Anxiety and Corcern over recent symptoms

[lsasse15]

Hey guys wanted to share a quick update, I had the follow up appointment following my EMG with my neurologist. All was fine as noted in the EMG/NCV notes however due to my elevated CK level from the bloodwork he wants to run that test again as well as an Aldolase test, he also said my twitching which is now body wide is most likely due to BFS.

Would any of you know what the two blood tests are used for in conjunction? He mentioned I would most likely need to see a nerve and muscle specialist if the levels of these were elevated once again.

 

[KarenNWendyn]

CK (or CPK) and aldolase are enzymes released from skeletal muscle.

The “normal” range for CK is very broad, and there are healthy individuals who walk around with a value of 800 (for example), and that is normal for them.

African Americans also tend to have higher levels of CK.

CK can be elevated due to muscle trauma, heavy exertion, dehydration, medications (especially cholesterol-lowering drugs), some infections, recent intramuscular injections, and muscle disease such as polymyositis and other conditions which cause muscle inflammation.

Aldolase is up for many of the same reasons as CK but has a narrower range of normal.

ALS is way down at the bottom of the list of conditions.

Anyway, congratulations on your EMG. You don’t have ALS!

 

[lsasse15]

Thanks for the clarification Karen, my neurologist sort of sent me along my way during this follow up and I didn’t get the chance to ask many questions this time around.

I can’t help but still feel worried over all this, I guess I’m just scared about the fact that I was perfectly normal and healthy and all of these symptoms started out of nowhere a month ago, you read all the stories about althletes and those who lead healthy and active lifestyles getting diagnosed and it can’t help but scare you in the end. I hope sometime soon they find a cure for this and eradicate it for good.

My follow up appointment is in 3 months and I’m feeling too anxious to wait until that long, the daily fatigue, twitching and cramp like pain all over is starting to really mess with my mind.

 

[KarenNWendyn]

You don’t have ALS. You have a clean EMG. You may have something else going on, but that’s for you to work out with your doctors.

There’s nothing more people on this site can do for you. Hanging out here will only fuel your anxiety.

I would advise you to move on. Otherwise you’re asking people dying of ALS and their caregivers to massage your neuroses, and that is not fair to us, or you.

Take care and good luck.