Hello everyone, I've been reading these forums off and on for the last two months and the amount of information here regarding this disease is pretty amazing. Thanks for helping me ease my mind.
I'm a 22 year old male. I came down with an upper respiratory tract infection last December, which persisted for about three weeks. After the sickness subsided, I began to feel this sensation of pressure in the right side of my head which didn't go away after a few days, and so I saw a doctor and a neurologist about it.
The neuro did an MRI of my head and the normal evaluation, and concluded the sensation was due to anxiety or allergies, as both tests showed no abnormal signs.
The pressure sensation dissipated in February, I haven't felt it since. However shortly after it ended, I began to notice this faint feeling of weakness in my right hand, that felt as if movements there were becoming more difficult. I felt like sensitivity was being lost when I used a mouse, and I noticed that I was making more mistakes in typing. A few weeks after that, I noticed that if I tried to button a shirt with only my right hand or insert and turn a key with my right hand, the movements felt markedly more difficult and would take longer to accomplish.
I started noticing small weird twitches everywhere in March. The clumsy feeling largely went away, but I began to feel that weak feeling everywhere in my body, strongest on the right side. Walking in a straight line down a long hallway felt as if it was becoming difficult. I saw my doctor with these symptoms, he did routine blood work and ruled out B12 insufficiency. I saw a second neurologist as well, he did the regular neurological evaluation and ordered spine MRIs, but no EMG, and told me to follow up in May.
He told me that my strength is absolutely fine, which quelled my worry about having actual weakness. The only thing he noticed was that my ankles were a bit hyperreflexive.
Since the visit, however, I've noticed the development of an overactive gag reflex. Eating has actually become difficult sometimes because it feels like I can't chew anything without throwing up. All of my muscles feel very tense and excited. When I cook, my right hand will cramp up just from holding the spoon or a turner. I also observed a fasciculation one day in my right arm that lasted about a minute, which really shocked me into thinking I have
ALS. I also feel as if my arms are becoming skinnier by the day, especially in the wrist/forearm area.
I know my age and lack of clinical weakness should make the chance of
ALS astronomic for me, but the rest of my symptoms seem to be pointing in that direction. If the doctors aren't detecting any weakness via strength tests, would that be a good sign? Should I be concerned? Thanks in advance for any help.
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