23 M PLS Respond

[Cammy639]

Hi! I recently moved back home because I graduated from college. Starting 3 weeks ago, I noticed a weird pressure in the back of my head + tightness in my neck. The next day, I developed a neck/head tremor. For about a week, these were my only symptoms. Starting in week 2, I started to get random muscle twitches throughout my body.

Starting about a week ago, I started to get neuropathy in left foot. It’s mainly a burning sensation, but I can still lift and move it and it doesn’t really feel weak. I thought this would all go away, but it seems like I keep noticing new random symptoms. My neck is still extremely tight, and I still have the slight tremor in neck/head.

My current symptoms are: Tight neck + slight neck/head tremor, random twitches (especially in legs), neuropathy in left foot. I don’t think I have any weakness anywhere. I occasionally think that I have weakness from my anxiety, but they’ve tested me and said both sides of my body have normal and equal strength. I have still been biking pretty normally. Also, I haven’t been tripping or dropping anything since these symptoms began.

Some things I’d like to preface: I went into ER last week after my neuropathy and twitches began and was admitted for the night. I got an MRI, CT scan, blood and urine work. All came back normal. After my initial symptoms (the neck stuff), I started to develop major health anxiety. I have gotten virtually no sleep these past few weeks and haven’t been eating enough because I’m so anxious I feel sick half the time.

I’ve lost close to 10 pounds in the span of these 3 weeks because of my anxiety (I’m already pretty skinny - I went from 175 to 165 and I’m 6’4). I have also been googling and reading nonstop which probably hasn’t helped, but I can’t help myself with these new symptoms. This is the first time in my life I’ve ever had neuropathy (never had trauma or a bad accident), which is odd. I’ve also never had neck problems or problems with nonstop muscle twitches before.

Would y’all be concerned if you were me? Thanks so much for reading! These past few weeks have been horrible I’ve had to postpone my job search post grad because of this. *last thing, no family history of ALS*

 

[Nikki J]

I would have no concern for ALS at all. Sensory symptoms, tremor and twitching without clinical weakness all say no. Mr google is a terrible diagnostician

You need to stop googling, get away from your screen and start living your life. It is very sad you are doing this rather than searching for a job and otherwise doing the things a healthy 23 yo should. What are you going to say to the interviewer who asks what have you been doing since graduation?

If you can’t control yourself block sites like this and ask your pcp for help. Don’t let your admitted anxiety ruin your life

 

[Cammy639]

I agree, but the neuropathy is freaking me out. It feels like my nerves in my foot are on fire, and since the MRI, CT scan, blood and urine tests were all clean, it drove me to here because I just don’t know what’s causing the nerve damage if I haven’t been sick or had an injury/trauma. Especially because my neuropathy started a couple of weeks after all those other symptoms. And I also don’t know why my neck feels so tight. It feels like someone is choking me. Some of my symptoms could be anxiety induced, but I’m certain my neuropathy isn’t. Yes, anxiety isn’t new for me, but I didn’t even know what neuropathy was until my foot started feeling like it was burning. Also, thank you for the reply! I will try to address my anxiety despite all this.

 

[Nikki J]

Nerve pain is not an ALS symptom. ALS is a disease of the motor neurons and as I already said not a sensory disease. You can work with your doctor ( stay out of overburdened hospitals and EDs) to find out the cause of that but it is not ALS and there is no reason that you should not be out living your life

 

[lgelb]

Should you be concerned? Anxiety severe enough to cause your losing weight you didn't have to lose, defer your job search, and miss out on needed sleep is definitely a concern.

Please seek counseling to put this into perspective, but there is zero reason to think of ALS or anything like it. Watch your positioning and make sure you aren't sitting on your feet or hands, slumping, etc.

You seem to have self-diagnosed "neuropathy," a catch-all clinical term for some kind of nerve problem. The person who can tell you if you really have anything to worry about is a doctor, not the Internet. The counselor can help you put the results of your exam (an important step in putting this behind you) in context.