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Moriarty

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Joined
Jan 27, 2019
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Reason
Learn about ALS
Country
RSA
State
Western Cape
City
Cape Town
Good evening from South Africa

Firstly, tremendous sympathies and all the strength in the world to all of those suffering from ALS.

I guess I may be one of those hypochondriacs that I'm sure you guys all roll your eyes at! :lol:

I am going for my first ever EMG tomorrow morning and can't really sleep, so thought I would share a few things here, maybe just to clear the mind a bit and "offload" so that I can drift off!

I just turned 30. I started having a twitch in the muscle between thumb and forefinger of my left hand in November last year. Then my calf began constantly twitching (and this has been constant until this day, 24/7). I was not overly concerned but went to the GP, who prescribed magnesium. This did not alleviate the twitching. It moved to my thigh for a bit, and there has now been sporadic, infrequent twitching in my abdomen, arms, chest and chin.

My concerns have been greatly elevated over the past few days. My legs feel heavy when walking, and it does appear that I am struggling a bit with fine motor coordination of my hands, in terms of sometimes fumbling with small things. I also feel as though, that when walking, I am swaying to the left and have to consciously keep correcting this. I have no energy, have lost my appetite, and on the opposite end of the scale, I appear not to be able to empty my bowels properly. In bed two nights ago, I felt as though my breathing was much quieter, if that makes sense, and I had a couple of bouts of breathlessness. This caused me to go to the hospital, where the doctor performed reflex tests (I think all normal, she did not say) before referring me to a neurologist.

Anyway, my blood results are all within normal ranges and now it is time for the EMG.

But I would also greatly appreciate some comments from the community here, I have noted some of your wise, reassuring and informed remarks in previous threads.
 
It would be very unusual for ALS to present as you have described, in all four limbs + breathing + balance + appetite loss, etc. You may have something, but I doubt it's anything we deal with here.

Let us know what the EMG suggests.

Best,
Laurie
 
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