Hi everyone, I am a 30 year old woman and I have been having a host of very scary symptoms. When I googled them they led me to ALS. I have been reading up on this illness and am incredibly petrified that I have it. I'm going to go through my symptoms for you guys, please let me know what you think. God, I'm so scared.
I have had twitching for many many years. I think I can remember it even when I was 23. These twitches have remained constant. But these aren't the symptoms that are scaring me. I have noticed that my left hand feels weaker and at times it feels as though I can't clench my fist hard. I have also noticed a general weakness in my left arm at times. At other times I have noticed a weakness in my left leg. I have had a few times at night where I was laying down and it felt as if my throat had forgotten how to swallow. I don't get this all the time. I also don't get the hand weakness all the time. It comes and goes. A year ago I started going to the gym and found that I could not do the curl machine very well. Upon closer examination I find it very difficult to do a curl with my left arm. I can do a curl with my right. I am right handed. I have since stopped going to the gym (not because of these symptoms). The symptom that scares me alot is it feels as though my lungs are weak. I first noticed this last summer (2008). It seemed to come only when I was really tired at night. It kind of felt like when you are at the tail end of a cold. I was not congested and did not have a cold. Well what is scaring me is it feels as if this has progressed lately. When before I only felt this occasionally I now have this feeling all the time in my lungs. Like I can't breath out without having to give a little cough. Again I have no congestion and am not sick with a cold. It just feels like a weakness of the lungs. I also don't have allergies or a history of asthma, nor do I smoke. It also feels as if the muscles in my face feel weak like at times it feels like I have to give a slight effort to smile. I also am currently experiencing alot of cramping and stiffness in my legs and arms.
I also experience a lot of pain in my neck, it is constantly stiff and sore. At times it's worse and I have very little mobility of my neck.
I have had an MRI of my brain for another issue (head pressure and shooting pains into head when doing a leg press at the gym) about 8 months ago. It came back clean. I haven't yet had an EMG and have just made an appointment with my doctor so that I can talk to her about all of this. I have never told her about the sysmptoms I am experiencing. They were all so subtle that it wasn't alarming before, although it has been in the back of my mind for the past year and a half. Because I'm experiencing alot symptoms at once and the feeling in my lungs has gotten worse in the past 2 weeks I am now thinking that I may have a serious problem. What do you guys think? I'm going crazy over here. I know that something is wrong, but does this sound like ALS? I'm so scared...please help!
I have had twitching for many many years. I think I can remember it even when I was 23. These twitches have remained constant. But these aren't the symptoms that are scaring me. I have noticed that my left hand feels weaker and at times it feels as though I can't clench my fist hard. I have also noticed a general weakness in my left arm at times. At other times I have noticed a weakness in my left leg. I have had a few times at night where I was laying down and it felt as if my throat had forgotten how to swallow. I don't get this all the time. I also don't get the hand weakness all the time. It comes and goes. A year ago I started going to the gym and found that I could not do the curl machine very well. Upon closer examination I find it very difficult to do a curl with my left arm. I can do a curl with my right. I am right handed. I have since stopped going to the gym (not because of these symptoms). The symptom that scares me alot is it feels as though my lungs are weak. I first noticed this last summer (2008). It seemed to come only when I was really tired at night. It kind of felt like when you are at the tail end of a cold. I was not congested and did not have a cold. Well what is scaring me is it feels as if this has progressed lately. When before I only felt this occasionally I now have this feeling all the time in my lungs. Like I can't breath out without having to give a little cough. Again I have no congestion and am not sick with a cold. It just feels like a weakness of the lungs. I also don't have allergies or a history of asthma, nor do I smoke. It also feels as if the muscles in my face feel weak like at times it feels like I have to give a slight effort to smile. I also am currently experiencing alot of cramping and stiffness in my legs and arms.
I also experience a lot of pain in my neck, it is constantly stiff and sore. At times it's worse and I have very little mobility of my neck.
I have had an MRI of my brain for another issue (head pressure and shooting pains into head when doing a leg press at the gym) about 8 months ago. It came back clean. I haven't yet had an EMG and have just made an appointment with my doctor so that I can talk to her about all of this. I have never told her about the sysmptoms I am experiencing. They were all so subtle that it wasn't alarming before, although it has been in the back of my mind for the past year and a half. Because I'm experiencing alot symptoms at once and the feeling in my lungs has gotten worse in the past 2 weeks I am now thinking that I may have a serious problem. What do you guys think? I'm going crazy over here. I know that something is wrong, but does this sound like ALS? I'm so scared...please help!