I am terrified of this problem!

[Forshd]

Back in 2014, I experienced muscle twitching in my left eyelid. Hell, looked it up thought it was stress idk. It rarely happened in my limbs. It soon over time moved to my facial muscles cheek, mouth, lower eyelid, temple, neck you name it. Not constant but definitely annoying. (It's barely noticeable to be unknowing eye)
A few weeks ago I had this terrible back pain that hit at least twice within that week. Only thing hat kind of helped was aspercreme, however the second time I used it, it was barely effective. I figured I'm stressed as hell. Now almost two weeks ago, I was doing my recreational thing. I smoke weed. (When I smoke I notice symptoms get worse.) My entire body went into jerks and twitches. My toes looked like an accordion. My arm was jumping to the point I had to put the ps controller down.

Now within the past week and a half, the twitching has moved to my upper back and in my biceps. Mild atrophy of my muscles have began as well. I can feel my shoulder blades more so than I could a week ago. My arms are rigid with tight skin. Sometimes they get hot. (Rarely). My shins have become more visible as well as bones in my hands and feet.

I am also sore at times and had a moment at night where I couldn't even reach for my phone with my right arm. Now, I can perfectly grip my phone.c I went to the ER to have labs done, all came back negative. Recommended a second opinion and possible Mri. I went to another doctor yesterday, he ran his strength test which seemed good.(look up,grab hands,etc) Thank God.
He did labs and if they come back negative, it might be a neuro problem. They need to basically see my brain to check for lesions on it or the stem. He said he will order the MRI. My right leg is rather sore. 2 nights ago, my mouth went numb so to speak and I thought I was having a stroke until it got better very fast. It was difficult to speak. It happened at work also.

 

[Atsugi]

Could be lots of things. ALS doesn't leap out at me.
You're doing the right thing letting your GP medical doctor lead your health investigation.

 

[Forshd]

Help please!

This was posted before but I got only one answer. I need all the info I can get. Considering I don't have insurance and may get turned cow for MRI since I don't have that kind of money. But if I'm dying I would least like to know. I'm wondering if this is als or just ms or what?

Back in 2014, I experienced muscle twitching in my left eyelid. Hell, looked it up thought it was stress idk. It rarely happened in my limbs. It soon over time moved to my facial muscles cheek, mouth, lower eyelid, temple, neck you name it. Not constant but definitely annoying. (It's barely noticeable to be unknowing eye)
A few weeks ago I had this terrible back pain that hit at least twice within that week. Only thing hat kind of helped was aspercreme, however the second time I used it, it was barely effective. I figured I'm stressed as hell. Now almost two weeks ago, I was doing my recreational thing. I smoke weed. (When I smoke I notice symptoms get worse.) My entire body went into jerks and twitches. My toes looked like an accordion. My arm was jumping to the point I had to put the ps controller down.

Now within the past week and a half, the twitching has moved to my upper back and in my biceps. Mild atrophy of my muscles have began as well. I can feel my shoulder blades more so than I could a week ago. My arms are rigid with tight skin. Sometimes they get hot. (Rarely). My shins have become more visible as well as bones in my hands and feet.

I am also sore at times and had a moment at night where I couldn't even reach for my phone with my right arm. Now, I can perfectly grip my phone.c I went to the ER to have labs done, all came back negative. Recommended a second opinion and possible Mri. I went to another doctor yesterday, he ran his strength test which seemed good.(look up,grab hands,etc) Thank God.
He did labs and if they come back negative, it might be a neuro problem. They need to basically see my brain to check for lesions on it or the stem. He said he will order the MRI. My right leg is rather sore. 2 nights ago, my mouth went numb so to speak and I thought I was having a stroke until it got better very fast. It was difficult to speak. It happened at work also.

Add on: muscle pain has recently started. Near my shoulder, in legs, forearm, bicep, like an ache. That comes and goes. I have a constant hand tremor if I hold my hand out. It's not visible to the naked eye. Middle finger especially. The atrophying has stopped recently or hell maybe it has slowed down. Hard to tell. No mobility issues.

 

[hjlindley]

Re: Help please!

I'm not a doctor but it doesn't sound like ALS. I had a weakness for two years before I ever saw twitch. Weakness not pain is the first symptom. Hope you get your answers.
Hollister

 

[Atsugi]

Forshd, I merged your two threads into one. Please stick with one thread.

You're not dying. (Congratulations!)

You described a whole lot of aches and pains and soreness. But ALS destroys motor nerves in the brain, so the corresponding muscle does not get the signal to contract. So the muscle stays limp, useless, paralyzed. That is called clinical weakness, and any doctor can find it with a simple exam. But notice in my explanation that there is no pain involved.

You described a lot of twitching. Twitching is very common to many conditions, plus, perfectly healthy people twitch. So twitching certainly does not mean you're dying.

You mentioned atrophy, but I'm leery of believing you have true muscle wasting. Let a doctor look at it.

I'll tell you my wife's experience. One day she knelt down to look at a book in the bookstore, and she just fell over. She recognized that her right foot had not kept her balance. A couple weeks later, she was diagnosed with her death sentence. She needed a cane, then she needed a walker, then a wheelchair. All those muscles, one by one, became useless. Never hurt, never twitched, just became useless.

Now, as before, I see no reason to worry about ALS in your posts.

 

[Forshd]

Do I have Als?

As far as weakness goes.... I did have one night where I woke up and lost dexterity in my hands and my arm was kind of heavy. My arms and legs have atrophied since but no weakness. I noticed just yesterday the twitching that started in my eyelids 2 years ago that progressed to my cheek and other parts of my body has no gotten into the back of my hands. They twitch every now and then. My hands do indeed look atrophied but there is no muscle weakness in my body that I can tell. However , some days I do walk with a bend in my knee then it goes away.

Do note this comes with. A host of other symptoms:
Twitches.
Blurred vision.
Atrophy.
Soreness.
Weightless feeling.
Hearing increase and loss.
Headache
Heavy eye
Shoulder pain
Memory issues
Heat itch and shower itch.
Rash
Feet burning
Crackling in head
Numbness
Taste of metal in mouth.

To me it seems more like MS than a mnd but the atrophy and fasciculations just have me worried. Again, I repeat, I have had fascics that started back in 2014 in my face then moved to various parts of my body with no atrophy. The atrophy just started a month ago and it happened rapidly over weeks.

 

[Forshd]

I'm so sorry about your wife.thats upsetting but I'm glad you are hanging in there. However, that still doesn't rule out other MND does it. By the way when you said congratulations I actually started dying of laughter at work. Thanks for that.

 

[lgelb]

"That's upsetting but I'm glad you are hanging in there"?

Please don't say that to any of us who have lost PALS. You have no concept. And no MND. As others have said, an internist is best-equipped to take you through the diagnostic process, but you're definitely -- in several ways -- in the wrong place here.

Best,
Laurie

 

[Forshd]

"That's upsetting but I'm glad you are hanging in there"?

Please don't say that to any of us who have lost PALS. You have no concept. And no MND. As others have said, an internist is best-equipped to take you through the diagnostic process, but you're definitely -- in several ways -- in the wrong place here.

Best,
Laurie

I was definitely trying to be sympathetic. So I'm supposed to just ignore what he said and focus on my problem? Whatever. My deepest sympathies Atsugi. Of course I have no concept. I haven't been diagnosed with anything. I don't know how it feels so the only thing I can do is put myself in his shoes. I wonder what you all say when someone goes on to a better place?

Regards,
Ford

 

[Atsugi]

Ford, thanks for the list. Let’s take a look. I think you probably already know all this, but let’s discuss it anyway.


Soreness. <> Not at the onset of ALS.
Hearing increase and loss. <> Nothing to do with ALS.
Headache <> Nothing to do with ALS
Heavy eye <> Nothing to do with ALS.
Heat itch and shower itch. <> Nothing to do with ALS.
Rash <> Nothing to do with ALS.
Feet burning <> Nothing to do with ALS.
Taste of metal in mouth. <> Nothing to do with ALS.


Heavy arm one night <> And then it went away? ALS doesn’t go away. Once a nerve is destroyed, it can’t come back.
Some days I walk with a bend in my knee then it goes away. <> ALS doesn’t go away. See above.


No muscle weakness <> That’s really the only thing that matters.


My questions:
Weightless feeling. <> Do you mean an out-of-body or perhaps a disassociated feeling?
Crackling in head <> Don’t know what this means.
Numbness <> Permanently?
Shoulder pain <> It’s only due to ALS if your arm dangles limp by your side.

Fascics started in the face in 2014, moved around the body <> See next.
Eyelid twitches 2 years ago <> If this were an ALS symptoms, that would mean you’ve had ALS for two years, yet no weakness of any kind. That would be kind of unusual.

Get a doctor to do an objective examination of these two things.
1. Atrophy in Arms, legs, hands <> Any GP medical doctor can evaluate this.
2. Memory issues <> Any GP medical doctor can test for this.

PS: Regarding sympathy. I appreciate that. But let's just focus on your worries. I hope to help you sort this out as much as possible.

"I wonder what you all say when someone goes on to a better place? "
Nothing really. There are not any words for that. While watching people die every week on this website for the past five years, I still haven't found any words that make any sense.

 

[Forshd]

I know we aren't any doctors here but I appreciate your help. However, do my symptoms sound to you more like MS?(if you have any knowledge on that disease). My hands have atrophied even more since my last reply. I'm only anxious because I haven't seen my neuro yet. &#55357;&#56863;

 

[Forshd]

Also, just because I have no symptoms of als doesn't mean other MND is ruled out right? I would post on the other forums for these diseases but the moderators would keep removing my posts. I wonder if anxiety can cause this type of wasting.