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bbeanlphie

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Hi guys after 3 weeks of intense anxiety and reading forums I went to my general doc then asked for a recommendation for a neurologist which I just got back from a few hours ago and would just like your opinions.

3 weeks ago felt my left hand pointing finger twitching and when it didn't go away for a day I held it down and saw a twitch in between the pointing finger and thumb. a few days after this for a good 5 minutes my right thigh was twitching where you can see the thigh jumping at close inspections. This never came back. A few days after this my left elbow had twitching together with my forefinger area and this lasted for a good 10 days or so and would come and go in spurts in maybe a quick twitch to a few minutes then go away and come back a few minutes or hours later. I have now felt it in my left thigh come and go and get a slight tingling sensations in my legs.

The twitches in left elbow and forefinger have not been felt for about 3 days now, but the lower extremeties such as calves, foot, thigh get a tingly sensation here and there and twitching has gotten less.

My general doctor ordered blood tests for mercury, thryoid, b12 and folate.

The neurologist today did a physical exam having me walk in my boxers only and I guess looking if I have a slanted posture and did a physical exam with squeezing and reflex tests on arms and legs.

I had told him the anxiety of reading about ALS has stressed me out beyond belief and has made the twitching worse possibly and I started going to the gym 2 months ago lifting heavy weights.

No family history of neurological diseases and no caffeine or drug use. I had requested a EMG and NCV, but he advised me that we will not find anything and this will go away and told me he is sure I do not have ALS or any serious neurological disorders and wanted to prescribe me anti-anxiety pills which I declined so no EMG or NCV were done. He also advised me from the cases he has seen ALS is almost always weakness first.

He also ordered a CPK blood test to test for muscle disorders and if in 2 weeks if gets worse he will then do the EMG and NCV.

In the end he said the heavy lifting in the gym and intense anxiety made it worse and to come back in 2 weeks.

From the symptoms I described does it sound like ALS to you guys?
 
I'd go with what the doc said. Quit the heavy lifting ( which can cause twitching) for a few weeks. Do light lifts with medium reps and see if it affects things.
AL.
 
Thanks for the reply. I have quit going to the gym altogether for about 10 days since the anxiety and googling my symptoms has held me in front of my computer. It also doesn't help I work with computers all day and the google search bar is on the top right.

Hopefully it goes away.
 
Do you mean the google bar or the twitching?
Al
 
The google bar I meant. It has kept me on a endless search for answers and I always find the more serious diseases to focus on
 
Does bodywide twitching usually resemble ALS symptoms?
 
Im experiencing now more quick twitches at random places on my legs and arms mostly now where as before it would be surges of a few seconds to a few minutes. The ones I feel now for the last few days have just been like little electrical shocks at randoms places sort of like a tiny twitch under the skin.

Has anyone else experienced these sort of tiny twitches.
 
I was kidding about the google bar. Being new you haven't learned about my dry sense of humor. Mine started in the calf and stayed in that area for a month or 2 then started in other calf. That's what makes me think yours is related to BFS or something else.
AL.
 
ok now I know. :)

I think the reason twitching symptoms cause the most anxiety is due to the type of symptom it is. Most people know to look out for chest pain, nausea, etc, but involuntary twitching is not something people discuss with others and is not brought up by most people that I know of.

Hopefully it subsides.

Has anyone else experienced problems similar to mine?
 
Similar Symptoms

My symptoms are pretty close to yours and the Neurologist pretty much said and did the same things, except no blood test. He didn't want to do an NCV or EMG based on a normal physical exam. I think if you read a lot of posts you'll see many that have symptoms like ours. They may not match exactly or in the same order, but you'll recognize them. If you click on the blue DMHltd you'll see my other posts. I'm kind of waiting to see if I develop any "real" weakness before I get all worked up again. It's amazing to me how many people have all these symptoms that basically don't have any diagnosis other than BFS or maybe lime disease. There seems to be a lot of twitching going on.
 
Twitching not reliable symptom

I had weakness, drop foot, falling and some paralysis all before I started twitching.
Anxicety can make twitching more noticable. Continue to regard your symptoms but don't let the twitches OR the information you are googling obsess you. If you end up having ALS, there will be plenty of time to be scared and anxious... and if you don't have ALS, you have wasted time worrying . In other words, try to enjoy this very moment, because that's all any of us can be sure of anyway. Best wishes for a good outcome.
 
thanks for the replies guys.

Just another note the Doc also noted that since I am 28 years old it is extremely rare which is another reason he went against testing me with an EMG and NCV.

How rare is it exactly for people under 50?
 
One thing that confuses me is the onset of symptoms I have read at most forums that if twitching is to come first it is usually in one area and slowly spreads to different areas and if bodywide twitching is felt initially then it almost isn't ALS
 
Before being diagnosed with PMA, I saw four neurologists. Each one looked at my tongue. Now that I make scheduled visis to the ALS Clinic, I am examained by a breathing specialist, occupational and physical therapists and when I see the neuromucular specialist, she checks for reflexes, strength in arms, legs and hands, and checks my tongue. Since she is a professor at a major university health science center, she may well be interested in a PMA case, how it progresses, and if it will eventually profress in to ALS. I do have body twitchiing, upper and lower. This was first noted by the first neurologist I saw.
 
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