Don't want to bother anyone but

[Mowerman]

I have been reading this site, and I dont want to be one of those ones that gets reassurance they dont have ALS just to keep making new threads and bombarding you all with a litany of questions. I know that has to be annoying. I have been trying to read about my symptoms and if they fit before even making this thread, however, since I am not as knowledgeable as some of you on here, such as grampal or trfogey I have resided myself to go ahead and ask and get some opinions.
I am a 31 year old male, no family history of ALS, but I understand 90% of cases are sporadic regardless. I have been having widespread muscle twitches, from the bottoms of both feet, to my abdomen, shoulders, calves, thighs, buttocks, biceps, triceps, jaw and that's about all I can think of. They started in october/november of last year, subsided for a little while, and have just recently started back up again. No atrophy, I have been measuring, and outside of my left bicep being about 3/8" smaller in diameter than the right bicep I notice no discrepancies. I also began getting this buzzing sensation in my left thigh, like a cell phone on vibrate, but I dont put my cellphone there, and it's never set on vibrate. Sometimes it's a sporadic buzzing, and other times it comes every 5 seconds.
I have also been more forgetful lately, which is not like me, such as I had a hard time remembering the house alarm code, and forgot to shut the gate out back and my dogs got out.
However the left side has been more problematic for me, feeling weaker, more fatigued, and seems to twitch more than the other half, specifically the left leg has a lot of twitching in all areas. I have a sensation of weakness I should add, not actual clinical weakness. I went to the doctor today, a general practice guy and he ordered a slew of labs. Also ordered an MRI, he noticed the left side knee was a bit more exxagerated on the reflex than the right side. He did not classify them as brisk however.
I have read on BFS but I did not see the forgetfullness or buzzing sensation on there.
What are you thoughts and opinions? Possibility of ALS? MS? Or am I just over reacting?
Please understand with your answer I will carefully read and fully consider all opinions and thoughts, I do not want to bother any of you to death as I understand replying can be a taxing effort, and I will take the opinion of those who have studied it over my fear. Thank you for any replies.

 

[Mowerman]

Oh, and I want to add that I have been a slight bit clumsier lately, but I am not sure if this is because I am paying attention to my every move or if I am actually just getting clumsier.

 

[notme]

ALS doesn't cause twitching--muscle death does--and this happens after the weakness.
The things you're describing are sensory issues--the 'vibration' feeling is a sendory issue--ALS doesn't affect sensory nerves. It also doesn't cause 'forgetfulness' -- but anxiety does.

And before you say you're not anxious--anyone that is measuring their limbs is anxious. If the doctor had found something significant on exam, you'd have been referred to a neurologist.

Try to relax--and wait for the blood test results. Nothing in your post sounds like ALS. Being weak and feeling weak are very different things, believe me.

Good luck

 

[trfogey]

What are you thoughts and opinions? Possibility of ALS? MS? Or am I just over reacting?

No on ALS. Don't know enough about MS to have an opinion. Overreacting -- if you really believe this is ALS, you're overreacting. Sounds more like BFS to me, and you should try reading the BFS forum at aboutBFS dot com. Buzzing sensations are common with BFS. Forgetfulness -- probably not as common, but some BFS folks do report brain "fog" and difficult focusing their concentration, which can lead to forgetfulness.

Good luck to you. It appears that you are keeping a reasonable perspective on your condition at present, but notme is right about the self-testing and measuring. Stop doing that. It doesn't give you any useful information (that 3/8" difference between your two upper arms is well within normal variance, but you worry about it). Some of the self-tests that other anxious people have devised and mentioned on various sites (including this one) are dangerous and should not be done because they can injure perfectly healthy muscles. So, talk to your primary care provider about some recommendations for coping better with your anxiety.

Good luck to you.

 

[Mowerman]

Thank the both of you for your honest and candid replies. I will take this advice in stride and listen to what people who are knowledgable about this disease process have to say. Thank you again!

 

[Mowerman]

I wish there were a thank you button on this site!