AlS or not? Concerned

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Funky92

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Joined
May 30, 2022
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2
Reason
Learn about ALS
Diagnosis
00/0000
Country
PL
State
LU
City
Lublin
Hello everyone, at the beginning i'd like to apologise for my english as I am bot native speaker.

I am 30 years old, polish guy. What I am worried about are few of symptoms that I have had last month. Everything started in January when I felt dizzy for the first time when I was in the roundabout driving my bus. It seemed constant and didn't go away so I scheduled appointment with the internist. Doctor examined me and said It might be because of the stiffness in my neck or my vertebra because I am a bus driver and I sit a LOT. After week or two everything went back to normal.

Around month ago when walking into the kitchen I accidently kicked a kitchen island. Then after few days i started having this dizzy-feeling in my head which is kinda hard to explain. (like walking on the clouds ??) I also started having eye floaters in my left eye and my eyes became sensible to sunlight and any other kind of bright light. I started to check my symptoms in Google and found out it could be MS. I panicked so hard that I started to develop all other symptoms, like tingling (especially on the left side of my body), fatigue, insomnia, extreme sweating. Then i found a word "fasciculations" and I started going nuts.

They day after i started having twitches that have spreaded to my entire body. I was literally crying that day, when my wife went to work. I was 100% sure that I would die of ALS. Since that time I twitch everywhere but most on my calfs and thighs, also on my hands and arms, sometimes feet. My muscles feel tired and stiff, my joints in left leg hurt a bit and the veins on my left calf are more visible than on the right one. The left bottom part of my cheek and chin feels a bit numb but have no problems with articulation or swallowing (bulbar als concern here)

Went to ER 2 times to speak to a doctor but after examining me they told that there was no need to schedule an appointment with neuro. I don't know what to do at this point, I am trying not to think about this and even when I calm down a bit, the moment I feel another twitch I would just freak out. I think that I don't feel any clinical weakness, I can still walk on my heels or toes, I can still jump, button my jacket or tie shoes. What's more I can still drive a bus and even push the buttons to let passengers in and out :) yet still I am concerned.

Had a lot of stress last year. My wife misscarried 2 times, She is pregnant again and It's going pretty well but I am still stressed because of what has happened before. Another stress factor Is war in Ukraine that I read a lot about (my homeland shares It's borders with both Russia and Ukraine), stressfull job, COVID (me and my wife had It both at the end of January). Maybe I shouldn't have written about that all above like my personal situation, but I just needed to spit It out... I want to be a father and watch my little Sophia grow up. What do You guys think It might be? ALS or I am just freaking out and i should go to psychiatrist? I can't share all these concernes with my wife because I realy don't want Her to get stressed. Can someone please help me? Thanks in advance for Your replies.
Lucas
 
Hello- please make sure to read here: Read Before Posting

You list so many things not at all associated with ALS and are more likely to be associated with Covid, stress, posture, fitness, etc. We get so many people who twitch and assume the worse and ignore all the other reasons for twitching. ALS is associated with loss of function, which you do not report. Have a read of the above link to reassure yourself and maybe start working with your doctor to address some of your symptoms, making sure you understand that it is not ALS.

Take care
 
Thank You for your extremely fast reply. So You say that fasciculations in my feet are not associated with ALS at all? They frighten me when I see and feel them. I feel them right now all over my feet, strange. Have not experienced It being that intense before...
 
You don't have to worry about ALS. Fasciculations are annoying and might scare you, but without loss of function in a clinical neurological exam they don't mean anything. Trust the doc at the ER on this.

It's great you wrote about the immens stress you're under and you didn't just leave that part of your health out. If stress leads you to fearing you have a fatal disease and you don't want it to affect your pregnant wife negatively, going to a therapist to talk about things is a good way to cope.
You could also do what you did here: reach out in an online forum. There are surely a lot that focus on mental health and health anxiety. Happily this here is not the right place for you.

I know the war is deeply disturbing and worriesome. For your own sake try not to consume news througout the whole day, via push notifications. I just learned the term "doomscrolling" for hefty news consumption that will drag you down and leave you powerless against all the ill in the world. Maybe try to reduce it to a 15 minute time frame each day, where you get updated on what's going on and then try to do something good for yourself or for others. Write a friend how they're doing, cook a meal, build something. Stuff you like doing and that might relax you.

All the best to you, your wife and soon to be on earth little Sophia!
 
If your eye is still having new floaters or sensitivity to light, you should see an opthalmologist to make sure you do not have a vitreous or retinal problem.

You are right that stress and sitting a lot in your bus driving can cause many problems such as you describe. You could see a counselor about your stress, even via video or text, and start a stretching program, and even something like walking or swimming, before and after your shifts.

I agree that this does not sound like ALS, and hope all goes well with the pregnancy.

Best,
Laurie
 
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