linzirm
New member
- Joined
- Apr 23, 2009
- Messages
- 3
- Reason
- Learn about ALS
- Country
- US
- State
- MI
- City
- Allendale
Hello everyone. I would like to start this post off by saying that all of you who have been diagnosed are strong and beautiful people for having such upbeat outlooks in the face of things. I see humor and optimism on these boards, and it's so comforting. I wish you all the best in these difficult times.
I hate to bother making a post like this, because I know there are so many people out there who are actually diagnosed and suffering from this disease, but I have to get this all off my chest anyway. I am a worrier by nature, and possibly a clinical hypochondriac. I lost my mother to a brain tumor when she was just 41, and my uncle to brain cancer when he was in his 50s. I have such a perpetual fear of dying young that it consumes me a lot of the time. I've been told by doctors for years and for various conditions that I am only stressing myself out, but it's still something I like to discuss because discussions often put me at ease.
I'm here because I recently heard about ALS and it ignited some fear in me about symptoms I've had since January. I'm a 20-year-old college student who was going through an already stressful transfer to a new school. I started to have this strange headache in the right side of my head. Almost like it was full of something. Just on the right side. Over the course of the next two days, my whole right side had a loss of sensation. I was still receptive to heat and cold, and could still move fine, but it just felt... different. Heavier, weaker - it's hard to find a proper adjective for it, it just didn't feel quite "right." I went to my school's health clinic, and the doctor did a quick strength test - she made me squeeze her fingers, push my legs against her hands, etc. She said I appeared fine and that it might be a sinus infection.
About a week later, I had myself freaked out because it wasn't going away. I started to get prickles on my right arm and leg. I went to sleep, thinking maybe I was tired, but woke up and my whole right side felt like it was asleep. I could still move fine, but it was so scary. I called my aunt (my legal guardian since my mom died) and she called our family doctor, who called me and asked me what kind of things were going on in my life. When I told her about my transfer and class anxieties, she told me she was pretty positive it was a matter of stress. Sure enough, I calmed down, took some walks, and in a few days I barely noticed it anymore.
Recently, I've been having some digestive issues, and was once again told it was my stress. I've had blood work done in the process of diagnosing that issue, and they told me I have high blood sugar. I also have a history with high blood pressure (hypertension and Diabetes run in my family, so I'm prone to this already), but I've worn heart monitors and had EKGs, where they always find that my heart rate and blood pressure spike when I'm at the doctor's.
Anyway, two days ago I noticed a heel fissure on my right foot. I put some cream on it and it's been healing, but I noticed a sensation in my lower leg similar to what I was having earlier this year, only accompanied by a lot of twitching and a feeling of weakness. Since January, I've also had a shaking right hand. Not constant, but often enough that it's annoying. I woke up today and my whole right side has that strange feeling again. Not tingling this time, but some twitching in my leg still and a feeling of weakness or heaviness.
I'm unfamiliar with ALS, honestly, but every time I do a symptom checker, it puts me back at that. But websites are so vague with their symptoms - they just say weakness of muscles or twitching. So that led me here, to people who actually HAVE this disease, because I don't know where else to look. My question - does any of this sound ALS related? Can ALS start on one side of the body only? I've had no similar feelings on my left side at all, not even twitches, but it's only been a few months since the symptoms developed, so I don't know if it's typical for it to just be on one side at first. Does this all sound more anxiety driven?
I know it's easy to say go to a neuro if you're concerned, but my circumstances make that difficult. I'm a poor college kid with bad insurance. A trip to the neuro is going to cost me a lot. So really, I don't want to go unless I'm convinced that it's something serious or my symptoms sound like they're ALS related in any way. Has anyone with the disease had similar symptoms?
I appreciate any input. Thank you so much to anyone who responds.
I hate to bother making a post like this, because I know there are so many people out there who are actually diagnosed and suffering from this disease, but I have to get this all off my chest anyway. I am a worrier by nature, and possibly a clinical hypochondriac. I lost my mother to a brain tumor when she was just 41, and my uncle to brain cancer when he was in his 50s. I have such a perpetual fear of dying young that it consumes me a lot of the time. I've been told by doctors for years and for various conditions that I am only stressing myself out, but it's still something I like to discuss because discussions often put me at ease.
I'm here because I recently heard about ALS and it ignited some fear in me about symptoms I've had since January. I'm a 20-year-old college student who was going through an already stressful transfer to a new school. I started to have this strange headache in the right side of my head. Almost like it was full of something. Just on the right side. Over the course of the next two days, my whole right side had a loss of sensation. I was still receptive to heat and cold, and could still move fine, but it just felt... different. Heavier, weaker - it's hard to find a proper adjective for it, it just didn't feel quite "right." I went to my school's health clinic, and the doctor did a quick strength test - she made me squeeze her fingers, push my legs against her hands, etc. She said I appeared fine and that it might be a sinus infection.
About a week later, I had myself freaked out because it wasn't going away. I started to get prickles on my right arm and leg. I went to sleep, thinking maybe I was tired, but woke up and my whole right side felt like it was asleep. I could still move fine, but it was so scary. I called my aunt (my legal guardian since my mom died) and she called our family doctor, who called me and asked me what kind of things were going on in my life. When I told her about my transfer and class anxieties, she told me she was pretty positive it was a matter of stress. Sure enough, I calmed down, took some walks, and in a few days I barely noticed it anymore.
Recently, I've been having some digestive issues, and was once again told it was my stress. I've had blood work done in the process of diagnosing that issue, and they told me I have high blood sugar. I also have a history with high blood pressure (hypertension and Diabetes run in my family, so I'm prone to this already), but I've worn heart monitors and had EKGs, where they always find that my heart rate and blood pressure spike when I'm at the doctor's.
Anyway, two days ago I noticed a heel fissure on my right foot. I put some cream on it and it's been healing, but I noticed a sensation in my lower leg similar to what I was having earlier this year, only accompanied by a lot of twitching and a feeling of weakness. Since January, I've also had a shaking right hand. Not constant, but often enough that it's annoying. I woke up today and my whole right side has that strange feeling again. Not tingling this time, but some twitching in my leg still and a feeling of weakness or heaviness.
I'm unfamiliar with ALS, honestly, but every time I do a symptom checker, it puts me back at that. But websites are so vague with their symptoms - they just say weakness of muscles or twitching. So that led me here, to people who actually HAVE this disease, because I don't know where else to look. My question - does any of this sound ALS related? Can ALS start on one side of the body only? I've had no similar feelings on my left side at all, not even twitches, but it's only been a few months since the symptoms developed, so I don't know if it's typical for it to just be on one side at first. Does this all sound more anxiety driven?
I know it's easy to say go to a neuro if you're concerned, but my circumstances make that difficult. I'm a poor college kid with bad insurance. A trip to the neuro is going to cost me a lot. So really, I don't want to go unless I'm convinced that it's something serious or my symptoms sound like they're ALS related in any way. Has anyone with the disease had similar symptoms?
I appreciate any input. Thank you so much to anyone who responds.
