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Jamesyousif0

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Aug 19, 2018
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Learn about ALS
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California
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La Mesa
I have been very worried about AlS for the past month and a half. I just turned 20 years old this month and I am a male.

It all started when I went to take a picture with my friends and noticed whenever I smile a certain way my cheeks would shake/twitch very fast and then it would proceed to shake under my eyelid. (This is my most concerning symptom) I can stop the shaking at anytime but only when I stop that smile. I only twitch on my face when I make that certain smile otherwise no facial twitching.

I have also noticed whenever I go to the gym to play basketball I get tired much quicker than before. I would play basketball for about 20 minutes then I would just feel exhausted. I would relax for about 10 minutes and then again after about 20 to 30 mins and feel exhausted again.

I went to the doctor he did a neuro exam and everything is fine except I have 3 plus brisk reflex in my knees but the doctor said it was normal because it was bilateral and is most likely stress. He had even ordered me a MRI which came back normal.

I have had no clinical weakness or atrophy but now recently I have twitching in a few parts of my body (mostly on left leg calf) such as left and right leg left arm and sometimes even on my butt these usually happens when I'm not moving when I'm moving around I don't feel twitching but the twitching has been happening daily.

Also this past week I have had a new symptom which is difficulty swallowing (no tongue weakness no chewing weakness and no slurred speech). When I eat dry food like peanut butter crackers it takes MUCH longer to go down and seems kind of stuck. I have no problem drinking liquids. I also have to constantly clear my throat cause it feels like my saliva is in the way stuck in my throat.

Even after all these symptoms when I went to see the neurologist she told me its anxiety and because theres no weakness you don't need a emg. She said shell order me an emg which is scheduled one month from now but said she does not think its even needed. Based on these symptoms does this sound even close to ALS?
 
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Hi there-

Please have a look here: https://www.alsforums.com/forum/do-...-common-concerns-about-possible-symptoms.html

You mention a fair amount of sensation and not much dysfunction. I think the above post will reassure you. Not to say you don't have something going on, but not ALS- and your physician can help you with that. If a neuro says they don't think you need an EMG but will give you one anyways, they are humoring you in the hopes your health anxiety will be relieved and that will be enough reassurance that you will move on.
 
Thank you so much for your reply. It means a lot :)
 
James asked me to comment.
Listen to Shiftkicker, above.
Your doctor is right.


Bodies are weird, and change from day to day, hour to hour. Also, we are greatly affected by unconscious thoughts in the back of our minds.

My advice is to do what the doc says. Think over whatever changes you're going through (school, work, girlfriend...)
Finally, drink more water, get good sleep. You'll be fine.
 
This is a video of my left calf shaking. This where most of my involuntary twitching has been however in this video this is a voluntary contraction in which I can stop at anytime but it seems unusual. Does this mean my calf is getting weaker because it seems very odd I am able to do this with my calf. Thank you to all who responded to me on my thread I really appreciate it.
 
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Mod note: posting videos automatically requires moderator approval. Please be patient and do not approach people privately to approve your posts more quickly.

If you want to post and have it show up immediately in order to get a question answered, don't post videos.

You have been asked to continue following doctor advice. That has not changed, despite your posting video clips of twitches. Twitches are not indicative of anything unless a doctor detects a whole host of other symptoms that form a disease pattern during a clinical exam. You do not have this pattern. A neurologist told you so. No one here reading your posts sees it either. There's no one more expert in neurological issues than a neurologist.
 
Thank you all for the replies again I really appreciate it and it means a lot. I guess my final question/statement is that in that video I’m not sure what to make of it because it’s not twitching in the video. I’m making the muscle shake like that but I don’t think I should be able to do that voluntarily. This is why I’m wondering if me being able to do that with the calf muscle if that is a sign of weakness because i also get twitches there that are involuntary.
 
In my opinion it is a sign of you obsessing way too much about your body

I have bilateral calf weakness one worse than the other. I twitch too. I can’t make my legs do that on either one and until now it never occurred to me to try -why you would think being able to perform a voluntary movement indicates weakness escapes me

One more time follow up with your doctor. Stop obsessing about something the neurologist said you don’t have
 
This is the video btw of my facial twitching when smiling i mentioned in the beginning of this thread. My EMG is scheduled a month and a half from now. Any additional thoughts on this vid? Facial weakness? I asked my primary doctor and he keeps mentioning stress but I just can’t understand that ALL these symptoms i am having are stress? Surely 3+ brisk reflexes, body twitching, facial twitching when smiling would mean something other than stress. I never had issues with twitching until 2 months ago which is why it’s been really bothering me. I’m sorry again for bothering many of you and I understand if any of you become frustrated with me. [removed- no purpose]
 
James- it's time for you to visit with the doctor and stop posting here. Posting any video is of zero help to your cause here. The members of this forum will not help you diagnose yourself, nor is there any purpose to posting further videos. Any more posting before you see a doctor is further sign of you fixating on a disease no one here sees any sign of.
 
Hey Shiftkicker, I have already seen my doctor again recently and keeps telling me it’s just stress even though I’m not feeling stress. I’ll have the “twitch smile” even when I’m not feeling stressed. The reason I wanted to post that last video is to see if you’ve heard/seen of such a thing where a face muscle would twitch when moving it to smile. If you guys are that positive I don’t have als, I’ll even cancel the EMG cause I don’t want to waste medical testing and I’d rather save it for someone who really needs it. Thank you all again who commented on my thread it truly means a lot.
 
I know all of you guys dont think I have als. I just want reassurance that there is no way facial twitching while smiling is a sign of als. This problem has been going for far too long and it honestly just won't go away. My semester for college just started and whenever I'm in class or studying at home my body twitches a lot and it really has made me lose a lot of concentration when studying. (I also had the twitching before the semester started) The reason I keep coming back here is because my doctor tells its just stress and nothing else but I know you guys have a lot of knowledge on als which is why I want to know if you've ever heard if facial twitching while smiling can be sign of als. Thank again so much it means a lot.
 
Your doctor is right.
Twitching speed is irrelevant.
I don’t care if you twitch 5 times a day or 50,000 times a day.
I don’t care if your twitches are slow or if they could win an Olympic gold medal for twitch speed.
I don’t care if you twitch in one muscle or in every square inch of your body.

The bottom line is you don’t have ALS. And believe me, that’s a beautiful thing.
 
Thank you Karen, you guys are right I think I will take your guys advice and even cancel the EMG. Even though my twitching hasn't stopped I think would have had some sort of clinical weakness by now if I really did have als. The reason I was obsessing so much before was because I read online somewhere that ALS can't be ruled out until you have a EMG and Ive never had/noticed twitching before. But from the looks of what everyone is saying on here that even without an EMG you can still rule out ALS. Thank all so much.
 
Hello everyone I just wanted to ask a couple questions.
1. After being on this website for about a month a half I wanted to thank everyone for their support. That being said I wanted to know what is the best website to donate to help those who are unfortunately dealing with ALS. I am a full time college and don’t make much but I really wanted to show my full support to help others and hopefully eventually find a cure.

2. An update on my situation. I officially canceled my Emg appointment but just wanted one last clarification that there is no way facial spasms can be a sign of als. Even though Im no longer thinking about this issue I still have daily twitching and whenever I make some facial expression my face vibrates/ spasms. I’ve never really heard of a facial spasm being an ALS symptom but just wanted it to be confirmed by one of you guys because you guys know a lot about als. Thank you again to all it means a lot.
 
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