Desperate! Need your opinion!

[Jmadeira]

Hi guys,

I would really like to hear your opinion on whats been happening to me for the last couple months because no one seems to understand what I'm going through right now.

It all started in the end of November. Life up until then was going exceptionally well, i had just won a masters' scholarship and got a nice job offer. So i move away from my parents to start the job but it soon revealed to be much pressure to handle because im currently also writting my thesis.

One saturday I wake up with a weird feeling in my head and vision, almost like i was hangover. But I tought that it was just my body needing to rest and that it would go away. It did not. Days go by and I start to get very anxious about my vision problems. Then i got this brain fog, i kept forgetting things and just getting a feeling of tiredness all over which has since persisted. This is when i start looking up my symptoms on Dr.Google but i found nothing too serious and let a few days go by.

However, i felt like i was growing more tired everyday so i just could not ignore it. I continue to look up symptoms and I became treally worried that I would have MS because my gait suddenly began to feel unsteady. By then I started having some "mild" panick attacks at work. I decided it was time to go to the doctor. Initially i went to my GP that didnt find anything wrong and said it was all due to anxiety. I saw an ophtalmologist and he said there was nothing wrong with my eyes either. I then began to see a psychologist because i could not find peace of mind and she said she was 100% sure that it was some anxiety disorder and not MS.

Next i went to a neuro that performed a neurological exam and ordered me a brain MRI and some blood tests that came up clear. During this time i had developed some light sensitivity, nausea, terrible headaches, i began seeing flashing lights and had what i think were mild nystagmus episodes. Then i saw another neuro that also found nothing wrong and prescribed me anxiety meds. They did not work and all of a sudden i started feeling pins and needles all over my body. Everywhere, constantly and throughout the day. Next it was electrical shocks, especially around my neck. and back pain. All the while my muscles are getting weaker by the day.

So last week i went back to my initial neuro that told me to do a cervical MRI and an EMG just to let me know that i had nothing wrong with me and prescribed anti-depressants. Currently, i dont have the pins and needles feeling anymore but i noticed my right side is significantly weaker than my left. I have muscle twitch mainly at rest in my right leg and arm but also in my right jaw. The weakness is absurd. In the last few days i also noticed that i could not swallow as well, i cannot take deep breaths, my jaws get tired really quickly, my tongue is weak and my left pinky is almost always twiching laterally. My legs feel like lead, i cannot climb many steps of stairs and objects have become so much heavier. I developed slight muscle spasms. Also, i keep getting the feeling of cold water on some parts of my body.I'm 22 and the possiblity of having als is driving me nuts.

I feel like i'm being robbed of the future that i had pictured for my self. Please help guys, I'm in a very dark place right now.

I would very much apreciate your opinion on what has been happening to me.

Thank you,

 

[KarenNWendyn]

Please read this if you have not already done so:

Important - READ BEFORE POSTING! Answers to common concerns about possible symptoms

We will try to answer reasonable questions. We are not here to argue with you. If you announce that you ”know” you have ALS when the doctors say otherwise, or you have not bothered to see a doctor, your thread will be closed. It is not our place to try to convince you you are wrong. Neither...

www.alsforums.com

Your symptoms and presentation do not suggest ALS. ALS does not come on fast and with pins and needles sensations, nausea, flashing lights, nystagmus.

You have seen two neurologists who did not find weakness. It sounds like you started feeling weak after your last neurologist appointment. ALS is not about feeling weak. It’s about actual weakness with muscle function failure in one area, and that weakness then spreading to other areas. If you had true weakness, the neurologists would have found it.

It’s possible your initial symptoms may have been due to a viral infection, stress, or any number of other health conditions. Stress and anxiety can make twitching and other symptoms worse.

Keep working with your doctors, but you’re in the wrong place here.

 

[Jmadeira]

First of all thanks for your reply.

I know that I do not have muscle failure but it sure seems to be going that way. All of my muscles are getting significantly weaker, especially on my right side. I don't know if this is how ALS presents but it's very frightening. My neck is heavy and tendons are tight. I hope that you can give me some feedback.

Thanks

 

[Nikki J]

You are not describing ALS. We don’t know what is wrong with you but you need to continue to work with your doctors

IF you are clinically weak now which your doctors would find ( you were not when you were seen) there are many causes and your constellation of symptoms does not say ALS weakness or not

 

[Jmadeira]

Hi Nikki J,

Thank you for your reply.
I guess what I'm trying to aks is if in 2 months this disease could have progressed like this. Does Als cause sudden muscle failure like not being able to move your hand or leg or is it progressively weakening the muscle? All of my sensory symptoms are pretty much gone now, that's what's worrying me.

 

[Bestfriends14]

If you're having issues with sensory symptoms, that points away from ALS. Issues with ALS are from the motor neurons, not sensory. That's great news for you. No, nothing you've written is indicative of how ALS presents, as others have said. Again, great news for you as that means you are in the wrong place being on this forum. The best advice is to keep working with your doctors. They are the ones who can help you figure out what's going on.

Best of luck to you.

 

[codyclan]

I know it’s difficult to understand the idea that feeling weak isn’t a precursor to muscle failure but that’s the way it is in ALS. And because you haven’t experienced true muscle failure, it’s difficult to comprehend. People with ALS doesn’t feel weak. ALS is a brain disease, the muscle doesn’t get the signal to move so it is unable to move—no feeling involved. My husband would attempt to do things we knew he couldn’t do becaus he never felt weak. In ALS weakness manifests itself in an inability to button a shirt, open a pop top or being unable to use a fingernail clipper. In bulbar, it’s slurred speech that others notice—swallowing issues come much later.

Work with your docs, but ALS is not a concern here.

 

[KimT]

Did they rule out migraine associated vertigo and cervicogenic vertigo? The reason I ask is because I was in a bad car accident over 20 years ago and had similar symptoms. I ended up going to the University of Pittsburgh Balance Center because they thought I had Meniere's disease. The doctor there diagnosed me with TMJ dislocation, migraine associated vertigo and cervicogenic vertigo (related to a neck issue.)

Nothing you posted sounds like ALS.

Work with your doctors. They can see you in person. There is a special neurologist that deals with ENT type things.

You don't need to be at this forum.