Sorry in advance

[sorryforthequestion]

I really really didn't want to post this question as i'm sure it's annoying to have people asking you to ease their minds while you yourself may be struggling with a real diagnosis but the worry has become too much for me and I am really hoping to get an opinion of someone better informed.
So I am a 23 year old female. Over the last few months my hands have become SO weak. I have arm and wrist pain. I'm having trouble swallowing. I am forgetting things and having trouble with words. I am twitching and constantly shaking in my fingers. I went to an eye doctor as I needed glasses and I was mentioning the above things to my ophthalmologist and they ran some tests and told me they came back "abnormal" and now have referred me to a neurologist.
I am scared to death this is ALS, mostly because its one of the things that kept coming up upon looking up my symptoms (I know never google, but I've been struggling so bad i had to try to get some idea of what is happening.)
Does this sound like ALS to you? The biggest scare is the swallowing for me. I can swallow food and such perfectly though every once in a while during the week I do struggle with bigger thicker food (like bread) the swallowing issue tends to just be during non food swallowing (Regular periods).
Thoughts? Again sorry if this type of question is a bother to anyone.

 

[JanYyc]

I'm a ALS patient and I am ten years older than you but recently diagnosed. I'm not a doctor. If you feel there is something wrong, there probably is. Doesn't mean you have ALS. Many things mimic ALS. They make sure that it cannot possibly be anything else before they diagnose ALS.

 

[starente15]

ALS would be HIGHLY unlikely. I'm not sure I understand how an ophthalmologist ran tests related to these issues, told you the results were abnormal but there's no detail around what that means.

Best advice is to stop Googling, make an appointment with your primary doctor and advise them of the symptoms without asking if you have ALS. Let them come to a conclusion and determine the next steps.

 

[sorryforthequestion]

Please pleas help me. Im freaking out!

I have posted once before on here but I havent gotten any answers. Again I know that it must get annoying to have these questions but I am legitimately in a panic at the moment and continue to have horrible panic over the possibility of ALS and would really like input.
For the past 3 months I have been dealing with fatigue. EXTREME fatigue. Then my hands started shaking (constantly). This included finger twitching which happens sporadically/almost constantly throughout the day.
This made me go to a few doctors which sent me to other doctors. Over the course of all these doctors visits and blood tests, all of which came out normal except for some vitamin deficiencies (which ive been taking vitamins for, for 3 months). The shaking in this time has gotten worse in my hands. My fatigue is debilitating. And over the last few weeks or so ive been getting random twitches (they last about 1 minute, stop and either continue or come back the next day). in my arms, legs, and only slightly in my lip. I have been having issues swallowing starting about a week ago. Sometimes it feels like something is stuck in there (sometimes food feels like its going down the wrong pipe) but most of the time it just feels "like a chore to swallow" like Im forcing or putting energy into it when I never used to think about it.
For a while I had been telling myself "to be logical" because ALS is rare and I've read the sticky notes and etc. But just this week my tongue has been twitching a medium amount. (Kinda looks like it's contracting in different areas. Not intensely like the videos i've seen but still enough to make me worry (this is at rest). And now today I woke up and spent the day with my mouth just gushing with saliva. Way more than normal. I feel like a water bottle with a hole punctured in the side always squirting out large amounts spit. I had to put paper towel in my mouth under my tongue just to not go insane.
All of this has me IN A HUGE panic.
I did see a neurologist a few weeks ago. This was when I didnt have the extra saliva, or tongue twitching, I just had hand shaking and finger twitching and extreme fatigue.
I had been worried about ALS but hadn't mentioned it because at the time I was being logical and knew that those were things that could be attributed to anything. The doctor wasn't the best. He did tests but didnt explain and when I asked about it he blew past it. He did tests on my hand (strength tests I think) where he made me push on his hand in different directions, testing resistance and strength and he said nothing bad after he finished, which I took to mean that he didn't see an issue (I also assume this was him testing for clinical strength but im not sure). He tested my reflexes with the hammer bit and again he didn't seem to see an issue. He did however order a brain MRI which came back again what I assume was normal except for extra tissue in the sinus cavity which he wants me to go to an ENT doctor for. (I haven't met with him yet to go over it in person but he did call me and talked only about the tissue in the sinus cavity part and I picked up the written results that he did for the MRI and the only abnormally noticeable thing again was just the tissue.
I just really need input. This anxiety about these very real physical symptoms is terrifying me.
Anything you have to say will be greatly appreciated. And sorry for the novel!

 

[ShiftKicker]

Mod note- Please stay in one thread

 

[sorryforthequestion]

Thank you. Yeah Ive had bad luck with getting doctors who really apparently don't like to explain much.

 

[sorryforthequestion]

Thank you for answering. I REALLY appreciate it. I know for sure something is wrong as I'm getting progressively weaker and have gotten close to having so little energy walking is a burden. But thank you for validating that because a lot of people have not been so kind as to support my endeavor on getting answers. Good luck with everything!

 

[sorryforthequestion]

Don't know if this was to me. I am the absolute worst at computers and using forums. Sorry if I put something in the wrong place.