Wiggin02
New member
- Joined
- Sep 8, 2016
- Messages
- 4
- Reason
- Other
- Country
- US
- State
- Oklahoma
- City
- Choctaw
Hi guys.
I've been a creeper of this board for a few months and have finally decided to post. I have only just been referred to a Neuro for my symptoms, and he hasn't even gotten back to me on an appointment date. I'm a health profession student, so plenty of associated anxiety. I have been diagnosed with Labile hypertension because my blood pressure goes through the roof when anxious.
Symptoms:
- Bilateral, but pretty asymmetric (left sided) tremor -- hands, legs, jaw, tongue (started noticing in 2/2016 and has gotten worse). I originally wrote this off as serious because my dad has essential tremor. My left thumb is impossible to steady when in certain positions (like typing on cell phone)
- Fasciculations: Started back in 2/2016 but has gotten worse. Also asymmetric -- especially noticeable in left calf, forearm, thumb, and lip.
- Fatigue: I just felt really tired throughout the day at random points. I tried to manage my carb/protein intake more closely because I thought I was hypoglycemic.
- Deep pain: One of my original symptoms, the front and back of my lower left knee hurts all of the time and has gotten worse. I originally attributed this to being new to running and constantly turning on that knee at the local track. (I used to be obese, but started running a ton and actually eating healthy most of the time) I actually gained a little bit of weight this summer but quickly lost it again once school started. One thing I would due to deal with the pain was actually sitting on my leg (bent at the knee under my behind) for hours at a time until it fell asleep. Could I have just damaged the knee? I also get some radiating pain down to my left foot and some in my left wrist and hand.
Most of these symptoms were progressive but I managed to attribute them to BFS and tried not to worry about them. I worked over the summer and the symptoms didn't bother me other than shakiness in front of patients and chronic pain.
Recent onset of symptoms - 3-4 weeks ago, has gotten worse
- Weakness: I was playing soccer and noticed my left leg just felt really heavy and weak. It didn't get better. I can force myself to lift my foot to walk, but I feel like I have to give extra effort. I am constantly testing myself for foot drop and just feel like I'm making it worse. I feel like my left toes try to stay on the ground a little longer and they feel colder. When I dangle both feet with shoes on, my left foot swings more limply, presumably due to decreased muscle tone. It makes me feel clumsy, but I haven't fallen yet or anything. I jump up stairs on one foot to make sure I can still lift my left foot. Some of my toes on either foot can handle less resistance than its counterpart on the other foot with a general trend that the left feel weaker.
My left arm/fingers feel heavier and shakier and I feel like I am fighting off wrist drop in a similar way to my foot and foot drop. Same story, I can make them work but it takes extra effort. I am at the point where I think the tremor is actually just my muscles getting weak.
- Exercise intolerance & fatigue: My left leg feels hot, painful, and heavy after playing basketball or running. I'm scared to do anything in case it worsens symptoms or increases the progression. Exercise makes tremors worse -- jaw and hands especially. I feel I can't raise my left foot as high as my right after playing for a while. I started working out my left side extra hard for a few workouts but quit because I was worried I would just increase progression.
- Fasciculations: More frequent after mostly calming down over the summer. I get a painful one every once in a while somewhere in my hamstrings.
- Atrophy: My left calf isn't necessarily way smaller, it just looks different to me -- like stretched out or something, not bunched up like my right and painful at the top. My left bicep is definitely smaller than my right, but I haven't measured over time to declare actual reduction in mass.
- Pain: chronic and worse, not alleviated with much besides acetaminophen to an extent. Hurts my ability to sleep.
- Bulbar stuff: Jaw tremor (worsened with exercise and stress), I feel like I have a weird lisp when I say certain words or when I just finished exercising. I don't notice the weird sensation if I'm chewing gum, so I chew basically all of the time. Because I'm chewing gum, I feel like I'm biting my tongue more often. Tongue shakes and twitches when I stick it out. I don't think I'm having swallowing difficulty, but my tongue feels thick in the back and I feel like I have to clear my throat more than I used to. Sometimes my left side of my face feels numb and less mobile than the other side.
- Other random observations: Alcohol seems to helps with speech issues and diminishes tremor to some extent. Recreational marijuana seemed to make my shakiness better but I became more aware of my bulbar concerns. Sometimes I think my left side isn't as receptive to pain, not numb, just slow to react.
I also started doing electric stimulation for pain in my knee and other areas and I got really freaked out because my left side would take a little more stimulus to get a response and that side's muscles tend to tremble more when stimulated than the right side.
I'm a mess. I can't study for long periods of time without ending up on the Internet and I only sleep well in little spurts.
I guess if I have to wait months to see a Neuro I'll have given my symptoms plenty of time to get worse.
The only things I feel like I have going in my favor is that pain is not a strongly associated ALS symptom and that I haven't heard much of someone having unilateral onset to the point where their arm and leg are afflicted at the same time plus bulbar symptoms. It sounds like a ridiculous presentation to me, but that's one of my little glimmers of hope.
I've been a creeper of this board for a few months and have finally decided to post. I have only just been referred to a Neuro for my symptoms, and he hasn't even gotten back to me on an appointment date. I'm a health profession student, so plenty of associated anxiety. I have been diagnosed with Labile hypertension because my blood pressure goes through the roof when anxious.
Symptoms:
- Bilateral, but pretty asymmetric (left sided) tremor -- hands, legs, jaw, tongue (started noticing in 2/2016 and has gotten worse). I originally wrote this off as serious because my dad has essential tremor. My left thumb is impossible to steady when in certain positions (like typing on cell phone)
- Fasciculations: Started back in 2/2016 but has gotten worse. Also asymmetric -- especially noticeable in left calf, forearm, thumb, and lip.
- Fatigue: I just felt really tired throughout the day at random points. I tried to manage my carb/protein intake more closely because I thought I was hypoglycemic.
- Deep pain: One of my original symptoms, the front and back of my lower left knee hurts all of the time and has gotten worse. I originally attributed this to being new to running and constantly turning on that knee at the local track. (I used to be obese, but started running a ton and actually eating healthy most of the time) I actually gained a little bit of weight this summer but quickly lost it again once school started. One thing I would due to deal with the pain was actually sitting on my leg (bent at the knee under my behind) for hours at a time until it fell asleep. Could I have just damaged the knee? I also get some radiating pain down to my left foot and some in my left wrist and hand.
Most of these symptoms were progressive but I managed to attribute them to BFS and tried not to worry about them. I worked over the summer and the symptoms didn't bother me other than shakiness in front of patients and chronic pain.
Recent onset of symptoms - 3-4 weeks ago, has gotten worse
- Weakness: I was playing soccer and noticed my left leg just felt really heavy and weak. It didn't get better. I can force myself to lift my foot to walk, but I feel like I have to give extra effort. I am constantly testing myself for foot drop and just feel like I'm making it worse. I feel like my left toes try to stay on the ground a little longer and they feel colder. When I dangle both feet with shoes on, my left foot swings more limply, presumably due to decreased muscle tone. It makes me feel clumsy, but I haven't fallen yet or anything. I jump up stairs on one foot to make sure I can still lift my left foot. Some of my toes on either foot can handle less resistance than its counterpart on the other foot with a general trend that the left feel weaker.
My left arm/fingers feel heavier and shakier and I feel like I am fighting off wrist drop in a similar way to my foot and foot drop. Same story, I can make them work but it takes extra effort. I am at the point where I think the tremor is actually just my muscles getting weak.
- Exercise intolerance & fatigue: My left leg feels hot, painful, and heavy after playing basketball or running. I'm scared to do anything in case it worsens symptoms or increases the progression. Exercise makes tremors worse -- jaw and hands especially. I feel I can't raise my left foot as high as my right after playing for a while. I started working out my left side extra hard for a few workouts but quit because I was worried I would just increase progression.
- Fasciculations: More frequent after mostly calming down over the summer. I get a painful one every once in a while somewhere in my hamstrings.
- Atrophy: My left calf isn't necessarily way smaller, it just looks different to me -- like stretched out or something, not bunched up like my right and painful at the top. My left bicep is definitely smaller than my right, but I haven't measured over time to declare actual reduction in mass.
- Pain: chronic and worse, not alleviated with much besides acetaminophen to an extent. Hurts my ability to sleep.
- Bulbar stuff: Jaw tremor (worsened with exercise and stress), I feel like I have a weird lisp when I say certain words or when I just finished exercising. I don't notice the weird sensation if I'm chewing gum, so I chew basically all of the time. Because I'm chewing gum, I feel like I'm biting my tongue more often. Tongue shakes and twitches when I stick it out. I don't think I'm having swallowing difficulty, but my tongue feels thick in the back and I feel like I have to clear my throat more than I used to. Sometimes my left side of my face feels numb and less mobile than the other side.
- Other random observations: Alcohol seems to helps with speech issues and diminishes tremor to some extent. Recreational marijuana seemed to make my shakiness better but I became more aware of my bulbar concerns. Sometimes I think my left side isn't as receptive to pain, not numb, just slow to react.
I also started doing electric stimulation for pain in my knee and other areas and I got really freaked out because my left side would take a little more stimulus to get a response and that side's muscles tend to tremble more when stimulated than the right side.
I'm a mess. I can't study for long periods of time without ending up on the Internet and I only sleep well in little spurts.
I guess if I have to wait months to see a Neuro I'll have given my symptoms plenty of time to get worse.
The only things I feel like I have going in my favor is that pain is not a strongly associated ALS symptom and that I haven't heard much of someone having unilateral onset to the point where their arm and leg are afflicted at the same time plus bulbar symptoms. It sounds like a ridiculous presentation to me, but that's one of my little glimmers of hope.
Last edited:
