alfiler94
New member
- Joined
- Oct 25, 2016
- Messages
- 1
- Reason
- Learn about ALS
- Country
- US
- State
- DC
- City
- Washington
Hi everyone. This message is a pretty long one and I would appreciate any input/support/etc but ultimately I'm just trying to vent here.
About three months ago I started experiencing a strange feeling in my right foot. Around the same time, I had gone to a neuro to discuss some probably unrelated issues with my hands shaking when I move them which I've had all my life. But during the course of doing tests for that, I experienced extreme anxiety and at one point one of my fingers began twitching persistently (this lasted about 2 weeks and has pretty much died down since then, though I still sometimes get the feeling it's gonna do it especially when anxious or on coffee).
Anyways, over time, my foot discomfort seemed to get worse to the point where I had to buy an ankle brace just to deal with some of the discomfort. The best way to describe it is that there was muscle weakness and tightness (especially the more I walked), particularly in my heel and calf area, but no foot drop as far as I'm concerned (I've never tripped or anything like that and I can walk on my heels).
After about a month I flew back home, still with the brace, but started to notice the weakness was decreasing substantially. I still wore the brace occasionally but it felt much better and I could walk around the house comfortably without it. Three weeks later I fly back to where I currently go to school, a city where I do a whole lot more walking, and below and behold, things started getting bad again. I wore the brace almost constantly just because of the discomfort of walking without it.
About 2-3 weeks ago, I began experiencing the same feelings in my left foot. The progression was almost the same, to a T, only it happened over the course of a week or two instead of 3 whole months. Now, somehow, the left foot is exhibiting worse symptoms and the right one, while still bothering me, is not nearly as bad as it was even a week ago. When this new left foot first started showing signs, I got extremely anxious and since then I've been experiencing persistent twitching in my left calf as well as in other areas of my body. I immediately scheduled an EMG (I've already had a brain MRI, EEG, and blood tests are a result of the prior issues).
I got an EMG done yesterday and I didn't convey any of my ALS fears to the doctor, but I did mention the muscle weakness in both legs, as well as the twitching episodes I had had in my hand in the past. She did the EMG and the nerve conduction test on both legs, my right hand, and lower back. The preliminary results were curious to say the least. The strangest thing was that the right leg, the one which has been persistently showing weakness and discomfort for months (with some periods where it gets better), showed no signs of neuro damage. However, the left one giving me problems just recently, showed minor neuro damage. There was no problem in the hand, but she didn't do the needle portion, just the shocks. She said that the results suggest that I have a peripheral neuropathy and nothing serious. She suggested perhaps Guillain-Barre due to some flu or contracting Zika (I live in Puerto Rico and was there for some weeks).
My main concerns at this point are that I don't remember getting sick at any point when the symptoms started and even if I did, this thing has happened pretty slowly, not abruptly. I'm also really confused as to why the leg that's been giving problems for months somehow shows no neuro problems, but the new one is the one showing minor damage. I'm getting the full results back tomorrow or so, and I'll be passing them on to another neurologist and my primary care physician but I'm still extremely nervous.
About three months ago I started experiencing a strange feeling in my right foot. Around the same time, I had gone to a neuro to discuss some probably unrelated issues with my hands shaking when I move them which I've had all my life. But during the course of doing tests for that, I experienced extreme anxiety and at one point one of my fingers began twitching persistently (this lasted about 2 weeks and has pretty much died down since then, though I still sometimes get the feeling it's gonna do it especially when anxious or on coffee).
Anyways, over time, my foot discomfort seemed to get worse to the point where I had to buy an ankle brace just to deal with some of the discomfort. The best way to describe it is that there was muscle weakness and tightness (especially the more I walked), particularly in my heel and calf area, but no foot drop as far as I'm concerned (I've never tripped or anything like that and I can walk on my heels).
After about a month I flew back home, still with the brace, but started to notice the weakness was decreasing substantially. I still wore the brace occasionally but it felt much better and I could walk around the house comfortably without it. Three weeks later I fly back to where I currently go to school, a city where I do a whole lot more walking, and below and behold, things started getting bad again. I wore the brace almost constantly just because of the discomfort of walking without it.
About 2-3 weeks ago, I began experiencing the same feelings in my left foot. The progression was almost the same, to a T, only it happened over the course of a week or two instead of 3 whole months. Now, somehow, the left foot is exhibiting worse symptoms and the right one, while still bothering me, is not nearly as bad as it was even a week ago. When this new left foot first started showing signs, I got extremely anxious and since then I've been experiencing persistent twitching in my left calf as well as in other areas of my body. I immediately scheduled an EMG (I've already had a brain MRI, EEG, and blood tests are a result of the prior issues).
I got an EMG done yesterday and I didn't convey any of my ALS fears to the doctor, but I did mention the muscle weakness in both legs, as well as the twitching episodes I had had in my hand in the past. She did the EMG and the nerve conduction test on both legs, my right hand, and lower back. The preliminary results were curious to say the least. The strangest thing was that the right leg, the one which has been persistently showing weakness and discomfort for months (with some periods where it gets better), showed no signs of neuro damage. However, the left one giving me problems just recently, showed minor neuro damage. There was no problem in the hand, but she didn't do the needle portion, just the shocks. She said that the results suggest that I have a peripheral neuropathy and nothing serious. She suggested perhaps Guillain-Barre due to some flu or contracting Zika (I live in Puerto Rico and was there for some weeks).
My main concerns at this point are that I don't remember getting sick at any point when the symptoms started and even if I did, this thing has happened pretty slowly, not abruptly. I'm also really confused as to why the leg that's been giving problems for months somehow shows no neuro problems, but the new one is the one showing minor damage. I'm getting the full results back tomorrow or so, and I'll be passing them on to another neurologist and my primary care physician but I'm still extremely nervous.
