lilly
New member
- Joined
- Nov 20, 2006
- Messages
- 9
- Reason
- Learn about ALS
- Country
- US
- State
- NY
- City
- Rochester
hello everyone, i've been experiencing some ALS-like symptoms for a while now and it's driving me completely crazy! any help would be loved and greatly appreciated!
to start off, i'm a senior in highschool. a bit over a month ago, i started to feel slightly lightheaded, along with mild fatigue. at first i thought it was just a cold but then the dizziness got worse when i try to sleep, which was accompanied by some ringing in the ears. went to the doctor's for a checkup, measured my blood pressure, sugar level, thyroid, etc, all came back normal. a week later the dizziness went away but my head was still fuzzy and my whole body felt weak. i had also noticed muscle twitching in my legs, which quickly spread to all of my body. after the twitching persisted for about a week, i went back to the doctor's, where they did a manual neuro checkup on me (walking on heels/toes, reflexes, etc) and everything was normal. about a day later i noticed some pressure in my chest when i breathe. thought it was heartburn so i took some otc drugs for gas/bloating. it got better at first but worse later on. i couldn't sleep for a couple of nights because i had this feeling like i wasn't taking in enough air. later on i noticed fluttering in my chest and also heart pounding. at this time, my legs feel like rubber when i walk and tremble when they get cold/tired. my arms also felt weak and slow. went back to the doctor's for a third time to check my heart but couldn't find anything wrong. finally last weekend i went to a different doctor who checked my blood pressure again, came up around 70/40 which he told me was extremely low. the doc concluded that the low blood pressure was probably the cause of my shortness of breath and fatigue since my heart couldn't pump enough blood through my body and gave me multi-vitamin and potassium/calcium tablets to help with the muscle twitching. i came back feeling slightly better but since then have noticed a sticky throat and excess saliva in my mouth (which prompts me to swallow every 10 seconds or so, seems fine when i sleep though, no drooling). i have not noticed any changes in my body, weight, or ability to walk/run (though i tire out quickly and my legs and arms still feel rubber-like & weak).
even though all the doctors i've been to concur that i don't have ALS, should i get an emg test just to be sure? because i feel like they don't even consider the possibility because of my age- even though there are cases where teens have been diagnosed with ALS.
i've been looking at a lot of websites lately but none of them helped: they only add onto my ALS-anxiety, which is already scaring me to death: i can't concentrate on anything, nor can i sleep so i'm praying to find some better answers here! thank you all very much in advance!
to start off, i'm a senior in highschool. a bit over a month ago, i started to feel slightly lightheaded, along with mild fatigue. at first i thought it was just a cold but then the dizziness got worse when i try to sleep, which was accompanied by some ringing in the ears. went to the doctor's for a checkup, measured my blood pressure, sugar level, thyroid, etc, all came back normal. a week later the dizziness went away but my head was still fuzzy and my whole body felt weak. i had also noticed muscle twitching in my legs, which quickly spread to all of my body. after the twitching persisted for about a week, i went back to the doctor's, where they did a manual neuro checkup on me (walking on heels/toes, reflexes, etc) and everything was normal. about a day later i noticed some pressure in my chest when i breathe. thought it was heartburn so i took some otc drugs for gas/bloating. it got better at first but worse later on. i couldn't sleep for a couple of nights because i had this feeling like i wasn't taking in enough air. later on i noticed fluttering in my chest and also heart pounding. at this time, my legs feel like rubber when i walk and tremble when they get cold/tired. my arms also felt weak and slow. went back to the doctor's for a third time to check my heart but couldn't find anything wrong. finally last weekend i went to a different doctor who checked my blood pressure again, came up around 70/40 which he told me was extremely low. the doc concluded that the low blood pressure was probably the cause of my shortness of breath and fatigue since my heart couldn't pump enough blood through my body and gave me multi-vitamin and potassium/calcium tablets to help with the muscle twitching. i came back feeling slightly better but since then have noticed a sticky throat and excess saliva in my mouth (which prompts me to swallow every 10 seconds or so, seems fine when i sleep though, no drooling). i have not noticed any changes in my body, weight, or ability to walk/run (though i tire out quickly and my legs and arms still feel rubber-like & weak).
even though all the doctors i've been to concur that i don't have ALS, should i get an emg test just to be sure? because i feel like they don't even consider the possibility because of my age- even though there are cases where teens have been diagnosed with ALS.
i've been looking at a lot of websites lately but none of them helped: they only add onto my ALS-anxiety, which is already scaring me to death: i can't concentrate on anything, nor can i sleep so i'm praying to find some better answers here! thank you all very much in advance!