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erebus

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Jul 14, 2012
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Learn about ALS
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CA
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Ontario
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Toronto
Hello,
I don't mean to take away from the more important discussions on this forum, but I thought someone here might be able to let me know whether they have seen this before?

I'm 27 years old, a physical theatre actor, working in acrobatics, mime, etc.
I've had very random symptoms occurring for the past year, starting from pain and numbness in my right wrist, which spread upwards through my body, and have symptoms in both my arms, legs, hip, lumbar and cervical spine...
I won't bother everyone with a detailed list of symptoms, but I've had quite A LOT of tests done, including EMG tests (all fine), blood work (all fine), a brain MRI and cervical spine MRI.
Everything in the brain MRI came back fine, except for one thing:
"The ventricles are age-appropriate. There is mild sulcal prominence near the vertex, suggesting mild cerebral atrophy for patient's age."

"Impression: No MRI evidence of primary demyelination, although this diagnosis is not excluded based on imaging.
Mild diffuse cerebral atrophy for patient's age, finding can be seen with certain nutritional deficiencies, medications or drugs. Clinical correlation required."

My GP and the neurologist didn't seem to be phased by this. They said this is totally fine. And I haven't been on any drugs, really. I just take levothyroxine sodium to help regulate my thyroid (which I also checked with blood work and it's normal).

However, one of my symptoms has been muscle spasming, and weird muscle tension, that at first I thought to be muscle atrophy. I am speaking in particular of my wrist and hands.

After much research, the ONLY place I have ever found a picture that is similar to my dilemma has been on this forum, specifically in this thread, right at the end before it was locked, a post by "rdmullinnex":

https://www.alsforums.com/forum/do-i-have-als-als/7522-muscle-wasting.html

I'm not sure why the thread was locked. I fear that maybe the image of the hand had nothing to do with ALS and so the discussion was closed off there.

In any case, I am now posting an image of my right hand:

IMG_0852-1.jpg


My left hand looks exactly the same, with the muscle tucking in. When I've shown this to my physiotherapist or osteopath, they have both assumed it to be muscle atrophy.

However, when doing tests for muscle weakness, they have mentioned that the muscle is not considerably weak. In my opinion, the hand feels weaker, and the hypothenar muscle has felt quite tender (and sometimes painful) to the touch.

My GP and neurologist feel that they have ruled out MS and ALS.
I am still having random symptoms all over my body that don't give any clues as to what is causing them. Recently, my muscles have displayed tremors and fasciculations whenever I am exerting any force. Even if it's picking up a mug of tea, my forearm and wrist will start to tremor. Sometimes in rest, I'll get a few tremors, but rarely. I definitely think my muscles are in constant tension, and maybe becoming exhausted, causing these tremors. I know that there has been talks of fybromialgia and BFS, but there hasn't been any diagnosis.

What this has caused me is an overwhelming obsession with these symptoms that have really started to affect me mentally, and also in my work as an artist. I am growing more and more paranoid that another symptom will pop up, and feelings of depression have started to set in as more tests come back normal, and yet I do not feel at all as I used to. I sense in my body that something is not right.

I'm sorry to clog up the forum with this information, as for now, my symptoms don't seem to be leading towards ALS. But in my quest, like others, to figure out what is wrong with me, I felt I needed to make contact in some way with this forum, because of the image that was shown in that thread (it gives me hope that someone else has this muscle issue).

Thank you all for your time, and I understand if you need to remove this post, or move it to a more suitable section of this forum.
 
Yowza!
Relax, D r said no ALS.

Good luck.
Nothing will make it worse than anxiety.

Cheers,
Casey
 
I thought of taking a picture of my hands and uploading them since I can make them look like yours if I hold them at a particular angle .

Two things stopped me; the first is that I'm technologically incompetent and have not worked out how to make my iPad do that.

The second is that my fingers are severely clubbed because I have a lung disease, and they go at odd angles which fascinates rheumatologists but is in fact a result of playing lacrosse at school, though only when I couldn't get out of it.

You will deduce from this that photos of weird looking hands are not much use in diagnosing ALS; your doctors are there to look at the entire clinical picture, and if they say no then no is probably the right answer.

Do you read Terry Pratchett? As I recall, Lord Vetinari, the despots's despot, feels that mime artists should be dropped into scorpion pits. He's not too keen on clowns either. You may not feel in the mood for reading comedy but I think you could benefit from it. Minds are very powerful things and need to be kept in their place; otherwise you can convince yourself of just about anything...
 
I can make my hand do that trick, also! I don't have ALS! However, I was a caregiver to my husband that died from ALS. Your sym ptoms are nothing like those that a person with ALS would experience on any day.

Please have a happy life and listen to your docs!
 
Wow, you can spread your fingers! You're lucky!
 
And the reason the thread was closed is because all threads are closed if there is no activity for 45 days. Nothing sinister.
 
Glad to hear you Don't have als.But I can't believe the shape your spine is in .I think you would benefit from PT

how much do you weight and what's height
good luck
 
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