I am 25 and terrified please help me

[clint31]

OK I will do my best to tell my story. I am terrified of having ALS and it is ruining my life. I am a 25 year old male and the fear of this disease is destroying a healthy relationship between my fiance and I because she thinks I'm crazy and losing my mind.

The symptoms began two weeks ago, while I had fasciliations much sooner. I had severe severe chest pains and irregular heartbeat dating back to february of 2008. In my left pec where it hurt I had spasms and fasciliations. I saw my general prac about this and he said I have nothing more than torn muscle fibers. Before this I thought it was clogged arteries or heart attack.

About two weeks ago I started having throbbing pain in my left leg. It would cramp and throb in pain. I thought it was a blod clot so I went to the ER and they said it was a panic attack and the pain was just from some other factor (I have a job where I walk many miles a day).

Within the past two weeks i've began to notice the fascilations have spread all throughout my body. I have had aches/cramps in my legs, hips, shoulders, arms and hands. Fascilations have hit all these areas. I talked to my doctor and told him of this and he did blood tests for diabetes, and a cell count, etc. I told him I thought I had ALS and he said "It is almost unheard of in someone your age. The odds are against it". He did say if it all continued after he put me on buspar, that he would schedule me an EMG test.

The pain and aches have continued and in the past couple days I have had no trouble walking or ever tripping or anything like that. I have had some different feeling in my hands, like a falling asleep sensation in each or loss of coordination but it could just be me worrying about it.

From what I know the symptoms couldn't come alive over a 2 week period or even in a few days could they? I've also had symptoms very consistent with lymes disease.... I had a swollen gland in my neck that i've never had before (side of neck) and I've had neck pain in the back of the neck and headaches.

Most concerning to me is the twitching, along with the pain and aches all over. Someone please read this and tellme your thoughts on my condition. I know the odds are against having ALS at my age but I cannot stop obsessing and it's ruining my life. I have an EMG scheduled for next week.

 

[clint31]

I also wanted to add a few things....

-I have maintained a weight of 230-235 pounds and have been at that weight for a year or so... I'm not losing weight.

-I have not fallen down, or had any problems with speech or elevated saliva levels, my tongue as I know does not fascillate.

-The main problem is the dull cramp-like aches I have in my arms, legs, feet, hands, and shoulders.

-I do feel pretty fatigued after a days work. When I walk I get a burning like sensation in my legs, like a burning fatigue sensation almost. This same sensation happens when I do like 10 push ups... my muscles are much more fatigued then they were before any of this happened.

-Another thing I am thinking in regards to Lymes disease is that I have had more irregular heartbeat/skipped beats/etc. in the past 3 months than I had previous to that ever in my life.

-There is no atrophy going on that my eyes can spot.

-Most concerning to me is in the last 2 days including now, my hands seem slower in typing and feel in slower motion while typing this out, this has me more scared of ALS.

-I am supposed to pick up my prescription for Buspar today, as my GP obviously thinks it is anxiety related, and I suggested to him it could be; but because of the aches and pains I'm having along with the fascillations this is not anxiety.

the words just keep ringing through my head.... 5000 ppl a year get this terrifying disease... and even fewer in my age range. I keep hanging onto that but realize I could be one of the unlucky few.... I never envisioned myself making it until I was old. My fears are not allowing me to carry on in my every day life normally.

 

[clint31]

I was doing some push ups to test my strength, I was able to do them at about the normal amount I've always been able to.... its not like my arms collapsed underneath me or anything like that.

However when I was finished I had tense burning sensations and feel fatigue in my arms and this is when fascilations would occur although none have as I am typing this.

Does this sound like something that could go hand in hand with ALS?

 

[PDaddy]

I'm no doctor, but it really doesn't look like ALS to me. Can you see a Neurologist to ease your mind?

 

[clint31]

I'm no doctor, but it really doesn't look like ALS to me. Can you see a Neurologist to ease your mind?

I have an EMG scheduled for tuesday at 2:00 PM now.

I have convinced myself that I have it and I am going to die young and tragically. I have been laying on the couch all day reading about this terrible illness. The whole time my muscles have been fasicillating in my arms, legs, etc.

my hands feel slowed in typing and mistake prone.

every once in a while there is a cramp in a hand, arm or leg.

why did you say you don't think it sounds symptomatic of ALS

 

[PDaddy]

For one thing your age points away from ALS, it's very unusual for someone under 30 to get it, but not impossible. Try to relax until you have the EMG, the neuro will set you straight. RELAX! (As Frankie Goes to Hollywood said)

 

[beccag]

if it were me

dear clint,
what we have seen with this is that many docs are not familiar enough with als to really delve into diagnosing it...they seem to brush it off as other things. for us they did it for 2 years time, all the while we suspected als.....we finally got the right neurologist on the case....one who really listened and wanted to find the real cause of the problem...
my advice is, even if it isn't als...you deserve to know for sure...keep looking for a doc who will take charge and find your answers...they are out there. i hope it goes well for you. try not to be too scared until you know for sure....it may be something else.
best wishes...

OK I will do my best to tell my story. I am terrified of having ALS and it is ruining my life. I am a 25 year old male and the fear of this disease is destroying a healthy relationship between my fiance and I because she thinks I'm crazy and losing my mind.

The symptoms began two weeks ago, while I had fasciliations much sooner. I had severe severe chest pains and irregular heartbeat dating back to february of 2008. In my left pec where it hurt I had spasms and fasciliations. I saw my general prac about this and he said I have nothing more than torn muscle fibers. Before this I thought it was clogged arteries or heart attack.

About two weeks ago I started having throbbing pain in my left leg. It would cramp and throb in pain. I thought it was a blod clot so I went to the ER and they said it was a panic attack and the pain was just from some other factor (I have a job where I walk many miles a day).

Within the past two weeks i've began to notice the fascilations have spread all throughout my body. I have had aches/cramps in my legs, hips, shoulders, arms and hands. Fascilations have hit all these areas. I talked to my doctor and told him of this and he did blood tests for diabetes, and a cell count, etc. I told him I thought I had ALS and he said "It is almost unheard of in someone your age. The odds are against it". He did say if it all continued after he put me on buspar, that he would schedule me an EMG test.

The pain and aches have continued and in the past couple days I have had no trouble walking or ever tripping or anything like that. I have had some different feeling in my hands, like a falling asleep sensation in each or loss of coordination but it could just be me worrying about it.

From what I know the symptoms couldn't come alive over a 2 week period or even in a few days could they? I've also had symptoms very consistent with lymes disease.... I had a swollen gland in my neck that i've never had before (side of neck) and I've had neck pain in the back of the neck and headaches.

Most concerning to me is the twitching, along with the pain and aches all over. Someone please read this and tellme your thoughts on my condition. I know the odds are against having ALS at my age but I cannot stop obsessing and it's ruining my life. I have an EMG scheduled for next week.

 

[Sammantha]

What made you suspect ALS so fast? That is really sad because now everything you have you will contribute to the ALS, rather it is benign or caused by a different codition.. I had similar occurrences years ago and i hate to think of myself believing i had ALS for over four years! Because of your age and no wasting, a neuro will not diagnose you until you practically cannot use a limb or appendage. I am being serious, so please please do not give it all to ALS, it could be something little or something totally different that with treatment can be cured. My similar instances were: the pain in my left chest. I would get pain like a heartattack off and on. My left shoulder would freeze and had pain too so it really felt like a heart attack. One time it was so bad i could not sleep and i developed heart burn and went to the ER. The doctor did all sorts of tests, not a heart attack... He said it was either costochondritis or peptic ulcer. Over the years it has done it and sometimes it feels like my chest is being cracked open. I KNOW the pain will go away and it is not a heart attack so it does not bother me. I had severe pain mostly awakening me at night, first in the shoulder, then legs then my pelvic waist line. My doctors thought i was not drinking enough water. My muscles would get rock hard and i was prescribed baclofen. It made me feel a lot better. The muscle pain has subsided over the years but i always know when a new set of muscles is being affected because i get cramps in them and they hurt like he--. Then after awhile of cramping on and off the cramps are not as bad. The last place for me was my ribs, they hurt so bad i could feel everyone or every spot. Now they ache sometimes but not as bad. My other symptoms that lead to suspicion of ALS did not develop until a year and half ago. Before then neither i nor the doctors would have even entertained the idea, even though i had muscle spasms a lot. I am starting to think that there is a muscle condition out there yet to be diagnosed because of very similar circiumstances and we should thank our lucky stars that it is not ALS even though we are being or have been checked for it. Do not let your quality of life be affected by a illness that you may or may not have.......... You may or may not get cancer or hit by a car, but you dont obsess over that! It sounds like you may have an anxiety disorder, trust me i know... I developed one from fear of losing my job and not getting better health wise........ Anxiety is fear of your fears.... It does not imply that your current symptoms or problems are due to anxiety either it just suggests you may need extra help to deal with your worrying. Good luck

oh and ps...... I have NOT been diagnosed with ALS......

 

[wright]

Alright Clint, here's the deal

No one on here can tell you that you do or do not have ALS (only a neuro can do that). However, ALS is something that typically sneaks-up on you. It sounds as if this more or less hit you quickly and hit you hard and hit every limb in your body at about the same time. That just isn't your typical ALS story. Your anxiety is undoubtedly making your symptoms worse, too. It sounds viral in nature or maybe some type of post-viral autoimmune disorder (and it probably doesn't have a name). If you read a lot of the literature out there about autoimmune disorders, many are idiopathic and are more prevalent than one might think. You also mentioned Lyme, which is another possibility. Your symptoms could also point to many, many other things.
Bottom line: do your symptoms sound like ALS? No they don't . . . at least to me they don't. You will often hear that everyone is different in their presentation of the disease, but it does tend to follow a pattern (exceptions do exist of course) and you just don't fit that typical pattern. One other thing you have in your favor is your age. Only 5% of cases are diagnosed prior to the age of 30.
Go to your neuro and then listen and believe him/her when they are done with all of the tests. Go enjoy your weekend and your fiance' and feel good about life. You're more than likely going to be just fine.

 

[clint31]

I appreciate the encouraging responses.

Im still scared to death that this is my fate. I don't know how I'll ever face a test from the neurologist on tuesday.

I've made up my mind that no matter what, even if I don't have ALS.... my fiance and I are going to start a charity of some sort to raise money for the disease. I'm going to do it every year for the rest of my life. I've learned so much about this terrifying ailment in the past couple weeks.....

I'm going to make an impact if I am just given the time to do it. I am just frightened to a point where it's hard to function or enjoy other things. I can't seem to find a rational way to explain the sudden pain and fatigue in my muscles and ESPECIALLY the fascillations. although if stress and anxiety alone can cause them to happen each day all day long then that would be a possible cause.

 

[PDaddy]

Good luck Clint, please let us know what the neuro says! ;-)

 

[KevinMDA]

Relax

Clint,

The most important thing for you to do right now is to quit worrying yourself so much over this. It will only make it worse.

Wait until Tuesday to see what the neurologist says. It could be something very treatable.

If it does turn out to be ALS, there is plenty of help out there for you. There are plenty of people on this board you can lean on. Your fiancee loves you and will be there for you.

Your local MDA chapter can help in many ways...www.mdausa.org.

We can continue to work toward treatment & cures. If you want to help others with ALS, I'm sure your local chapter would love to have your support.

Again, try to quit stressing over this, have a good weekend, and just wait until the test results come back.

Good luck, and God Bless.

Kevin

 

[clint31]

Ok I can't stop worrying.

It seems as if the symptoms get worse at night. Am I right?

The pain, and that is what it is, like a pulled muscle ache over my entire left leg; got worse. I really started freaking out when I noticed that I'm having more twitching in the left leg than anywhere else..... could that have just been anxiety? It's like a throbbing pain in the entire front/back of the left leg.

still theres no foot drop or anything like that. The weird part is it feels like an injury I had as a HS senior playing sports..... exactly like that. And that made my left leg weaker in clinical tests when we went to have it checked out and it went away and hasn't bothered me until now. now it is bothering me again and i'm sure it will show weaker in any type of strength test. I also noticed my left bicep is smaller than my right but I'm right handed. I also noticed a tad bit more stiffness in my left wrist.

Could symptoms basically manifest in a matter of days from bothering my whole body to a more localized area? Or am I going crazy and making these things manifest themselves because of my anxieties?

 

[clint31]

ok a couple more things:

-the twitches are not constant and not JUST in my left side. They're all over when I have them they just SEEM to be more prevalent in my left leg and left arm that are bothering me today. But overall they're sporadic and everywhere.

-I was having chest pains in my left side before this all started weeks ago.. not sure if that means anything.

-I don't noticeably have strength difference in my left side or right side. Its not like I have lost use of my hand or I have foot dragging or dropping. My left leg feels heavier when I walk and cramps up, that is it. It is a cramping pain. Like last night when it started to act up I could almost find the tender spots in my leg by massaging around.

-There was a point yesterday from 6:30 pm to 10 pm in which I felt totally fine. Not sure if this is because I took my anxiety medicine or what but I did not cramp or anything. It felt as normal as it has in weeks. So then I laid down on the couch with my fiance to watch TV and it began to misbehave. It began to cramp and the anxiety/worry kicked in probably making it worse. At some points it throbbed in my hamstring area/thigh area, and at some points it felt like numb and tingly by the foot.

-This is basically the same thing w/ my leg that I had in high school in 2001 as a senior 7 years ago. I went to a sports medicine doctor to have it looked at. They never did tell me what it was, they just said overuse classic case and by taking celebrex and rest it would go away and it did. It was weaker back then in the sports medicine docs office.... so I'm sure it would be weaker now. The doc said back then I had to do exercises to strengthen the muscles in my left leg because it wasnt as strong as my right. Would this count as muscle weakness? Same thing with my left hand. I'm a righty, I have always done things better with my right, but it doesnt make my left useless and weak.

I'm just so scared and hoping to get any kind of answers here or encouragement from people that can be honest. Could this type of stuff be anxiety induced?

it seems like it's changing on me awful fast? Like going from my whole body to hitting one side in a day? Is it just me being too worried about it? Someone please help me...

 

[clint31]

Is there anyone out there who DOESN"T think I have ALS from what I'm describing?



-The one most concerning thing I'm having is that my left hand feels slow/clumsy. I don't know if I'm imagining it or not.

I know if I put my finger down and try and tap it as many times as I can in say, 10 seconds.... i could do it like say 50 times, while with my right it is CLEARLY faster and I could do it probably 60 times. But I am right handed dominant, and I don't know if the anxiety and worry that my left side is being attacked is adding to this.

-The cramping in my leg/foot actually seems better today.... but its still different than my right which is now normal.


The thing I keep thikning about and hoping for is it is just anxiety and worry contributing to it; and that how could symptoms possibly become so clear and change so much within 5 days with the increased amount of reading I've done on ALS. I mean, 5 days ago it was my entire body aching..... it couldn't move from the full body to the left side in that quick of time could it? Also the fascillations DEFINITELY started out ALL OVER the body, and have now become more prevalent in my left arm and left leg (rare in foot, none in hand yet).

just looking for ANYTHING as far as thoughts.