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thedeu

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Learn about ALS
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CA
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Mission Viejo
Greetings:

My apologies for running on with this thread. My name is David. I'm 37. About 7 months ago, right when my son was about to be born, I started experiencing a bad bout of vertigo lasting about 2 months, numbness and tingling in my left arm and left leg, alongside difficulty focusing my vision and concentrating when reading. Had a brain CT, and a ton of lab work done, all of which proved to be negative. The sympotms resolved themselves, and I received a referral to a neurologist.

I followed up with the neurologist with almost no symptoms of anything, and he ordered an additional MRI of the brain and EEG. I completed both and both were negative.

Flash forward to today; the vertigo returned and has been a daily occurance for the past 2 months along with an onset of left arm numbness and left leg tingling (which has now gone away) and the same issue with my vision. However, this time around I started to experience left thumb twitching which went on for a month and resolved itself. Yet I started to experience muscle twitching/spasms almost everywhere on my body...from my eyelid to my calves. Initially it was so constant and annoying to the point of not being able to sleep. The muscle twitching and spasms have dwindled down significantly but still occur regularly.

The newest symptom added to this saga was left arm fatigue (feeling as if I had done too many curls in the gym and my bicep was sore) which lasted a week and has now gone away. Currently, as I type this, my quadriceps bilaterally are sore and feel as if I've done too many squats at the gym. Keep in mind I haven't been to the gym in months.

I worked as a medic in the emergency room setting for nearly 20 years, and have seen the worst of things health can dish out. Therefore I automatically think the worst. This anxiety and fear is probably further inflamed by the fact that I now work as a licensed funeral director and deal with death on a daily basis, not to mention that I helped with the funeral arrangements of a co-worker who died from ALS.

I had to switch insurance groups and now have to start from scratch with a new Primary Care Physician and new neurology referral, however I'm glad to have gotten some of the major diagnostics out of the way. It goes without saying that I'm SCARED TO DEATH of what this may be. The fact that I'm a new dad with my first child not only frightens me that I could have a possible diagnosis robbing me of raising him, but deeply saddens me. I become crazy emotional when I'm alone with him, as I can't stand the thought of him not knowing me and leaving my wife with the responsibility of raising our son.

Things that keep my hopes up are the fact that I haven't experienced any speech, swallowing or breathing problems. No foot drop, clumsiness, dropping things or running into things. On the contrary, I feel the desire to actually hit the gym, hit the weights, and power through this. Still, at the end of the day, it weighs heavy on my mind to the point that I'm having a hard time being the best dad, and best husband that I possibly can with the fear of ALS looming over me.

Again I'm sorry for rambling on. During this period of insurance transition limbo, I didn't know where else to turn or who else to talk to. I appreciate and welcome any feedback. God bless all of you affected by this disease. Thanks for listening.
 
I think the relapsing / remitting nature of your symptoms points totally away from ALS, as do the sensory signs and lack of any weakness. I'm no doctor but I'd feel pretty confident in saying you will need to look to another cause for your symptoms.
 
I'm with Luke on this.

Becoming a parent can be very stressful and is probably ramping up your anxiety.

Keep exploring with your new health care team to find out what's behind these symptoms.
 
Whoa there!

I agree w/Luke & Deb on this. Nothing points to ALS. Please recall your years in the ER- surely you saw much more regular, run of the mill conditions than you did dire illnesses. Otherwise, the obit sections of the newspaper would be longer than the sports section. If I may, I'm also thinking maybe your new line of work is not a good fit for you.

Please relax, enjoy the baby as they change at the speed of light and I am guessing you don't want to miss a single moment. Do let us know what your GP tells you and good luck.
 
Thank you all for your advice and responses, as they did provide some relief. I will keep you all posted as things progress. You folks are amazing! :)
 
Thinking outside the box,it could be a viral thing.
Viruses can brake through the blood/brain barrier and your symptoms of vertigo fit in to that theory.

Intresting i had vertigo for a month then it went away but a few months later i developed spasticity....i dont have als but umn desease.
 
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