Need some reassurance

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Arexea76

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Sep 22, 2020
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Reason
Learn about ALS
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00/0000
Country
AU
State
VI
City
Melbourne Victoria
all,
Im a 44 year old hispanic Male living in Melbourne Australia.

I am one of those people who need some reassurance to calm my anxiety over having ALS, I am almost there, however I wanted an opinion on symptoms from people like yourselves on this platform.

So, I have had lower back and hip pain this year since January. Earlier in the year i had an odd feeling in my left calf. it would go away, then come back and so forth....
About a month ago as I was stretching, to touch my toes, as i had done for a while to stretch my back ( in hindsight this is not the right stretch for lower back pain). Anyway one day I did it and noticed both calves were twitching quite a bit, however its not a deep muscle twich, seems like it is on the outer muscle layer, i think this because I could not feel them twiching but could see them.

This happened about 6 weeks ago, and of course i looked up dr google and just about everything that comes up is ALS, and some BFS. I have no weakness, a little atrophy on both legs, i have well defined muscles in my legs from years of playing soccer, i played until feb this yeae, then corona hit and season was cancelled. I attribute the atrophy to not doing any exercise since, i dont think i have even ran more than 20 meters once since February.
I have also been diagnosed with adult ADD and take Ritalin, which has made me eat less so i have lost about 4 kilos.

anyway i finally went to the doctor and having an MRI on Friday of my Lumbar spine. I did ask the doctor, could this be ALS, his response was “probably not, but we will see”!
Not the response I was expecting, so that of course has put that doubt in my head again, enough to post here despite the information you have regarding symptoms🙄

sorey for the long post, but wanted to give some context (prob a bit too much now).

So my question is, would you get both calves twitching as a symptom?

Thank you in advance to anyone that takes the time to respond...

AA
 
You've done a great job of answering your own questions. Your doctor was just being cautious. Some are allergic to "yes" and "no" for legal reasons.

My answer is no, you would not see bilateral calf twitching as any kind of onset pattern, so you might try a little magnesium lotion on any hot spots, try to get more exercise in at home or safely outdoors, ask your doc to titrate the Ritalin if you are not maintaining a healthy diet/weight, and rejoice in your comparatively good health.

Best,
Laurie
 
Had MRI, i have a mild herniated disc on L2, rest was dine no issues seen. L2 should not be causing the twitching on calves according to doctor, as the nerves from there affect thighs.
I asked again, then why are both my calves twitching only when I bend over to touch toes.. answer, he doesn’t know.
My left calf feels like there is something in there, cant explain the feeling.
The medication for ADD causes twitching but it wouldn’t be onlu when i touch toes, back pain still there.
Still dont have an answer to this. I will need to see a neurologist next.
 
Presuming the neurologist does not see anything worth pursuing, I would really focus on safe stretching and the like. A physio can evaluate the issue and set up a regimen for you.
 
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