
The symptoms I have are twitching ( of course) and weakness in hand. It`s very
strange weakness - it`s like something drain the power of my hand. I feel that it`s weak and maybe it is but when i make tests - grip test is 190lb in left 200lb in right hand. I can make 20 curls with 25lb dumpbel with both hands and to hold them in the air for 15min. and they are both equal but i feel the left is weak..... I lost dexteryty in left hand - something it`s very difficult to do something another time it`s ok.... It`s really strange... I make test for hands - 30-40 push ups, staing with 20lb water bottle in both hands and the are equal in strenght, finger test also - also equal. Left hand is getting tired more easily but last.
Somethimes my tongue got stiff - it`s stiff feeling under the chin that cause this and it don`t moove properly. I`m taking xanax now and I don`t have problems. I don`t slurr. Have sometimes trouble woth swallowing but only saliva amd mucus because I have post nasal drop from allergy. Have sometime also problems with breathing - but I make test and it show 135% FVC. Doc told anxiety related.
And now I`m very concern about this fib. and PSW and fasc. in thoose single muscle. We don`t have here in BG MND doctor and it`s very hard to get the diagnosed...
Can this radiculopathy cause this muscle be denervated..... The doc told me cervical spine have very mild changes....... Can 1 muscle cause ALS?
I have 8th month baby and I`m very very scared.
Thanks for the help and sorry again for my bad english.
 
Corwin, I don't see any ALS in your future.
You did not describe ALS.
Follow your doctor. Find out what the problem is. Good luck.
 
Thanks for the answer Atsugi.
I know forums are not the place where you can be diagnosed and I thank you again for sparing your time with my ALS concerns.
Just question about slurring. It often hapens when i speak in fron of publick - I`m an College proffesor and it`s really frustrating when my tongue got stiff. It`s like spasm under the chin in the base of tongue. Somethimes I feel my tongue also stiff, another time I can say tonguetwister ( difficult to spell word very fast) without any problems.... It`s really weird. One day i cannot drink water - mu tongue was like sleepy one but It was a month ago only for 1 hour and never happend again. I use to speak a lot in the day and this heavy feeling in tongue make me mad.....
Still concern about ths denervation in this hand muscle(FDI) but I speak today again with the doctor ( not MND spec.) and she says that in the another muscles that are supplied but this nerve root are ok it`s not a concern...
In the another hand all the muscled are ok too.
What do you think?
Thanks again for the support.

Corwin
 
I forgot to say - My tongue is Very nice shaped, no twitching there, pink, and I can move it very very fast side to side and making circles and figures with it. The neuro told me that she haven`t done never EMG on a tongue...... ( and this is the top neuro in the area..............)
 
Corwin, if you can move your tongue normally, you don't have bulbar ALS.
I think you should trust your doctors more than you trust us on the Internet. удачи.
 
Hi to everybody againg.
I have some update.
My left hand is getting weaker. I think now it`s now not a percieved - it`s getting tired quicker. From the squeezing of the grip strenght test ( I buy one for home use my hand hurts me)I get also some numbness and pain in left foream - like little cramps but with no cramps - I don`t know how to explain it. It`s painfull. Dexterity is still concern in left hand. When i set my 100 efford the strenght in both arms is equal, in the rest of the time the left hand is very tired. My elbow also hurt me.My twitching is also changed - in the beginning it was rapid and strong, now are fine and had descreased in numbers. LIke pop-corn. One second here, onother there and 10 minutes nothing, that just for one second somewhere else....They are very often in the area around the spine in the back.
Today I make test of creatine-kinase - it`s 206 , which is slightly elevated. I read that 43% from ALS patients have elevated CK............
Friday I have a 5th EMG ( till now first 2 clean then 2 dirty in only1 muscle FDI) I will ask the neuro to examine all mu muscles in left Hand.
Thanks to adizvetkova for the helf, she gave me a contackt with only one neuro that know something in ALS in Bulgaria....
Please wish me luck for the EMG... Still scared even more - I`m 32 and not so jung for MND.....
Tongue and jaw issues are gone for now - I speak everyday for 5-6 hours in front of students and there are no problems.
So one more time - wish me luck, I hope the EMG will show no fibs and psw in another muscles in hand......
Wish you everything nice!
 
Good luck, Corwin.
 
Update....
The neuro was a jerk... Sorry to say this thing for a doctor, I really respect them, I have 2 in my familly but this was a total jerk.
No clinical exam, nothing... No emg...
Just a speach about that a MND is very rare and he can`t say nothing about my symptoms.
Long story short - he send me away without clinical test, no EMG and nothing. The reason - I`m too jung - only 32....... and my fasciculation weren`t the type of MND... In MND there must be constant twitches widespread ,that I woudn`t feel and he didn`t see any fasculations in me in the moment.
I asked about the denervation in FDI muscle - the answer was it can be everything or anything. DX in the end - because i pay for an appoinment was BFS? How he find this is bfs with fibrillation and PSW in single muscle I don`t know..
More stressed after the meeting with the doctor.
In the end I will wait some time and meet with ONLY 1 in whole country MND experiencced doctor.
10x to Atsugi and Aditvetkova for the support
Corwin
 
I don't see any ALS in your future.
 
Ditto what Mike says
 
Update
5/11/2015

Emg done again ( literraly I start to hate them - I have no fear of pain and needles. I`m man , but 5 emg - it`s a lot of wholes in all limbs :)
The neuro told me:
Reflexes 2+ some mildly brisk. No babinski, no hoffman.
Hmmmm you have some nerve damage but in no of 5 tested muscles in left arm ( which is weak and my concern) we found fibr. and psw. Some of the MUPS were polyfasic but no denervation.... even in FDI muscle.
I Still have weakness, still sometimes tongue issues but no denervation....
Neuro told me - In my oppinio you don`t have MND but come in 6 months for re-check.
In this MND disease only time shows progress....

SO thanks again for support. SOrry if I take your time with my concerns. I will write in 6 months. I hope with good news.

Bye

Corwin
 
Update Again
Today I make another blood test.
It reveals heavy Vitamin B12 128.0 pmol/L( refference above 500) and Vitamin D 15.8 ng/mL (must be above 30)deficiency.
I`m starting to take Vitamins. Can Vitamin deficiecy cause such symptoms. It`s just Vitamin.......
 
Absolutely both or either can cause significant neurological effects in deficiency. Those were things I was tested for as part of a rule out package.
 
Update after 15 days on 15 000 IU vitamin D, 2g Calcium and 2g magnesium dailly.
Fatigue is gone. It`s just amazing. I have so much energy now.
Muscle twithing still here. New ones - in the throat... It really stinks.. They are not so intensive, but also not so widespread - mainlly in legs , throat and left arm - biceps and triceps. Still buzzing feeling in left hand in hypothenar area.
Muscle weakness is still here. I don`t know if it`s getting worse or better. But my left hand is still clumsy.. My left arm muscles are somehow softer than the right arm.
BIG problems are in the bulbar area :
1. throuble swallowing - something is struck in the throat. Salliva goes very hard, no problems with water and food. I make a test - I can drink 500ml of water for 9 seconds.
2. Lisping and spitting when talking
3. Strange feeling in tongue but it moves pretty well all aroud mounth
4. Fluctating voice
5. Post nasal mucus
6. A lot of mucus and throat cleaning
7. Persistent Cought - i spit a lot of mucus
Those Bulbar symptoms are also like Reflux releated, but i`m really scared...

I have a question.
My last EMG 20 days ago was on left arm only. They tested FDI muscle, APB, ADM, forearm muscle, biceps and triceps and all were ok, exept some pollyfacis musp in biceps. No fibr. no PSW no denervation - so is written. Can I have als in left hand with this EMG results? If I have some weakness will it be only in 1 muscle or there will be more widespread denervation ( I fear that the neuro did`t test my weak muscles and miss something)
Neuro told me that I may have c5-c6 nerve damage in neck but on MRI ( exept very little bone spur ) there are nothing in c5-c6 area....
ALso I have had a fibrillations and PSW in FDI but the were gone in the last test on EMG?
I make some tests with gripping and pinching tests and I write down the results, so i will make the same tests one in a week. How fast Als spreads. Does it takes weeks or months to feel more weaker ?

Thank for the support, In my country there are nothing like support group or things like this!
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Back
Top