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samb25

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May 17, 2012
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Reason
Learn about ALS
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US
State
PA
City
philadelphia
Hello all my name is sam,
I am an 18 year old guy who has never had any serious health scares. For the past month and a half I have been to numerous doctors and I still have yet to be diagnosed. This whole thing started with sharp stabbing pains occurring throughout my body. These pains were quick and would come and go. Many times they occurred in my chest so I was given an ekg and a chest X-Ray. Both checked out normal. About a week after the tests had been run I started feeling very fatigued and my arms and legs both felt heavy. My doctor did a neurological exam and all checked out fine. I then saw another doctor who did a series of blood tests and has since checked me for lymes twice (negative both times) This weakness, continued for another two weeks along with some stiffness in my ankles, calves, and forearms. and I was still experiencing the sharp pains so my doctor sent me to do a brain ct scan. The ct scan showed nothing abnormal. In the past week since the brain scan the stiffness in my calves, and forearms has increased and I have started to get twitching constantly in my calves and sometimes in my forearms.

As I said this process has been going for about a month. This entire time I have been extremely stressed and worrysome. I am always looking on webmd, etc. for answers. The thing I am most worried about is the twitching in my calves and forearms. I am unsure if it stops, but when I move around the twitching is not noticable or much less noticable. Although my calves and forearms feel stiff I have no trouble walking, running, climbing stairs, jumping, doing pushups, but I do seem to tire out quickly. I have also seen no signs of atrophy.

My current symptoms are:
stiffness in calves and forearms. (right forearm worse then left)
twitching in my calves mainly, but also in forearms (mainly right one)
loss of appettite
A constant low fever aroung 99.4( listing this just because, may have no relevance)
can't stop concentrating on my illness
trouble staying still

Sorry for the long post and If I am being overly worrysome I don't mean to offend anyone who is seriously ill.

Questions I would have:
Do these twitches sound like ALS?
Would I experience more weakness or atrophy before the twitching began?
Would the twitching be more localized and spread out from there? because it has come on very quickly and had not been localized.
 
Also could stress or not eating well with my loss of appettite have caused these twitches? Last bloodwork was April 18th and all vitamin levels were normal.
 
Hi Sam, I am not a doctor but it doesn't sound to me like you need to be worried about having ALS. You don't seem offensive, you seem like a nice young man who has some health issues going on and despite lots of effort and tests hasn't found out yet what the exact problem is so you've been reading on the net and came to this web site and are now very worked up over something you surely do not have.
What step does you doctor plan on next to sort out what is wrong?
I would expect a few more people will jump in here and give you reassurance that you need to look elsewhere for the cause of you health issues. Please listen to them and let the doctors do the doctoring rather than the internet. All the best to you.
 
I am seeing my doctor again in a week and going from there...honestly I can't thank you enough for your quick and kind response, means a lot to me. I've just have been stressing over this non stop and I am looking for some guidance from more experienced people.
 
Questions I would have:
Do these twitches sound like ALS?
Would I experience more weakness or atrophy before the twitching began?
Would the twitching be more localized and spread out from there? because it has come on very quickly and had not been localized.

The answer to your first question is no. As for your remaining questions, you'll need to find out what (other than ALS/MND) is causing your symptoms. Then you'll be able to figure out what is the normal prognosis for that disorder and how your symptoms compare.

And, no, I won't answer any more questions for you. You should be asking your doctor all of these questions, not a bunch of strangers on the 'Net.
 
thanks for your response
 
Hey man - I know from experience that the fear you're dealing with is very distressing and real to you. Take comfort in knowing you're doing the best thing for your health by consulting your doctor and trusting his / her guidance. It sucks when your body isn't working like you know it should, and I too am m in the process of trying to figure out my health issues, but hang in there and try not to dwell on it. The most therapeutic thing I've done for myself yet has been to reach out to my friends, get out of the house and enjoy the summer. I know it's easier said than done, but try not to let the fear debilitate you. From what you've described, combined with your very young age, I would bet money you're not looking at anything too major or scary. Good luck, and I hope you get it all solved soon.
 
Thanks a lot and Im glad you can relate to me...your advice works..I know getting outside and being with friends takes my mind away from my health scares, It has just been hard for me to get up move on. Thanks again.
 
Sam,

You're first mistake was oo gl ing doc tor go og le. He is a bit of a quack. Especially the 1 at w e b m d. He has a tendency to throw all the symp toms together and out pops A L S. I have often said, "you get what you pay for".

Now you do understand, we are not doc tors here and these are our opinions, but I would confidentally say, I think you could take A L S off the table. My prescription for you would be to: turn off the in ter net, let your doc tor determine what is wrong and most importantly, TRUST him for your dia gno sis. If you still want to continue "self diag nosing", try B F S. It may calm your fears. And if not already mentioned above, read the stickies! Especially the ones written by Alyoop and Trfogey. That is prescription number 2.

Good luck and go enjoy life!
 
Thank you so much for your response and I know your right I should have never even started my own internet diagnosing, it was just hard for me to hold back my worry and curiosity and the internet seemed like an outlet to find out what is wrong. Turns out it makes it worse just as you said. Thanks again and good luck to you as well.
 
thank you for the link... I have read it

After responses from a few people I now understand that It doesn't seem like my symptoms match with ALS. My concern was with the stiffness I am having and the twitches occurring in the same areas as the stiffness. Thanks again.
 
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