Long term twitching and dysphagia

Status
Not open for further replies.

ex_ser27

New member
Joined
Mar 9, 2020
Messages
4
Reason
Learn about ALS
Diagnosis
00/0000
Country
GR
State
NY
City
Athens
Hello everyone, and thank you for your time. I am a 21 year old male and i want your opinions regarding my pretty long story so please bear with me.
When i was 16 years old, i woke up one morning and noticed that both of my legs were really weak, like i could barely walk, for the whole day (i remember it like yesterday, it was Easter). I decided to ignore it and i did. However, some weeks later i felt and noticed my upper right back muscle (my right wing-like muscle) was contantly twitching and stopped only a few days later. Then i noticed the part between my index and thumb area and the base of my thumb was twitching as well.

When i got really scared was when i realised that the part that was twitching (between index and thumb, i think it's called thenar muscle ?) lost muscle mass especially compared to my left one and decided to go to a neurologist. She tested my reflexes and my strength and said i was fine. Some months later i started developing difficulty when it came to drinking water and swallowing food which drove me crazy as ALS was already on my mind 24/7 and as hard as i wanted to ignore it up untill this day the symptoms are still here.

So basically, my symptoms are thenar muscle atrophy (which i read is a telltale symptom of this terrible disease), dysphagia (really concerning considering my age), my upper right side of my body feels and is weaker than the left one (wasn't before), and my right leg also feels pretty awkard when walking (i think it's called foot drop)
and fasciculatons pretty much anywhere in my body, some are really fast others are slow, i did not notice a pattern or anything like that.

I know that i am really young for this and read it's already rare for adults in their 60s, but i just cannot function properly because the symptoms are not in my head, they exist and they are hindering my daily life which got me really depressed and especially now with covid, i cannot go for an EMG test and i am stuck in this limbo for years. It sucks so much.
Anyway, thank you if you made it this far and please state your opinion about my case if you can
 
Here is your past thread and replies: Scared i have ALS

There's not much a forum can do for you except advise you to continue working with your doctors to figure out what is wrong. You are right that your age, length of time you've been struggling with issues and the pattern of issues you report don't really point to ALS. There's a lot of "feeling" and subjective symptom reporting, but it's not something the folk can help you diagnose yourself with- foot drop and atrophy are things only a doctor can diagnose.

While the folks here can't say what is wrong, it's clear it's affecting your daily activities and function, which is really unfortunate. Please continue to speak with your doctor, but ALS does not seem to be on the table. Please have a re-read of the Important - READ BEFORE POSTING! Answers to common concerns about possible symptoms see a list of things that can cause some of the things you report and to reassure yourself about ALS.
 
ALS does not take five years to manifest. Your mind is playing tricks. You can see your primary care doc or another one on video, and maybe ask them to recommend a counselor that you can talk through this with.

Best,
Laurie
 
Yeah I knew that due to my age and the time period the symptoms started, als was an unlikely scenario but I suppose I needed confirmation. Thank you and sorry for bothering you once more.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Back
Top