weebit worried
New member
- Joined
- Mar 30, 2019
- Messages
- 8
- Reason
- Learn about ALS
- Country
- US
- State
- KS
- City
- Manhattan
I apologize if I accidentally posted this twice. I tried posting earlier but I’m afraid I did something wrong and lost the post because I can’t find it. I’ll try to re-type my sentiments from my earlier post...
I went to visit my PCP regarding muscle twitching. I have had twitching for about a month. It started out with being kind of all over, never staying in a spot for long. By the time I would try to see the twitch, it would be gone. Now, it seems like it’s more localized and that is what has me concerned. I will have twitching in the same place, but on both legs, for example. There are even times where I will twitch in the same area, on both sides, at the same time. Most of my twitching has been in my thighs, knee areas, calves, and feet. Occasionally, I will have twitching in my back, under my shoulder blades or in my abdomen or buttocks area. I’m not sure if it’s a good sign that they are bi-lateral or if that points more to ALS, as I’ve read many conflicting things. Last week, I had some muscle soreness in those areas, but that has since gone away.
She ran blood work and the only thing that showed up was a deficiency in Vitamin D. She performed a basic neuro exam on me. She said my strength was fine and so were my reflexes. At one point, I had some brisk reflexes but later they were ok. She had to keep telling me to relax. She had me walk heel to toe, balance with my eyes close, taps my fingers together, touch my nose and then touch her finger, she pressed on my arms, legs, and feet.
I told her that if she felt like my neuro exam was ok, then I was comfortable with not getting a referral to a neurologist. I said I didn’t want to undergo any unnecessary testing, unless she deemed it necessary. At that point, my twitching had really decreased. She said she felt comfortable with me just monitoring the Twitching but if I wanted to have a referral she would do that.
She put me on a vitamin d supplement for the next month. She also suggested a bed for nerve pain but I said I wasn’t interested in that until we knew what was causing the twitching.
The reason I am now worried and what brought me to posting is because I have another symptom that I feel points me to als. I noticed the inside of my left calf is definitely smaller than my right. She did not check this, as I was fully clothed for my exam. She just lightly ran her hands down my legs. I do not remember my leg looking like this, and I’ve been pretty thourough on checking my body.
Does any of this point to ALS, in your opinion? Is my PCP’s neuro exam sufficient enough or do I need to request a neuro referral? If my left calf is really showing atrophy would I be able to still walk on my heels, walk on my toes, stand up from a sitting position using only my left leg? Or would the muscle failure already be too weak for that? Can ateophy appear that quickly? I have been off balance a few times, but not constantly. I haven’t ever fallen completely down or tripped or lost my balance enough to fall. More of a few wobbles.
Sorry for all the questions, I just feel like this is spiraling quickly.
Thank you, in advance, for your very welcome advice.
I went to visit my PCP regarding muscle twitching. I have had twitching for about a month. It started out with being kind of all over, never staying in a spot for long. By the time I would try to see the twitch, it would be gone. Now, it seems like it’s more localized and that is what has me concerned. I will have twitching in the same place, but on both legs, for example. There are even times where I will twitch in the same area, on both sides, at the same time. Most of my twitching has been in my thighs, knee areas, calves, and feet. Occasionally, I will have twitching in my back, under my shoulder blades or in my abdomen or buttocks area. I’m not sure if it’s a good sign that they are bi-lateral or if that points more to ALS, as I’ve read many conflicting things. Last week, I had some muscle soreness in those areas, but that has since gone away.
She ran blood work and the only thing that showed up was a deficiency in Vitamin D. She performed a basic neuro exam on me. She said my strength was fine and so were my reflexes. At one point, I had some brisk reflexes but later they were ok. She had to keep telling me to relax. She had me walk heel to toe, balance with my eyes close, taps my fingers together, touch my nose and then touch her finger, she pressed on my arms, legs, and feet.
I told her that if she felt like my neuro exam was ok, then I was comfortable with not getting a referral to a neurologist. I said I didn’t want to undergo any unnecessary testing, unless she deemed it necessary. At that point, my twitching had really decreased. She said she felt comfortable with me just monitoring the Twitching but if I wanted to have a referral she would do that.
She put me on a vitamin d supplement for the next month. She also suggested a bed for nerve pain but I said I wasn’t interested in that until we knew what was causing the twitching.
The reason I am now worried and what brought me to posting is because I have another symptom that I feel points me to als. I noticed the inside of my left calf is definitely smaller than my right. She did not check this, as I was fully clothed for my exam. She just lightly ran her hands down my legs. I do not remember my leg looking like this, and I’ve been pretty thourough on checking my body.
Does any of this point to ALS, in your opinion? Is my PCP’s neuro exam sufficient enough or do I need to request a neuro referral? If my left calf is really showing atrophy would I be able to still walk on my heels, walk on my toes, stand up from a sitting position using only my left leg? Or would the muscle failure already be too weak for that? Can ateophy appear that quickly? I have been off balance a few times, but not constantly. I haven’t ever fallen completely down or tripped or lost my balance enough to fall. More of a few wobbles.
Sorry for all the questions, I just feel like this is spiraling quickly.
Thank you, in advance, for your very welcome advice.
